Talk:Dive center

Unsourced opinion
I've reverted the following from the article as it is (1) unsourced (see WP:RS), (2) written as a "how-to" (see WP:NOTHOWTO), (3) offers personal opinions (see WP:SOAP), and (4) adds an external link whose only purpose is to promote an external website (see WP:ELNO#4). Without dive centers all around the world, scuba diving and related agencies would not exist. Apart from these dive centers preparing new comers to commercial diving, the majority of them propose recreational diving. Inside the recreational level you can: According to the well known agencies (PADI, CMAS, GUE, SSI, SDI….), instructors from dive centers can deliver official certification (you have a card or certificate to prove it). Usually it consists in few dives in a pool and in the sea and a theory exam. As a beginner it is strongly advised to check online if the dive center is authorized to deliver the dedicated certifying program. It is advised as well to check the age of the center. Actually the older the better especially because it is vital to have strong connection with the emergency services and local person related to this industry.
 * go for more technical dive which require special training (special mixture of gas) because you go beyond 40 meters
 * continue your education and become an instructor

When you browse on internet or on the official website of the agencies it is nearly impossible to get useful information and to choose where to go. More or less they all claim to be the best but when it comes to reality it is another story. Big centers are usually good for equipment conditions, for organization, not necessarily good on safety matter (often reach the maximum of the capacity) and not at all if you don’t like the crowd. Small centers are usually more resource limited (often poor equipment conditions and schedule less flexible) but atmosphere is more relax and the safety level better. All these parameters are difficult to check for a beginner even an experienced one. However it does exist few resources on internet able to classify and rank dive centers all around the world.

External link : http://www.worlddivingreview.com : free bilingual (English and French) website with accurate standardized information regarding dive centers and regions all around the world. I dispute the verifiability of much of what is written. If a reliable source is found to support any part of it, I'd be happy to help rephrase it from translated French into idiomatic English. --RexxS (talk) 08:02, 6 December 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree with your conclusions on the above, and consider that while some of it is simply wrong, much of the rest is biased or of limited accuracy (excessive generalisation). &bull; &bull; &bull; Peter (Southwood) (talk): 06:02, 23 August 2016 (UTC)