Posted by MHK on August 22, 2001 at 09:39:08:
In Reply to: Roatan and why dive standards have been lowered. posted by Chris on August 21, 2001 at 23:33:59:
Chris,
This may shock the hell out of the entire board but I almost agree with you ;-)
MY only difference of opinion is that I disagree that we can't raise the level.. I completely agree that PADI is catering to a market of warm water vacationers, however it is a market that they created by watering down the standards and making diving so accessible to anyone irrespective of skill level...
If PADI wants to go down that raod my biggest problem with that course of irresponsible action is that they haven't taken steps to minimize the risks.. In other words I agree that they cater to a market that perhaps requires very little skill to survive, especially since the DM does all teh hand holding and all the *work*.. If they want to play that kind of shell game they should make the c-cards expire and/or they should regionalize the card so that some diver that got certified in Cayman 10 years ago is precluded from walking on one of our boats out here and being a *certified* diver...
Later