What is the point of PADI certification?

solas geal

Sorry guys, please excuse my ignorance but i'm just wondering what the point of a PADI certification is? I am currently travelling in Thailand, and intend to visit the Great Barrier Reef later in the year and was just wondering if this is something that i must have to dive there? I don't intend ever being an instructor or anything. Can you go diving without a certification? Thanks for all your help, really appreciate it!

mint man

you need padi or ssi cert to dive there , they wont let you in the water unless you have done the open water course.
its worth doing anyway.
if doing it in thailand try pick a good established company , dont just go with the cheapest, some off them have very dodgy gear and the instructors may only be recently qualified!(obviously this can happen everywhere).
diving there is good , and if you qualife there at least you can spent your time enjoying diving in australia.or do the advanced course in oz.
you can dive without certification on a "discovery dive" maxdepth about 10 metres and will have an instructor holding your hand,this is just for a taste of diving really

Benny-c

solas geal wrote: »

Sorry guys, please excuse my ignorance but i'm just wondering what the point of a PADI certification is?

Opens can of worms....:D

loctite

No certification required at all to dive... as stated above you can just do guided Discover Scuba dives which still require some amount of tuition.

but unless you do a course you will never really experience what recreational diving has to offer...

Its a shame too considering where you are traveling to...

solas geal

Hi again,

Just to say thanks for taking the time to reply! Based on your comments, and taking to an instructor, I decided to go for the SSI Open Water course, now just hoping I live to tell the tale Thanks again!

rabii

hi
to loctite:
you need a cert, like in morocco or some places in egypt if you don't have a open water card
they well not refile the tank for you.

loctite

rabii wrote: »

hi
to loctite:
you need a cert, like in morocco or some places in egypt if you don't have a open water card
they well not refile the tank for you.

But will they not bring you on a try dive/Discover Scuba or even take you on an OW course?? I would think they would. Hence you don't need a certification...

Muppet Man

My wife did a "Try Dive" in the red sea about 2 years back (sharks bay/egypt). The most she would have done before that was snorkling. They did very little tuition (about 30 mins) and the instructor literally held the shaft of the tank and pushed / pulled her along. They went down to about 8 meters from a floating pontoon on a private beach near the hotel. She loved it. She had trouble being too bounant (I think they deliberately didnt give her enough weights so that if anything did happen she was going to float...) and clearing / balancing her ears... but once she did it, she was smitten. I think it was about 50 euro and the visibility was insanely good. I was snorkling above her.

Muppet man

whosedaddy?

Are you doing the course down there - during hols or at home?
both has pros and cons.

Depending how sure you are about diving, talk to instructor whether you can do try dive as part of the course and bail out if its not working for you. (that's what my wife did).
Also diving in Thailiand and BBR is very differnt to here. Temperature/ visibility / gear / actual fish under water / etc. Learning inThailand may be more exciting than here and seeing the real deal as opposed to irish waters is certainly a morale booster if you are not sure.

But on the other hand doing a course on hols, depending on the lenght of it, won't let you see much - as you'll be doing a course for 4-5 days.

@loctitie sure you don't need cert to try a dive, but that makes to pay for try a dive at every location (Thailand and GBR) without getting any training or cert at the end.

One Cold Hand

whosedaddy? wrote: »

But on the other hand doing a course on hols, depending on the lenght of it, won't let you see much - as you'll be doing a course for 4-5 days.

The best thing to do in Thailand is to do the Open Water (4 days), followed by the Advanced Open Water (2 days). The AOW is great, as it's basically all diving, and no time in the classroom. You do 5 dives in 2 days, incl a night dive...it's basically a lot more fun than the open water!

mint man

One Cold Hand wrote: »

The best thing to do in Thailand is to do the Open Water (4 days), followed by the Advanced Open Water (2 days). The AOW is great, as it's basically all diving, and no time in the classroom. You do 5 dives in 2 days, incl a night dive...it's basically a lot more fun than the open water!

just want to say i was doing divemaster in oz ,and most students that had done ow course in thailand did nt really have a clue,i know its a generalization but you could see by them that they were rushed true

whosedaddy?

mint man wrote: »

just want to say i was doing divemaster in oz ,and most students that had done ow course in thailand did nt really have a clue,i know its a generalization but you could see by them that they were rushed true

Even broader generalisation: No OW diver has a clue - or do they?.
The problem is defining what "having a clue" in relation to diving means.
Not that I want to spark a philosophical discussion.

spillcoe

mint man wrote: »

just want to say i was doing divemaster in oz ,and most students that had done ow course in thailand did nt really have a clue,i know its a generalization but you could see by them that they were rushed true

I did an OW in Koh Tao in Thailand and the level of instruction was very professional. When I went on to do dives in Indonesia and Australia the instructors all said that my technique was pretty good and everything I had been taught was correct. I know there may be places that rush people through but this was not my experience anyway.

mint man

spillcoe wrote: »

I did an OW in Koh Tao in Thailand and the level of instruction was very professional. When I went on to do dives in Indonesia and Australia the instructors all said that my technique was pretty good and everything I had been taught was correct. I know there may be places that rush people through but this was not my experience anyway.

i know what i said was a massive generalization, and theres always goin to be various differences world over, but students that had done ow in thailand were kept an extra eye on as such, ive dived thailand too just looked for a good company.
have you been to phi phi , were when the ferry docks theres nearly hundreds companies houndin you to dive with them

Hector Holmes

It don't matter where you learn to dive it is the instructor that is the key to whether you get good training or otherwise.
Thailand, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef all have their fair share of cowboys as well as excellent instructors. Take time to check out a few shops and ask to see the equipment you will use for your training. If you are comfortable with the instructor and the equipment checks out then you can be confident of being a very inexperienced (but safe) new diver at the end of you open water course.
Enjoy a new perspective on the world - well worth the investment of time and money.