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| Originally Posted by chrisj Also how many dives do people think should be (not what actually is) required to become a Divemaster / Instructor |
To my mind the problem lies in the earlier levels and the 'Advanced Open Water' grade especially.
If that course was beefed up slightly with perhaps one more compulsory Knowledge Review recapping and then introducing some elements like D/SMB use that would help. An actual exam would too and I'd set a number of dive as prerequisites too, possibly 20 but at least 10. Presently you could be an AOW with just 9 dives and I think that lacks credibility, at least with the current title.
I don't think the Instructor dive requirements look too unrealistic but I'd perhaps increase the RD and DM requirements by the number added to the AOW course. That'd give something like 20 for AOW, 40 for RD and 80 for DM.
At the end of the day it's about ability and experience and the number of dives is simply a guide but I feel this would increase the credibility in the eyes of those who knock the system presently.