PADIReviews of padi.com

Stupid rules need changing!!!! I made a mistake filling out my medical form & now I need a Doctors note. Not sure why they can’t resend me the medical form? Now this turned into a unpleasant experience because Padi can’t resend the medical form. It has been a headache because of a stupid mistake Instead of an Epic adventure.

Received Padi Club membership offer in the mail today, decided to look at reviews online before spending the $29.95 to sign up. Glad I did! So many recent reviews stating the site it pretty much useless. I'm confused, how could a powerful reputable organization like PADI let an important tool slip through the cracks?

PADI is a sham. I have actevily worked as an Instructor for twenty years in the scuba diving industy. Both as a PADI OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) and a CMAS*** Instructor. For everyone who doesn't know, my CMAS qualification is way higher than my PADI qualification. The only reason I even bothered with PADI is that they have such a large market share, due to their excellent marketing machine and it is nearly impossible to get work in this Industry not being a PADI INstructor. This is about the only positive thing I can say about PADI, their marketing. I am also a certified Dive Industry technician and run a filling and service station, supplying a range of dive centers with air, nitrox and trimix, repairing and overhauling compressors and regulators and I also visually inspect and hydrostatically test scuba cylinders. Everytime PADI is changing standards, the only reason is to make it even easier and sell more courses opposed to their statement to increase quality. This is not so much an issue at amateur levels but all the more in the professional ranks as it gives even people with very low IQ the opportunity to become a so called diving professional. Standards have dropped so far in this Industry over the last two decades that I am wondering, there aren't more serious accidents. A few examples: No PADI Nitrox Instructor being tought today is able to calculate maximum operation depths (MOD) for a given gas, the partial pressure oxygen (PO2) for a given gas at a given depth or the necessary Gas fraction for a planned dive. All of which are essential for save Nitrox diving. I know this as my Nitrox cylinders are marked with the Gas fraction and the corresponding MOD as outlined in most diving associations guidelines. On a daily base these cylinders are being returned with the MOD being falsely corrected with wrong values. When I ask the Instructors why they did it, the most common answer is: my computer said so. Typical 'turn computer on and brain off' behaviour. No PADI instrctor today is able to answer why it is a problem that the volume of a closed flexible container (our lungs, when we hold our breath) decreses as pressure increases (descending) and increases as the pressure decreses (ascendng). Most common answer from a PADI Instructor nowadays is that your lungs may explode opposed to the correct answer that the product of pressure and volume is constant (P*V=C) and can lead to serious lung overexpansion injuries as well as so called reverse blocks (to name only the two most common issues). These where two physics related issues which can both lead to serious injuries and illnesses such as Decopression sickness (DCS), Oxygen toxicity, lung overexpansion injuries and more. The issue of pulmonary oxygen toxicity is not even touched in a PADI Nitrox course. Another problem I observe many a time is how Instructors deal with cases of skin bends (one type of DCS). In order to make the customer stay with the dive shop and get more dives in, many Instructors tell the customer that it is safe to continue diving after oxygen has been administered and the initial symptoms disappear. This is a potentally life threatening issue, as every hyperbaric physician will tell you, and can lead to longterm neurological issues. Due to the lack of understanding of partial pressures on the side of the Instructors (caused by PADI's poor educational system) even the air you are breathing, in many cases, is heavily contaminated with Aluminium oxydes or oil due to poor filter maintenance of the breathing air compressors. I could continue this list forever but it would get very technical and boring for most people. My conclusion is that if you only want to get a diving certificate, agree with PADI (Put Another Dollar In) and want to PADI (Pay And Dive Immediatelly), it's the way to go for you. But be aware that the only goal of PADI (Produce Another I diot Diver) is to make money, not educate and prepare you for safe diving procedures. For everyone seeking proper training, avoid PADI like the plague and look for a club based diving association such as CMAS or BSAC.

Did 100% on most of the review tests. Almost did not pass final test. Padi does not inform you that you need to purchase a dive planner, I missed all of the dive planner questions because on no planner. Personally I think Padi sucks. Tom K, Denver Colorado.