PADI Pearl Diving Speciality

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Robert - 29 Mar 2006 08:29 GMT

Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
yet?

Would like to do that one as one of my specialities for MSD.

Any input appreciated - thanks.

Rob

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Reef Fish - 29 Mar 2006 17:15 GMT

> Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
> yet?

No, but I have done the more challenging equivalent of Solo Black Coral
Diving in Cozumel.

Unfortunately, PADI wouldn't sanctioned that Specialty because it would
not make enough money from it since the Specialty would require solo
diving to 200-250 fsw in Cozumel, and know where black corals are
found in each of the Palancar sites.

> Would like to do that one as one of my specialities for MSD.
>
> Any input appreciated - thanks.

Rob, you can get your MSD Specialty for PADI or SSI by just DIVING the
drift dives in on the Passes from the Tahiti Aggressor. The drift are

said to be potentially 12 knots, but seldom exceeded 5 knots when
divers are there. You get the Specialty without having to pay for any
specialty course. Just fill a form at the end of the liveaboard week
and
voila, ANOTHER Specialty, and PADI adds "one" to its count of
certified divers worldwide. :-)

-- Bob.

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Greg Mossman - 29 Mar 2006 18:57 GMT

> Rob, you can get your MSD Specialty for PADI or SSI by just DIVING the
> drift dives in on the Passes from the Tahiti Aggressor. The drift are
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> voila, ANOTHER Specialty, and PADI adds "one" to its count of
> certified divers worldwide. :-)

The French Polynesia Aggressor will no longer do the passes as of May 2006.
They're moving it to Bora Bora.

Reply to this Message

Reef Fish - 29 Mar 2006 22:38 GMT

> > Rob, you can get your MSD Specialty for PADI or SSI by just DIVING the
> > drift dives in on the Passes from the Tahiti Aggressor. The drift are
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> The French Polynesia Aggressor will no longer do the passes as of May 2006.
> They're moving it to Bora Bora.

I didn't know THAT! Guess I haven't been reading all my Aggressor
email.

That means Robert had better hurry and get his Pass Drift Specialty
before May 2006.

Bora Bora would be a great move by the Aggressor Fleet!

Much better and more abundant sharks than Rangiroa -- the well-known
name for FP shark dives.

I'll have to read about the new charter and dates.

Greg, wanna book a trip on that one? I can show you where all the
sharks are in Bora Bora. :-) Dived there on only about 5 trips,
but
only 1 or two dives each trip.

But seriously, the Bora Bora Aggressor has suddenly LEAPED to
the Top List of: liveaboards I wanna dive before I die.

-- Bob.

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Greg Mossman - 29 Mar 2006 22:58 GMT

> Greg, wanna book a trip on that one? I can show you where all the
> sharks are in Bora Bora. :-) Dived there on only about 5 trips,
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> But seriously, the Bora Bora Aggressor has suddenly LEAPED to
> the Top List of: liveaboards I wanna dive before I die.

I spent my 35th birthday on the boat. February 2008 will be my 40th. Hmmm.

Reply to this Message

Reef Fish - 30 Mar 2006 00:23 GMT

> > Greg, wanna book a trip on that one? I can show you where all the
> > sharks are in Bora Bora. :-) Dived there on only about 5 trips,
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> I spent my 35th birthday on the boat.

Yeah, yeah. February 20, 2003. So, if you were 35 in Feb 2003,
you would have been 38 on February 20, 2006. Check. You got
it right this time.

> February 2008 will be my 40th. Hmmm.

But by then, the Bora Bora Aggressor may have moved to Nuku
Hiva, which is by FAR the best of the French Polynesian islands
for diving, not to mention I'll be over 120 years old, factoring in
the "quotient" for mental age. ;-)

When I get the fact sheet from the Aggressor Fleet, I'll probably
book a week there in 2006 or early 2007 at the latest.

-- Bob.

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Robert - 29 Mar 2006 19:18 GMT

Yes, but you get to keep the pearls too <grin>

They reckon that you end up with about 1/2 lb of prime pearls.
A slight incentive..lol

Rob

>> Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
>> yet?
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
>-- Bob.

Reply to this Message

Reef Fish - 29 Mar 2006 22:42 GMT

> Yes, but you get to keep the pearls too <grin>
>
> They reckon that you end up with about 1/2 lb of prime pearls.
> A slight incentive..lol

Well, you can come up with black corals that are worth more than
the pearls that are left by the pearl divers there.

The only caveat is that you have to find a way of keeping yourself
put in jail the rest of your life by havesting any black coral in
Cozumel. <BG>

-- Bob.

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D - 29 Mar 2006 20:27 GMT

Pearl diving specialties..Is this never going to end?...I'm still waiting
for the "peeing in the wetsuit specialtiy course"

> Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
> yet?
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Rob

Reply to this Message

Reef Fish - 29 Mar 2006 22:58 GMT

> Pearl diving specialties..Is this never going to end?...I'm still waiting
> for the "peeing in the wetsuit specialtiy course"

That's too easy, even for a PADI Specialty! Have some respect!

A more challenging (and Advanced) Specialty is to do a Number 2
in drift dive, without soiling your wetsuit or lycra, by doing a doff
and don of the suit and THEN execute the Number 2 manoeuver.

I reported such in 1989:

RF> I can think of
RF> only ONE occasion of having to a similar "advanced" skill, when
nature
RF> called for a sudden "number 2" during a dive in Cozumel, from a
6-pak
RF> boat without a head. I had NO prior practice in THAT lycra-suit
RF> stripping in current "skill", so I did the more elementary version
of
RF> the free-floating manoeuvre on the ocean bottom, hidden behind a
coral
RF> head (no pun intended here), downcurrent from the group ... :-)
RF> Still a much more challenging manoeuvre than the free-floating
doff-
RF> and-don of a BC, which is a piece of cake.

For a discussion of other Specialty skills, see the full post in

http://tinyurl.com/rz62v

Needless to say, PADI didn't sanction THAT "Number 2" in drift
Specialty either! I think that may be the reason some people say
they are FOS.

-- Bob.

Reply to this Message

Greg Mossman - 29 Mar 2006 23:04 GMT

> RF> I can think of
> RF> only ONE occasion of having to a similar "advanced" skill, when
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> coral
> RF> head (no pun intended here), downcurrent from the group ... :-)

So now we all know why you bounce out of sight down the wall at the
beginning of the dive.

Reply to this Message

Reef Fish - 29 Mar 2006 23:56 GMT

> > RF> I can think of
> > RF> only ONE occasion of having to a similar "advanced" skill, when
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> So now we all know why you bounce out of sight down the wall at the
> beginning of the dive.

You would bounce to THAT depth only if you're severely constipated,
and it would scare the Number 2 out of you!

As for me, the Number 2 Specialty was done at about 60 fsw. :)

BTW, I had just checked my email from the Aggressor, their webpage,
and phoned to Aggressor office to learn that they have released
NO INFO about the Tahiti Aggressor II (Bora Bora) details yet.

But I'll be on the mailing list whenever any news is announced.

The only thing on the web now is just that blurp about the old Tahiti
itinerary will be terminated in May, as you posted.

-- Bob.

Reply to this Message

Dillon Pyron - 30 Mar 2006 05:12 GMT

>Pearl diving specialties..Is this never going to end?...I'm still waiting
>for the "peeing in the wetsuit specialtiy course"

Beer diving (see "The Drew Carey Show" and the episode with Beer Boy)

>> Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
>> yet?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>> Rob
>

Signature

dillon

I didn't climb to the top of the
food chain to become a vegetartian.

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JRE - 01 Apr 2006 01:20 GMT

> Pearl diving specialties..Is this never going to end?...I'm still waiting
> for the "peeing in the wetsuit specialtiy course"

Drat! There goes a couple of ounces of perfectly good beer, all over the
keyboard and monitor.

DON'T DO THAT!

John Eells

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MArtin - 29 Mar 2006 22:12 GMT

>Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
>yet?
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>Rob

Yes, It enlivened a trip there a couple of years back. Not exactly
demanding, in any way except oyster opening persistance. The course
gives an amusing novelty card, some different diving and an unusual
souvenir. But doesn't really add to your diving skill set.

In practice 1/2 a pound of pearls is pretty unlikely, but my missus
has a ring and pendant each set with three decent size real pearls as
a souvenir. There was also a thimble full of sand sized upwards pearls
of limited value or use.

MArtin

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Reef Fish - 30 Mar 2006 00:07 GMT

> >Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
> >yet?
> >
> >Rob

> In practice 1/2 a pound of pearls is pretty unlikely,

and is a gross hyperbole, much grosser than the 12 knot current in the
Tahiti Passes.

In practice, it'll be more like those sift your own gold outfits in the
tourist area in Tennessee where the operator had to PLANT a little
microscopic nugget or two that's less than the price of admission
to entice the gold-diggers. :-)

> but my missus
> has a ring and pendant each set with three decent size real pearls as
> a souvenir.

You can find those in the flea markets in Hawaii in factory sealed
tin cans that have a probability of 1/1000 that you'll get a pearl
worth the price of the can. In Bali, they don't even have to mess
around with gimicks -- they just SHOW you all sizes of black
pearls and charge you enough to make their while in inding them.

There are also the pearl shops in Moorea (across the street
from the Beachcomber hotel from which Greg and his gang dived),
and on other islands.

-- Bob.

There was also a thimble full of sand sized upwards pearls

> of limited value or use.
>
> MArtin

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MArtin - 30 Mar 2006 09:30 GMT

>> >Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
>> >yet?
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>microscopic nugget or two that's less than the price of admission
>to entice the gold-diggers. :-)

Not really, the opportunity is to dive real oyster beds, with real
oysters as fished between antiquity and the coming of cultured pearls
in the early twentieth century. The pearls strike rate and quality is
partly down to luck, but mostly down to how thoroughly the
information from the classroom session was absorbed.

>> but my missus
>> has a ring and pendant each set with three decent size real pearls as
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>around with gimicks -- they just SHOW you all sizes of black
>pearls and charge you enough to make their while in inding them.

Possibly, but these are "our" real pearls found by us in the ocean on
our dives. It was interesting, it was fun and gave a new respect for
the traditional native divers who breath held dived and collected
pearls for necklaces in the days before cultured pearls.

>There are also the pearl shops in Moorea (across the street
>from the Beachcomber hotel from which Greg and his gang dived),
>and on other islands.

But that is to miss the point. In a similar way to proposing that I
should buy the pearls / jewellry, I could stay at home and watch The
Blue planet or the discovery channel but in fact I prefer to go and
dive.

MArtin

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Reef Fish - 30 Mar 2006 15:43 GMT

> >> >Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
> >> >yet?
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> >microscopic nugget or two that's less than the price of admission
> >to entice the gold-diggers. :-)

My point there was that it was just a gimmick to sell the dives. Just
like the tourist gold mines in the Carolinas and TN. The gold jewelry
shop is a much more cost effective alternative. If the pearl harvest
has
the potential the OP believed, the PROFESSIONAL pearl divers would
have taken them all before he got there.

> Not really, the opportunity is to dive real oyster beds, with real
> oysters as fished between antiquity and the coming of cultured pearls
> in the early twentieth century. The pearls strike rate and quality is
> partly down to luck, but mostly down to how thoroughly the
> information from the classroom session was absorbed.

I believe in all of it except the last line. That's like the huckster
telling gullible clients how they could make millions in real estates
or the stock market. If he knew, he would be out there making the
millions instead of peanuts for his classroom sessions.

> >> but my missus
> >> has a ring and pendant each set with three decent size real pearls as
> >> a souvenir.

My wife found a tag heuer watch at the bottom of the sea that was
almost new except for the missing post of the watch band that parted
it from its owner. After having used it for awhile and had too many
time devices already, we sold it at e-bay for $300. Just another UW
find, like a pearl. :)

> >You can find those in the flea markets in Hawaii in factory sealed
> >tin cans that have a probability of 1/1000 that you'll get a pearl
> >worth the price of the can. In Bali, they don't even have to mess
> >around with gimicks -- they just SHOW you all sizes of black
> >pearls and charge you enough to make their while in inding them.

I mentioned these for the Free Market comparison purposes. It is
even more rare to find a underpriced black pearl that way than the
near-zero chances of finding them in diving for pearls in Bali.

> Possibly, but these are "our" real pearls found by us in the ocean on
> our dives. It was interesting, it was fun and gave a new respect for
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> MArtin

I didn't miss your point of the joy of finding something yourself that
you could have bought; but you missed my point that the ALTERNATIVES
in a Free Market is always worth a consideration.

-- Bob.

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Robert - 30 Mar 2006 07:49 GMT

Thanks Martin, then will have to think of another one instead,
definately want the search and recovery one, that looks FUN

Cheers

Rob

>>Has anybody taken the PADI Pearl Diving Speciality Course in Bahrain
>>yet?
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
>MArtin

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MArtin - 30 Mar 2006 09:38 GMT

>Thanks Martin, then will have to think of another one instead,
>definately want the search and recovery one, that looks FUN
>
>Cheers
>
>Rob

It was FUN, great fun. It made for an enjoyable trip and I would
recommend it to anyone.

However, there is to me a big difference between:

the Bahrain pearl trip which was fun, interesting and in some ways
educational on the history of pearl diving and the life of oysters

and a course / trip / hint which was going to enhance my diving skill
set whether it gave me a card or not.

MArtin

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