So how do I learn to dive

daveg

So many people maybe wondering what do they have to do to get into scubadiving and where they can progress. I'm outlining the Padi courses, as this is what I'm familiar with.

Firstly you could try an introductory dive, which can be done in a pool or in the sea. Approx cost €60. You will have no qualifications after the dive.

To qualify as a diver you need to do the open water diver course that takes approx 5 days. Approx cost for tuition would be €500. This will qualify you to dive all over the world. If you try to dive on any Padi site you will be asked for your dive log and your open water certification card. Without this you will not be able to dive.

Next stage is the advanced open water which costs approx €375. An addition to the open water this course will give you more confidence and knowledge for diving.

Next we have the Rescue diver which costs approx €375. This class will teach you lifesaving techniques.

The final non-professional qualification is the master scubadiver

If you want to progress into instructor diving you need to complete the divemaster course which will include some "on the job" training at a dive school - helping with equipment - Organise, conduct and supervise recreational diving activities, both land and boat based and effectively act as an instructor. Approx cost €510.

After completing the divemaster you can go onto do the instructor course. Not sure of the cost for the instructor class but the course includes some intense exams.

Peace

Folks,


As far as i can remember if you become a member of you nearest CFT club then the actual cost of dive training is minimal. I remember talking to a lecturer from UCD after a dive in Killary and he was telling us how much it cost the members of his clubto get training....i can't tell you how much i was pissed off. Especially since myself and my dive buddy have done a rake of PADI training and are going for the CMAS 3* diver rating this summer. Apparently CMAS and CFT are the same thing.

But the real point is that you can get very similar training with CFT and save a couple of grand by not doing it with PADI. Also the good thing about CFT is that they teach you what to do if you overstay your dive profile and go into decompression time...whereas padi just give some party line like....extend you safety stop for an extra 10 minutes or as long as you air allows you. PADI give little or no preperation for decompression diving and lets face it, it can happen.

I've personally done the whole padi thing and am one specialty short of a Master Scuba Diver, but i won't bother my ass since its a waste of money. I've now done some tech training with IANTD (advanced nitrox + decopression procedures) and will have the CMAS 3* after the summer is out. Both these course have demands that blow padi way out of the water on any of their training.

Just saying is all...PADI isn't the only dive organisation out there...but for the training they proveide i think the are the least value for money. For the equivelant training in CFT you don't pay muich at all....as far as i can remember you just pay for club membership and the training is free.

I would talk about BSAC but i don't know anything about them.

Later
Peace

Cromwelly

I learned to dive with a CFT affiliated club.
I'm not convinced it's any cheaper in the first year than the PADI equivalent. It's definately a cheaper way to dive thereafter.
You might pay a CFT club €10 per dive. PADI clubs would cost considerably more.

The big difference is in the motivation. A CFT instructor isn't being paid by anyone, that affects the way they teach. There is no advantage in them rushing your training or cutting corners in fact quite the opposite.

A PADI organisation is commercial. That does mean that if you're not happy with something then you're able to vote with your wallet.

I did find the CFT club became very political as I'm sure most amateur organisations tend to get.

I'm now looking to join a PADI club where I can dive when I want and bollock someone if I don't get what I paid for. ("We can't dive this morning as all the instructors were out on the piss last night")

CFT vs PADI
CFT clubs are affiliated to CMAS internationally.
It's quicker to learn with PADI.
If you're going to dive every weekend then find a CFT club.
If you don't like committees then go for PADI.

Just my 2c

daveg

Good to hear some views on schools other than Padi

Mick L

This is not a pro-PADI comment, just something to take into account, if you go abroad on a diving holiday, particularly to a location that caters for American holiday makers/divers, then PADI will be the most recognised qualification. I wouldn't be surprised if some operators hadn't heard of CFT, BSAC maybe even CMAS.

The cold hard fact is that if you're looking to set up a business that caters for diving then PADI is the easiet way to earn money, which is why there are so many PADI resorts. I don't know if there is an agreed way to 'translate' between qualifications for all the different agencies. I know CMAS and PADI have done some work in that area
CMAS / PADI Agreement (pdf)

Smiler

Originally posted by Mick L
This is not a pro-PADI comment, just something to take into account, if you go abroad on a diving holiday, particularly to a location that caters for American holiday makers/divers, then PADI will be the most recognised qualification. I wouldn't be surprised if some operators hadn't heard of CFT, BSAC maybe even CMAS.

I would say if your go to a place that hasn't heard of CMAS (which all CFT logbooks have written on em- If I remember) I wouldn't dive there

Find somewhere that knows what their doing.

Jak

Having experienced both PADI and CFT/CMAS lectures, my preference would definitely be towards the latter in terms of value and syllabus.

Many of the PADI intstructors (especially those I met in Ireland relative to abroad) are excellent divers and often not just PADI divers (BSAC,CMAS etc). They were competent and helpful but ...

PADI is a package, and a commercial one at that. It is a hard sell approach, involving fairly distanced video teaching methods etc. etc. It is designed to be run as a business and everything will cost you. This turned me away from PADI after the AOW.

Having got into a student club as a postgrad, I was amazed at the difference, courses took longer, were more in depth and so etc.

Now personally I think at Divemaster/3* level there is little separating recreational divers other than their own temperment, but I genuinely believe below this level CMAS divers are getting a more thorough diving education and instruction and at a much lower cost.

If you have the option, I would suggest a college club and a CFT/BSAC course. Subs and insurance and teaching all in should be around €100 - and no commercial organisation will top that. Plus it is a case of Divers runnning a club for Divers. Rather than Divers running a club for a living.

Also - as regards International Acceptibilty - If you find a Dive center that does not recognise CMAS (which is what CFT - the Irish Underwater Council - is associated to) I would be amazed. My last Dive abroad was in Monterey and although the Dive center was PADI, they were happier that I had CMAS qualifications.


JAK.

Mick L

Has anyone heard of any other agencies making any inroads in Ireland? e.g. GUE, DIR-F, etc.

Evil Phil

I think its unfair to dismiss PADI as 'just a commercial operation'. I'm PADI quailfied and have found the courses to cover more than enough. The Dive Resort I went to have a very good reputation and will fail people if the instructors feel they aren't good/competant/confident. They were quite strict in their testing and made me pass both the A and B exams before qualifying me (you only have to pass one exam to satistfy PADI).

PADI was the most accessible to me as I'm not a member of a diving club and didn't go to college.

daveg

Originally posted by Evil Phil
I think its unfair to dismiss PADI as 'just a commercial operation'. I'm PADI quailfied and have found the courses to cover more than enough. The Dive Resort I went to have a very good reputation and will fail people if the instructors feel they aren't good/competant/confident. They were quite strict in their testing and made me pass both the A and B exams before qualifying me (you only have to pass one exam to satistfy PADI).

PADI was the most accessible to me as I'm not a member of a diving club and didn't go to college.

Agreed.

Mick L

I'm not anti-PADI, after all it was PADI training that got me qualified and allows me to dive


As for the different levels of training in the different agencies, it seems that the biggest factor in training is the quality of the instructors. If you have a good instructor it shouldn't make a huge difference what text book they're reading from.

Smiler

I don't know too much about PADI, so I won't comment.

All I know is that I had to do about 10-12 lectures to be able to dive with CFT/CMAS.

The only experience I had with PADI was don't in Scubadivewest where we did an introductory dive for the crack.
The lads I was with only got 15 mins instruction (even though it did cover a lot) and then they were brought out to dive. The dive was only to 10-15 metres so there wasn't any real danger.

It's just up to personal prefrence.

But I think that anyone who wants to be a competent diver should go and study on their own and check out diving websites to keep your skills fresh. And dive reguarly of course

Jak

I think its unfair to dismiss PADI as 'just a commercial operation'

I'm not dismissing them. They are a commercial 'run for profit' organisation that operate a global franchise. If you are going to quote, quote what I said.

PADI centres worldwide do not traditionally have a great reputation as compared with non profit clubs or organisations. You gave your experience, my first dive was with PADI in Barbados, after signing a waiver and 45 minutes in a pool (5 new divers one instructor) we were brought out to a 15m wreck dive. Granted this was warm water diving on a sandy base but still ..

One instructor on that dive was looking after 4 1st time divers. Two of us happily swam off not knowing better, we had a great time and eventually all came up happy and well when the leader managed to get us all back together. I enjoyed it, but in retrospect that is shockingly unsafe practice. PADI's reputation abroad in holiday resorts is poor.

In cold water climes diving is a different ball game, and I think the PADI centers in Ireland give excellent tuition generally. However ... the video taught classes and so on are not ideal in my view. I hold to the point, that I think below 3*/Divemaster PADI students receive less comprehensive instruction - the AOW course is narrower than the corresponding CFT 2*.

As regards not having options to PADI, granted college clubs may be off limits, but wouldn't paying subs to a club be cheaper than paying PADI for one of the 60 or so courses they offer?

Finally, there are differences in the Syllabus and safety procedures between PADI and CFT, hence even high level PADI crossovers have to do some CFT courses.

Evil Phil

Originally posted by Jak
If you are going to quote, quote what I said.

I wasn't quoting you.

In fact, I wasn't quoting.

It seemed to me, and I could be wrong here, that a trend was developing. My PADI instruction went way beyond the PADI syllabus. One girl on my Open Water Course had to do the course twice before she passed. The second time she had to do 9 open water dives before the instructors were confident enough in her ability to dive. Only then did they qualify her. I feel that PADI are, in general, excellent. There are the occasional dodgy centers but they get closed down pretty sharpish.

I'm not saying that one organisation is better than another, I don't want to see the PADI camp versus the CFT camp developing on this board.

Jak

Good.

Just seemed to me you were what with the quotes and the reply.

Anyhows I am just giving my experience of both sides. If people want to learn to dive in Ireland, if at all possible I believe for both value, quality, and meeting and really getting to know other divers, you will be better off with a club.

There are no PADI 'clubs' as such. So your main option in Ireland is a CFT/CMAS affiliated club.

JAK.

Cromwelly

Originally posted by Evil Phil

I'm not saying that one organisation is better than another, I don't want to see the PADI camp versus the CFT camp developing on this board.

So we're agreed, PADI divers are shlte <g>

Seriously, I think it's important to discuss the differences between the two organisations, they are very different in their approach. That doesn't make one better than the other.

Mick L

Origninally posted by Cromwelly

Seriously, I think it's important to discuss the differences between the two organisations, they are very different in their approach.

Yeah, for example I believe that CFT deal with deco in their basic training whereas PADI don't???

Another area I feel the PADI course is lacking is the use of reels and SMBs. Having not done any CFT/CMAS, BSAC course yet I don't know how or if these topics are covered in other courses. Can anyone expand on these??

Jak

Reels and SMB deployment are generally dealt with in training for the 2* Club Diver test.

In order to go for the 2* in our club the minimum requirements are ...

Attended all lectures (second time round)
Out of Air and SMB deployment in pool
Navigation on dives
SMB Deployment @3m safety stop on dives
500m snorkel basic kit
200m snorkel full kit
Leading Dives (leading a higher grade for 10 dives - these can obviously also count towards getting your depth requirements)
You also need the CFT minimum of 4 x10m dives, 4 x15m dives, 5 x20m dives, 4 x25m dives, 3 x30m dives

Then you can go for the test. The only actual CFT requires are that you have those depths however, but individual clubs can up their training as they see fit.

The levels in CFT and basic requirements (roughly off my head)

0* Novice - Start
1* Trainee - Lectures basic training, few snorkels, few dives, test.
2* Club Diver - Listed above
3* Leading Diver - ~ 40 more dives, 10 at each for 15,20,25,30 and 2 night dives, 3 35m's and 2 40's. Also act as DO a few times.
4* National Diver - Just more dives, wrecks, night, fresh water, trainee dives, andup to 45m's - 100 required in total i think.

Mon 1 - Instructor
Mon 2 - Leading Instructor
Mon 3 - National Instructor

Once you are a 3* diver you can go for the Mon 1 work. There are also distinctions similar to PADI for things like Medic, Rescue, Advanced Nitrox etc.

JAK.

Cromwelly

These additional requirements no doubt lead to a higher level of training and experience in your 2* divers.

My difficulty would be that you have a small group arbitrarily deciding what constitutes a 2* diver. Why do you bother with CFT at all ? You've created your own standard.

Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate the excellent work that instructors put in free of charge for only the very best motives.
I just don't know why you don't allow a diver to take a 2* test and then apply the additional training.

I've seen how diving incidents could occur and I've read the CFT reports, I'm really not convinced that additional training would have made much difference. Especially to the 33% of incidents which related to diver equipment or 17% related to boat handling.

Jak

Fair point.

I suppose the reason for affiliation is all the obvious ones though ...

Recognised, Basic Syllabus support and all the information and education benefits an organisation gains from having a large pool (sorry) of experienced divers within it.

As for the added training, as a 2* these are things you are expected to be able to do. The concept is simply to have a more experienced 2* from the start. It is not that significant in the sense you can still dive and learn on the way, it just takes a little longer.

If someone really wanted to push to do the test on just the required depths I'm sure they probably could. As it is most people welcome the chance to get a chance to lead higher grades on a dive, do navigation etc.

You're perfectly right regarding accidents, but a sound knowledge of gear, doing your fills and basic boat skills is also picked up along the way. The more people who know something about everything to do with the dive, the more people who can watch for problems. Some accidents can't be avoided, but some mistakes can.

We have never had an incident in the 10 year history of the club thankfully.

Cromwelly

Well nobody can argue with your excellent safety record.

I can't help thinking though that the two main agencies shouldn't be so completely different in their approach.
I wouldn't mind betting that some CMAS/CFT 2* divers are considerably more experienced than divers holding some of the advanced PADI grades.

It also doesn't help ones confidence to be considered a 'trainee' after 20 odd dives, numerous lectures and countless training sessions in the pool.

Jak

I agree.

I was shocked at first to think that a sport like diving would have organisations with some slight variances in their approaches to some aspects of diving. I assumed it would be black and white.

As for the being a trainee after 20 dives, true it could affect one's confidence, but I suppose this is an aspect of diving that can't be dealt with by syllabus, it is down to the club and the members.

You need to be open and friendly to newer divers, not patronising while educating etc etc. I suppose if you can get it out of people's heads that the dives they are doing are only steps along the way to a 'good; grade, then they would simply enjoy each dive on its own and get there eventually.

Unfortunately 'Grade' elitism exists in all organisations of diving.

scuba chick

em i know a club that do an intoductory session (discover scuba) for only 25euro, which is the cheapest around. they've only just set up their club this year, and they are brilliant im doing my ow with them and staying in their club (they've free membership), and pool use once a week for only 20euro a month.its brillant!!!! the club is dive inn scuba (www.diveinnscuba.com). their site is currently under construction but you can still get various contact details on it.
i'd recomend them at least for your discover scuba, because you'll only be parting with 25euro, especially if you dont like what's the point in paying any more. i think is just better value fo money.

scuba chick

Jak wrote:

Having experienced both PADI and CFT/CMAS lectures, my preference would definitely be towards the latter in terms of value and syllabus.

Many of the PADI intstructors (especially those I met in Ireland relative to abroad) are excellent divers and often not just PADI divers (BSAC,CMAS etc). They were competent and helpful but ...

PADI is a package, and a commercial one at that. It is a hard sell approach, involving fairly distanced video teaching methods etc. etc. It is designed to be run as a business and everything will cost you. This turned me away from PADI after the AOW.

Having got into a student club as a postgrad, I was amazed at the difference, courses took longer, were more in depth and so etc.

Now personally I think at Divemaster/3* level there is little separating recreational divers other than their own temperment, but I genuinely believe below this level CMAS divers are getting a more thorough diving education and instruction and at a much lower cost.

If you have the option, I would suggest a college club and a CFT/BSAC course. Subs and insurance and teaching all in should be around €100 - and no commercial organisation will top that. Plus it is a case of Divers runnning a club for Divers. Rather than Divers running a club for a living.

Also - as regards International Acceptibilty - If you find a Dive center that does not recognise CMAS (which is what CFT - the Irish Underwater Council - is associated to) I would be amazed. My last Dive abroad was in Monterey and although the Dive center was PADI, they were happier that I had CMAS qualifications.


JAK.

in reply to this comment, the new club i have joined is not like that, its like one big family!!!!everyone knows everyone. you pay when you want to do various different padi courses (they go from discover scuba-instructor) and in between different qualfications you can be a member of their NO membership club.its fantastic, and i haven't even been there that long.
so maybe you just had a bad experience with a centre, but please dont lable us all the same.

Benny-c

scuba chick wrote:

em i know a club that do an intoductory session (discover scuba) for only 25euro, which is the cheapest around. they've only just set up their club this year, and they are brilliant im doing my ow with them and staying in their club (they've free membership), and pool use once a week for only 20euro a month.its brillant!!!! the club is dive inn scuba (www.diveinnscuba.com). their site is currently under construction but you can still get various contact details on it.
i'd recomend them at least for your discover scuba, because you'll only be parting with 25euro, especially if you dont like what's the point in paying any more. i think is just better value fo money.

A PADI Club that unusual I thought PADI were run through commercial centres, (perhaps I have misunderstood you!)

Having gone to the link (p.s. get the webmaster to take out the offending bracket!) it looks like that they are based in TCD, if so I think (?) there is a BSAC club in TCD.

Happy Diving

Benny

scuba chick

no its not tcd its trinity sports and leisure centre in donaghmede, dublin 17.it is through padi, they are only setting up. the two 'leaders' as such are padi instructors.its a free membership dive club, and the 2 padi instructors run courses. so its not a padi club, but you can do padi courses through it,you can do your course with them, and leave them or you can stay with them in their club.its the best one i've come across so far.

annR

Scuba chick, just to avoid confusion, when we say 'club' we usually refer to one of the CFT clubs which have no profit making element.

PADI dive centres might also have 'clubs' but it's still a Padi dive centre where you do PADI courses etc just a little more organised into a group etc.

>>For the equivelant training in CFT you don't pay muich at all....as far as i can remember you just pay for club membership and the training is free.<<

I find club diving very expensive unless you are really going to dive nearly every weekend. I wanted to join a club but there was no per dive fee, just one enormous annual membership fee - sorry couldn't afford

>>Now personally I think at Divemaster/3* level there is little separating recreational divers other than their own temperment, but I genuinely believe below this level CMAS divers are getting a more thorough diving education and instruction and at a much lower cost.<<

I agree with this in general because the PADI OW course is designed to be as short as possible to get people started off in diving and covers the minimum usually. The PADI instructor has to do their best with you (this varies a lot) and let you go on your merry way after 5 dives.

However I do think that some of the club divers have picked up bad habits from each other and no one corrects each other about them. If you have a PADI DM or instructor they might be more inclined to advise people on what to do /not to do because they're doing their job. I'm never too sure who is in charge at any given time with clubs . . .DO can't be everywhere . . .which is also a bit worrying when it comes to safety. I'm aware though that I have a fairly bad understanding of how clubs work so I'm sure I'll be corrected. Can't stand the politics and various 'colourful' characters either I'm afraid on land or in water.

scuba chick

annR wrote:

Scuba chick, just to avoid confusion, when we say 'club' we usually refer to one of the CFT clubs which have no profit making element.

PADI dive centres might also have 'clubs' but it's still a Padi dive centre where you do PADI courses etc just a little more organised into a group etc.

>>For the equivelant training in CFT you don't pay muich at all....as far as i can remember you just pay for club membership and the training is free.<<

I find club diving very expensive unless you are really going to dive nearly every weekend. I wanted to join a club but there was no per dive fee, just one enormous annual membership fee - sorry couldn't afford

>>Now personally I think at Divemaster/3* level there is little separating recreational divers other than their own temperment, but I genuinely believe below this level CMAS divers are getting a more thorough diving education and instruction and at a much lower cost.<<

I agree with this in general because the PADI OW course is designed to be as short as possible to get people started off in diving and covers the minimum usually. The PADI instructor has to do their best with you (this varies a lot) and let you go on your merry way after 5 dives.

However I do think that some of the club divers have picked up bad habits from each other and no one corrects each other about them. If you have a PADI DM or instructor they might be more inclined to advise people on what to do /not to do because they're doing their job. I'm never too sure who is in charge at any given time with clubs . . .DO can't be everywhere . . .which is also a bit worrying when it comes to safety. I'm aware though that I have a fairly bad understanding of how clubs work so I'm sure I'll be corrected. Can't stand the politics and various 'colourful' characters either I'm afraid on land or in water.

well as far as i know its a club, they have pool sessions booked for members to practice skills, snorkel, or just meet up to have fun. then they have schedualed weekends away, and a foreign holiday every year. you dont have to do courses if you dont want to, there is no pressure on you to do more courses. they dont charge membership, just money to pay for the pool (only 20euro a month). i could be wrong they have a site you can go onto it, it wont have much information yet, because its only under construction, but give it a try in a few weeks www.diveinnscuba.com
i could be wrond so feel free to correct me.

Benny-c

Scubachick, will the qualifications be recognised by PADI?

I still cannot understand the 'PADI Club' senario.

Benny

Evil Phil

Benny-c wrote:

Scubachick, will the qualifications be recognised by PADI?

I still cannot understand the 'PADI Club' senario.

Benny

I think it may be a club for people who are PADI qualified. By the looks of the site they have an instructor in their ranks who's going to help qualify new divers through PADI. Sounds like a good idea to me.

scuba chick

Evil Phil wrote:

I think it may be a club for people who are PADI qualified. By the looks of the site they have an instructor in their ranks who's going to help qualify new divers through PADI. Sounds like a good idea to me.

yep evil phil you've hit it spot on.:) sorry about my bad explanation everybody!

Benny-c

It may be a club led by PADI instructors (in a voluntary capacity?), but in relation to qualifications do PADI accept 'non centre' ones?

I am not fully aware of the relationship between PADI and its affiliated centres but I have no doubt that the centres pay a fee buy either purchasing the course materials and/or a yearly affiliation one, it being a commercial organisation. I am sure they (the centres) would be miffed if they found out that PADI are giving (e.g.) OW cards to clubs.

I have gone through the PADI system (OW & AOW) and their videos and written literature are always pushing 'your local PADI centre'.

Any thoughts anyone??

Benny

Evil Phil

Good point Benny-c. Maybe they have a local dive centre prepared to give discount to club members or something.

smcmullan

Sorry for being sceptical but they don't fit my idea of a club. They seem more like customer loyalty programs to me.

dublinbay

Mick L wrote:

Has anyone heard of any other agencies making any inroads in Ireland? e.g. GUE, DIR-F, etc.

DIR F course on in July here with GUE instructor

confused1

I came across this advertised by croatia divers. its an internship(http://www.croatiadivers.com/en/jobs.htm) that I lasts 11 weeks. It seems too good to be true, especially in europe. I was wondering if anybody had expierience with this crowd. I could only find one review by a british club that wasn't very complimentery, then again in my brief time diving i can see that theres alot of snobbery in the sport so im not taking it as gospel, and the shops website has plenty of good reviews. If anyone could give me any pointers on this offer it'd be much appreciated.
thanks
p

annR

I came across this advertised by croatia divers. its an internship(http://www.croatiadivers.com/en/jobs.htm) that I lasts 11 weeks. It seems too good to be true, especially in europe. I was wondering if anybody had expierience with this crowd. I could only find one review by a british club that wasn't very complimentery, then again in my brief time diving i can see that theres alot of snobbery in the sport so im not taking it as gospel, and the shops website has plenty of good reviews. If anyone could give me any pointers on this offer it'd be much appreciated.
thanks
p

I don't know what the going rate these days is for divemaster internships but I've done one myself so this is my advice. If you want to be a divemaster and especially if you are considering working as one, the quality of your training is very important. As with all kinds of instruction, divemaster internships range from awful to fantastic with everything in between. A badly trained divemaster is a menace.
You want to avoid a quickie course and go somewhere where you'll get as many dives in as possible and preferably with good variety. For instance one shop could insist on you being certified as soon as you have 60 dives, another shop might let you do as many dives as you want and take 4 months to certify.
I think you should talk to some people in the industry and ask them how to identify a professional shop which would offer good experience, then take off for Croatia or wherever you want to dive. Look around the dive shops and only decide then.
Of course you will need to know in advance that there is a certain number of shops offering internships in that area for you to visit and that you will be arriving at the right time etc, you could contact them in advance to check. Don't sign up for anything without seeing the place in person and doing what you can to make sure you'll get some decent training!

colinmcbride

Jak wrote: »

Good.

Just seemed to me you were what with the quotes and the reply.

Anyhows I am just giving my experience of both sides. If people want to learn to dive in Ireland, if at all possible I believe for both value, quality, and meeting and really getting to know other divers, you will be better off with a club.

There are no PADI 'clubs' as such. So your main option in Ireland is a CFT/CMAS affiliated club.

JAK.

Hi, Just my two cents worth. There are in fact PADI 'clubs' and lots of them - they just don't have the rigid structure that you see in CMAS clubs. We have one which is affilliated with the shop and we do not charge for membership, there is no politics, no hard sell on training or gear, just a lot of people that like to dive going together. We always send a divemaster or instructor with the group for briefings or to lead dives if required by anyone and there is no charge for this service. I think a lot of people on these boards like to bash PADI as too commercial but we also realise the value of keeping our customers happy and one way of doing that is by being able to organise diving for them as cheaply as we can.

Colin
First 4 Scuba Ltd

Scuba.ie

Smiler wrote: »

I would say if your go to a place that hasn't heard of CMAS I wouldn't dive there. Find somewhere that knows what their doing.

I disagree, some dive centres haven't heard of CFT/CMAS, and they may not even be PADI centres, but are still good quality and safety concious places. What a generalization...:(

Scuba.ie

Jak wrote: »

One instructor on that dive was looking after 4 1st time divers. Two of us happily swam off not knowing better, we had a great time and eventually all came up happy and well when the leader managed to get us all back together. I enjoyed it, but in retrospect that is shockingly unsafe practice. PADI's reputation abroad in holiday resorts is poor.

That wasn't the fault of the agency, it was the fault of the instructor/dive centre. Why blame the agency?

Scuba.ie

scuba chick wrote: »

in reply to this comment, the new club i have joined is not like that, its like one big family!!!!everyone knows everyone. you pay when you want to do various different padi courses (they go from discover scuba-instructor) and in between different qualfications you can be a member of their NO membership club.its fantastic, and i haven't even been there that long.
so maybe you just had a bad experience with a centre, but please dont lable us all the same.

I was in a PADI club for two years, a good bunch of like minded divers and a great social life. Two RIBs too!

k8y

Hello! Did you find more info's about Croatiadivers internship? I'm also intrested in this, but I'm still wondering about the conditions. Thank you in advance!

gary82

A belated happy birthday to this thread - it was 6 a week a go! :rolleyes:

loismustdie

hi, my boyfriends been scuba diving twice on hols and loved it, for his bday id like to book him for a dive here but will he hav to do somethin first to be 'qualified', what would you reccomend? we're in wicklow area but could go to wexford or dublin.

would he be best to do a course to begin with? where's the best place to start? thanks a mil