Posts by Andrew Moore15

Gosovic is top-tier, and I actually had Koprivica as an instructor once. Honestly though, I think diver training depends way more on the individual instructor’s skill and their specific teaching style than whatever association you're signed up with. These days, there are tons of people calling themselves instructors who basically just run a "pay to play" scheme—they just check the boxes and call it a day. You see that kind of "get 'em in, get 'em out" mentality most often at PADI centers—I definitely noticed it quite a bit while traveling through Egypt or Thailand. It’s rare for a total newbie to actually be able to dive properly or even grasp the real risks involved after just a three-day course, yet that rushed timeline is pretty much the standard at those types of shops. Not to trash PADI entirely, though—they still have plenty of solid, conscientious instructors who actually give a damn about doing the job right.

Hmm, maybe. Generally speaking, you could say PADI tables are always a bit more conservative since their whole vibe is avoiding decompression dives whenever possible. Meanwhile, the CMAS crowd tends to lean on Hahn-Bühlmann or other stuff—like the US Navy tables—which are a little more "relaxed." So, sure, you could argue PADI divers are playing it safer, but—big "but" here—it all comes down to the individual. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which agency signed your cert; what matters is who your instructor was and what kind of diver you actually are—your buoyancy, whether you freak out under pressure, how much air you guzzle, all that stuff.
The old-school CMAS guys—the so-called "scuba-saurs"—and especially the PADI folks love to bicker about methodology, but honestly? It’s just noise. Both teach basically the same thing, just through a slightly different lens. You still have to master the same skills regardless, so there's really no point in the arguing.