A MESSAGE FROM RAID TO STUDENT DIVERS
Once you've made up your mind to take up scuba diving, you have several choices. One of them might just be picking the dive agency to earn your certification through. Your local dive shop may offer that choice, because several dive operations and their instructors are registered with multiple agencies. The surprise to some students is that there are so many dive agencies! At last count, we totted up approximately 120 world-wide. Luckily, there are only seven that are recognized universally, and RAID is one of them. Many students learning to dive don't bother much about which agency they certify through. They may leave that decision to their instructor. We understand that, but sometimes it's the subtle things that a customer should understand, and that's why you should read this. First and foremost, most agencies, and certainly the members of the Big Seven, including RAID, follow guidelines set out by the WRSTC (World Recreational Scuba Training Council) and the European Underwater Federation (EUF). Being affiliated with these governing bodies means that RAID's programs meet or exceed industry norms and your certification is recognized universally. Now the phrase "meet or exceeds industry norms," well, that's worth looking at in more depth. RAID is not the biggest or most well-known dive agency, but we do offer something special, we think unique, to our divers, and you should know about it. RAID has a strong reputation for quality and thoroughness. For example, we insist that divers in the basic open water classes, learn trim and buoyancy control starting from day one. We're so sure about this that before a student earns their RAID certification, they are expected to demonstrate the list of skills needed to graduate from a beginner's scuba diving class, hovering in midwater. Other agencies allow beginners to kneel on the bottom to demo skills and teach buoyancy and trim as part of 'advanced' classes, which requires the student to pay an additional fee. We believe that staying off the bottom protects the environment and the diver. And graduates from our programs have been thanking us for that little bit of extra effort in our training standards since the very beginning. RAID also teaches what some other agencies call in our open water class. This is because running out of something to breathe at depth is not cool and learning options to avoid it are necessary and not advanced. Once again, it simply takes a little extra effort. And we feel several other issues are worth our students knowing about from the very beginning rather than in another class with another fee. This includes learning about alternative finning techniques, different equipment configurations, and how to be your most comfortable when you're diving. Extras for some of the other agencies, part of the basics for us. Sure, we know that there are instructors teaching for other agencies, who include some of these things as an option in their classes. We're used to being copied. It's been happening since the first batch of RAID instructors "pulled on a pair of fins and a mask." But there's a world of difference in a vital skill being optional (we'll get to it if there's time), and it being a requirement of the course (it must be included). Perhaps it's because RAID began teaching technical diving, and we carried all of those lessons over to our full recreational and leadership streams. Whatever is behind it, you will benefit from RAID’s teaching philosophy and promise. We provide today's divers with a safe, comfortable, inclusive learning environment where the focus is on using new technologies, the best ideas, and the safest options from day one and always. That's the RAID Way™.
