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Claudia, Since you brought my name up again, I might as well respond... > How did they pass the class without knowing how to use a set of tables? I actually explained the tables to my OWD instructor. No shit! He just couldn't do it. And told the students for the same reason that the first piece of equipment to buy was a computer. (Of course the ones he sold.) Reason for me not to buy one. You won't get any argument from me here... That is completely pathetic. If the instructor was PADI, he should have been reported to PADI... if for no other reason than to open their eyes. > However, this is also the fault of the people wanting to *try* diving. They > don't want a good, solid course, as this would cost a good deal of money, >$500 per head, + gear. People want to learn and get their C-card in > one weekend, for $99.00. Its a market, and its going to be addressed. And, they can be heavily overweight, can smoke during class, prior to and after dives (this is FACT, Joe), can have cardio problems. It's okay if they cannot even swim 400 yds, since (to quote an instroketor, who said the following 3 years ago standing 2 meters away from me) "that is even difficult for me"!!! This guy (no prove, but very likely) certified a diving challenged lady just because she owned a travel agency. He did that during a private OW session that might never have happened. Funny thing that smoking is brought up... I'm teaching a class in two weeks, and one student is a smoker. I told her earlier today that she needed to quit before class started, and that if she didn't, I certainly wouldn't allow her to smoke during my classes. As far as an instructor who can't swim 400 yards... I make it a point to do the swims with my students (granted; only 200 yards is required)... I, like many others on this list, believe in trying to stay in shape... which is why you'll find me in the gym at 5:30am 4 or 5 days a week. The examples you present are valid, and I've seen some PADI instructors who did worse... but I still maintain that it ultimately is the instructor who is responsible, and not the certifying agency. I really believe that most of the recreational certification agencies have the policies and procedures in place to produce good, qualified, entry level, open water recreational divers... unfortunately as you say; there are too many bad instructors out there, and, by virtue of it's size; PADI has the lions share of them. Understand though, that there are instructors within PADI who do care about their students, who do produce adequately trained safe O/W divers. Regards, Joe West -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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