Mark Powell: Recreational Diving Secrets
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Embark on a comprehensive underwater odyssey with Mark Powell, a luminary in the world of diving.
Benjamin Hadfield, a Technical Instructor at Teach Me to Dive, engages in an enlightening interview with Mark, unveiling the secrets of transitioning from Open Water to Technical Diving. Explore recreational diving, crucial safety considerations, and the path to becoming a skilled instructor.
Dive into the depths of wisdom and experience, as Mark shares invaluable insights for divers, dive shops, and aspiring instructors alike. This is more than an interview; it's a deep dive into the heart of the underwater realm!
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Great interview Ben and I keep watching your Professional Growth. I am coming up on 4000 issued certs and what I have always told my instructors teaching OWD is when you sign off on them you are saying you are confident they can go to somewhere like Bonaire, get a truck and dive around the island without a DM - will they be able to do that safely based upon your evaluation of their skills that you taught them. It's quality of training no matter how long it takes. And with over 6000 logged dives I work on buoyancy all the time as the conditions of each dive can be different, new equipment, new exposure protection, affects of altitude and many other factors.
I like to think of it this way. When I send an instructor to an eval. The evaluator is evaluating ME, NOT my student :)
"diving is perfectly safe, as long as you remember how dangerous it is". Glorious!
Such amazing advice!
Excellent interview! Love Mark’s Deco for Divers book. A must read for anyone venturing into technical dive training.
Great book and awesome interview for sure!!!
Fantastic interview.... agree with everything Mark said. Looking forward to part 2
He is pretty amazing!!! Part 2 is even better! Maker sure to share with your friends :)
Absolutely
Thank you watching
Mark Powell , a true legend and heavy weight in the industry. Good going Benjamin.. love it
Thank you so much! Make sure to stay tuned for Part 2 on Wednesday and share this with your friends :)
how many percent of those who got certified continue to dive regularly thru the years after?
Certainly not nearly enough
Driving is a perfect analogy, would a driving examiner give a license to someone who can only drive straight and isn't able to make turns?
That's how I see instructors certifying divers on their knees or those that can't safely perform all the required skills while neutrally buoyant.
We agree, while there is a time and place to start some divers on their knees to help them gain comfort, it hurts them if an instructor allows them to finish their certs on their knees. I see a lot of new instructors that can't do the skills in position and it is crazy to me to see this. When teach an ITC/ITS I insist that they can only graduate with me when they can accomplish all of the skills, in diver position making them look easy and at a professional level
I understand where he's coming from but speaking as someone who completed a 3 days Open-water (OW) course and then completed a 2 days Advanced Open-water (AOW), I do think that as an "entry" to diving, PADI/ SSI made the right decision to make the training time that short when balancing between business and safety.
Speaking about giving justice to those that wants to take diving on a more serious side, we would be able to do those once we put our foot on the doorstep in which what those OW and AOW are. They are simply a stepping stone/ a taste of what diving is. Specialties/ Advanced TDs however should have additional requirements such as having your own equipment on top of a minimum dive records. This then put some sort of a buffer line between those that are taking this seriously versus those that are not.
Rescue dive course should be treated like First Aid courses. But, since it should be treated like a First Aid Course, a refresher every two years (or one) is mandatory which means that this has an expiry date. I believe that with rescue dives, unless this is your day job, you will never know how you would handle in a "real" emergency situation. Therefore, this should just be treated as "You're just one step better than those that have not taken it".
Looking forward for more amazing videos from you and safe dive 🤿
I agree, I also think that instructors should need to go through the student side of the course once every 1 - 2 years and a CPR/First Aid Refresher for instructors every year. :)
I strongly, strongly disagree with the statement "they (agencies) made the right (business) decision (to propose short courses)" and even less with your statement "OW and Adv OW corses are simply stepping stones, a taste of what diving is". Are you eating a canapé or going 30meters underwater, dude?
It's like saying that passing your driving licence exam and getting a driving licence is "a stepping stone to driving": it's such a distorted view that it's appalling to me!
I teach and what are seeing as professionals is a disaster caused by shorter and shorter courses.
Your 3+2 days of AOW are a dangerous. might be ok for you, maybe you had a good instructor and you're well versed to diving, but generally speaking its dangerous and wrong.
You should have perfect buoyancy, good trim, decent breathing + a good control of the equipment, then be encouraged to make more dives to rack up experience, this BEFORE even taking the AOW. 30 meters / 100 feet underwater is not a joke. it's not a taste of scuba diving. With 3 days of course 18 meters is absolutely enough.
And to be brutally honest: you didnt need the aow, they needed your money.