As a PADI Course Director, Instructor Examiner and Regional Manager at Asia Pacific I am often asked if I still dive for fun.
My response is always “100% I still love to dive and take every opportunity I get”.
All too often we can get caught up in work and life commitments and forget why we got into this amazing industry in the first place! For me the ocean and being underwater is my happy place.
Throughout our teaching careers we are encouraged to promote continuing education in every classroom, confined water and open water portion of our PADI courses, but do you also lead by example and continue your own professional development?
When was the last time you experienced learning something new in the dive industry?
I recently had the opportunity to participate in several PADI courses and learn more about these programmes to gain a more thorough understanding of the training standards, knowledge development materials and dive theory.
I chose to complete my PADI Sidemount Specialty course followed by the PADI Tec 40, 45 and 50 courses. Although I have completed some technical dive training in the past (full Cavern Diver qualified but all completed on back mount twins) it was many years ago and much of the content has been long forgotten, so this was a fantastic opportunity to refresh, as well as gain some great new skills and knowledge.
I did this not only for my personal and professional development but to also gain more insight in this area to provide better support to our PADI TecRec Centres and members offering, or working towards offering these technical courses.
By becoming the student it also reminds us of what it’s like to be in our students ‘fins’, which ensures we remember to show empathy when teaching. It also helps us be more confident selling the various PADI courses.
I now understand a lot more about the PADI TecRec courses and I have to say I am super impressed with the programmes, standards and comprehensive theory. I feel confident to pass on this knowledge professionally and begin exploring the ocean down to 50 meters/164 feet!
Trying out new equipment and equipment configuration was fantastic and after hearing about sidemount equipment, it was amazing to be able to try it out for myself.
Pictured below is myself and my amazing Instructor Sam Norton from Blue Season Bali here in Sanur – Bali, Indonesia on our final Tec 50 dive on the Kubu wreck in Bali, along with my awesome buddy Chris Codent. Sam and Chris were great fun and kindly provided the photos included in this blog.
If technical diving sounds like something you may wish to learn more about or if you already have some credentials but would like to learn about where this would transfer into the PADI system of education, please contact your Regional Training Consultant today.
Learn more about PADI Technical diving courses and follow the TecRec Blog for additional information about this fantastic area of our industry.
