17 replies to this topic

[BradfordNC]

Grant,

as for the history of the card and the PADI program, i only know what the cardholder told me.

met him at Cave Excursions East just outside Ginnie while getting a fill.

He said that only 4 PADI cave instructor cards were ever issued.
Shek wrote the program of instruction.
between the 4 instructors, he figures there are less than 100 PADI cave diver certs out there.

from what another source tells me, Shek pretty much snuck the whole thing past PADI, how i don't know. have been told that he sold it on the definition of "cavern diving"
but when they found out that what he meant by "cavern diving" was in fact full on cave diving, they nixxed it.

but then, your close to the source for the PADI side of the story.

[ScubaDadMiami]

FWIW, NAUI also certifies cave diving.

[ScubaDadMiami]

To have that skill set down to the point where you can teach it is another level entirely. That is a very skilled diver and educator.

This might be old news (so things might have changed since my instructor informed me of this), but just to give everyone an idea of just how skilled the cave instructor has to be:

For someone to be certified as a cave instructor by the main cave diving associations, that instructor first had to pass training with an instructor trainer. That is not so much unlike the current system for recreational instructors.

However, if an instructor trainer passes three students that fail the final evaluation for certification as a cave instructor, that instructor trainer lost his/her instructor trainer status.

Because of this, by the time an instructor trainer was willing to sign on the dotted line, you know that the candidate was ready to become an instructor. That IT's livelihood was on the line for every candidate referred everytime.