Billsreef, you are absolutely correct about snorkeling during SI. Unfortunately here in So cal, there is not a whole lot of decent no less good snorkeling. I suppose I kind of lipped off (with fun and love as intentions) with a little bit of a cocky attitude... I dive almost exclusively in doubles, always with a long hose, and do as much wreck diving as I can. Most of the people I regularly dive with have the same view as me,we see snorkels as a piece of equipment used on either warm water vacations, or else new divers. I will say that one of the best dives I ever had involved 9 of us dumping our scuba gear back on the liveaboard, grabbing a snorkel and jumping back in the water to play with a whale shark that was acting like a giant puppy. So I agree, snorkels do have a place in the dive locker and can be used for great fun, I however do not carry one (except for pool work with students)
Savas per PADI students are supposed to learn how to do a fin pivot, but they don't need to demonstrate real buoyancy or trim skills. They are taught to use their drysuit as buoyancy device, to do a vertical ascent at "less than" 60 fpm, and to return to a boat with 500 psi (ok Im not sure if that last one is PADI or just the simplest albeit deadly rule of thumb to teach divers). I do have a question for those who were trained by PADI, what is up with the 5 point descent SOSTD? The first S is signal that you are going to go down, Orient,Switch from snorkel to reg, Time of descent, Descend... Why would you give the thumbs down signal to your team/buddy before you do all the rest? You should signal, get a reply then descend...whatever.
