PADI Renewal Fees?

[chrisj]

Could someone please post the PADI renewal fees for the different levels please?

Also how many dives do people think should be (not what actually is) required to become a Divemaster / Instructor

Cheers

Chris

[Tony F]

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.

[Noel Johnson]

The problem with the required amount of dives is that they do not take into account the depth or the location of said dives. You can become a DM or Instructor and never have dived anywhere other than Stoney, or left the 6 metre shelf more than half a dozen occaisions.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fully paid up PADI pro - I just think the prerequisits need looking at.

[Adrian Kelland]

I thought I read somewhere that some saltwater diving is now a requirement for DM?

Not that I care

[chrisj]

Originally Posted by Noel Johnson

The problem with the required amount of dives is that they do not take into account the depth or the location of said dives. You can become a DM or Instructor and never have dived anywhere other than Stoney, or left the 6 metre shelf more than half a dozen occaisions.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fully paid up PADI pro - I just think the prerequisits need looking at.

Ok so most are agreed that the number of dives given as a prerequisite is acceptable but there needs to be specification on depth etc.

I understand that what I am asking will be peoples personal opinions but what depths/how many eg 20 @ 30 m+/ 20 10m+ / 50 @ saltwater etc

The reason I am asking is since my first dive 3 years ago my main goal is to become an instructor (for a hobby), to share my enjoyment and expierience with others.

Cheers

Chris

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by chrisj

Could someone please post the PADI renewal fees for the different levels please?

Also how many dives do people think should be (not what actually is) required to become a Divemaster / Instructor

Cheers

Chris

AFAIK the PADI renewal fees are the same across the board?

I can't confirm that because, at the moment, PADI's website says;

HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too busy
Internet Information Services

Technical Information (for support personnel)

• Background:
  The request cannot be processed at this time. The amount of traffic exceeds the Web site's configured capacity.

Hahaha.

[jamie]

Originally Posted by chrisj

I understand that what I am asking will be peoples personal opinions but what depths/how many eg 20 @ 30 m+/ 20 10m+ / 50 @ saltwater etc

I'm not an instructor or anywhere near but was speaking to a friend of mine who has just completed a PADI DM course and he asked some similar questions and was told that the new PADI standards state that you need expierience in these areas to be qualified.

Cheers

[gansell]

I can't find my latest renewel letter from PADI, but mine was about £50 for a Divemaster. I think it is more for the Instructor grades.

As for the number of dives, I would think that 80 - 100 is suitable for the Divemaster grade. I think that there should be some detail on what these dives are though, such as at least 10 to 30m, 10 to 40m, 10 boat dives, 10 sea dives, etc.

The problem with this for PADI is that it is a global organisation. If you live in the centre of the USA, or Asia for example, you might never see the sea, and therefore to specify that you must do a sea dive to gain a qualification is unfair.

At the end of the day it is down to the individual involved to ensure that they have the experience in the conditions in which they are diving, not just to keep themselves safe, but also to keep those they are supervising safe. I think that most people are ware of this, of course there are always those whose perspective of their own abilities is magnified.

Gaining this experience, either through an internship, or individully, is going to be fun as well as rewarding, and should be seen as part of a divers ongoing education.


gareth

[adam76]

I am currently doing dive master course i have currently logged 64 dives in sea and inland some to 30+m, but am doing course over quite a long internship and hope to get logged dives up to around 100 by the time i finish. Personally i think this will give me good experience in diving and also supervising. Let me know if you thinks this is a good way of doing this!

[chrisch]

It used to be $50 for DM and $100 for OWSI, but I lost interest a long time ago.

In order to teach scuba to make a living you need trainer skills, communication skills and mostly business acumen. The number of dives? Who knows - why care? Its like being a driving instructor - you are teaching someone to pass a test not to be a rally driver.

In order to be a "good" instructor (whatever that is) you need a wide variety of experience.

Saltwater IMHO doesn't matter one iota. Many people in live far from the sea (e.g. Mid US) and dive lakes all the time. One holiday trip to Hurgada is not saltwater "experience".

I always find it odd that after 20 dives about 15% of new divers "want to be an instructor". Oh well good thing I suppose. How else would PADI make its money?

Chris