Kev Martin

Read the link to the 'Scuba College'...... I had to laugh when they stated that all of their students would be overprepared during their training!! A bit of a bold statement.

The Submarine Escape Training Tower at Dolphin was one of my old assignments whilst I was in the RN. Happy memories.

Ally, do you remember the government sometime in the eighties and early nineties came out with an initiative where people could obtain a qualification depending on the work experience they did. Some colleges in the UK took up this scheme as an opportunity to teach scuba. We used to call them the 0 to 60 clubs as you could enter the scheme as a complete non diver and six weeks later and 60 dives on you were a qualified Divemaster. You can imagine the standard of PADI Professional that was thrust upon the diving community in Britain!! In terms of what kind of training was given, the confined element was usually carried out in a pool environment but the open water dives were certainly carried out in all weathers. I can remember going to Capernwray during the winter and watching these courses under instruction in water temperatures of around 3 degrees C!!

Ally

I vaguely remember reading about a scheme like that, Kev. Not sure how long ago though. I moved back to the Isle of Wight in 1989 and I believe it had just been introduced, or at least something along those lines, anyway.

MgicTwnger

Same over here. I went through Open Water (PADI) with a guy, didn't see him for a year, and suddenly he's a divemaster! He never dove anywhere except local quarries and one trip to the Caribbean, just kept taking classes and collecting c-cards. I wouldn't trust him with my aunt Millie's dead cat.

I think the shops consider people like him a source of income and cheap labor.

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I am not the one who needs mental help. I just need to vent.

Scuba Mama

What I understood from reading the article is yes, they take pool and classroom, just as any other PADI student. Then they go out and do open-water dives. Which they pay for on there own? I have worked with students, who have gone through a course at college, then once they are at open water, I will do the certification dives with them. I have found they are no better or worse then the students coming from the regular scuba class.

I have trained my students in both the ocean and quarries. I like the quarry divers, I know they can put up with a lot to dive. It makes them think more.

I once showed pictures of the quarry to a divemaster in Mexico, he looked at the pictures and thought we were crazy. Yes, I completely trusted he knew the area and how to handle diving in Mexico, if he travel back to Chicago and wanted to work with me and my students at the quarry I would tell him no. I would expect him to do several dives in the quarry with different problems to deal with to make sure he is safe.

A lot of places will work with a divemaster from the beginning, to make sure they have the training needed for the local area. Yes, 60 dives and you can be certified. That's after you pass the exams, work in a internship with an instructor. Show you can handle yourself in the water, show skills at a higher then student level. There is more work going into just make 4 dives and your open water certified or make 60 and your a divemaster.

Yes, with any group there can be the group of "how did they pass?" I wonder the same thing every day driving home from work.