I spend a lot of time discussing instructors and discussing what (and how) certain skills are taught. In the past, I’ve made comments about the fact that it was my observation that most instructors teach the mask removal and replacement or air share’s while the students are sitting or kneeling on a platform or sandy bottom. I was surprised at the firestorm that comment generated and the number of emails I received defending this practice. [Read more...]

Many of you read one of my recent posts where I criticized PADI’s dry suit course. About a week after that post, I received an email from Eric Albinsson an Educational Program Specialist at PADI regarding this post. Eric pointed out some inconsistencies with what I had written. Eric sent me the standards for the dry suit course. Below, I have listed what Eric sent me. [Read more...]

I recently ran into a new scuba diving instructor. We chatted for a bit about the upcoming dive season and how his classes were going at his shop. He talked about things were picking up. I asked him what he was doing to prepare for his upcoming scuba diving classes. I was surprised that he said he didn’t do much prep work. He said that he just follows his instruction manual. Many people, include fresh instructors, really have no idea what kind of work goes into running a thorough scuba diving class. [Read more...]

Many people have no clue about how to select the right scuba diving class for them. They tend to read a couple paragraphs about the course contents, go into a dive store and sign up. What people need to realize is that there will be a correlation of three things that make up scuba diving classes. The truth is, scuba diving classes are bound by these three topics. I call them the triple constraints of scuba diving classes. Let’s look at what they are and how the average recreational scuba diver can use them to decide if a specific course offering will meet their needs. [Read more...]