Nick, as a PADI instructor, you should know better...Paul T - Instructor/ContractorApril 26, 2006 at 19:50:25Nick, you are confusing the course training standards with PADI guidelines for
supervision of divers who complete the PADI Scuba Diver course. PADI instructors and divemasters are not required to buddy with divers who have only completed the PADI Scuba Diver course. That should be obvious because there is no limit on how many can be "supervised" on any specific dive. And as the CDNN editorial points out, the 12 meter depth limit is only a recommendation, not a mandatory requirement.
The PADI instructor or divemaster could take a dozen or more divers with only the PADI Scuba Diver certification to a depth of 20 or even 30 meters or more without violating PADI standards for supervision of divers who have completed the course. Allowing PADI divemasters and instructors (and dive shops) such leeway with inadequately trained divers is wrong and therefore PADI's fault. | 
