PADI Americas
30151 Tomas Street, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-2125
800-729-7234, or (949) 858-7234
http://www.padi.com
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Dear Fellow Diver;

I know I start each email with this, but WOW!  I was truly overwhelmed with 
the response we received from my simple request to tell me about your diving 
experiences.  We received more than 4,500 e-mails and more than 2,000 were 
sent directly to me.  I did my best to answer everyone that requested a 
response.  (I am still working on a few late arrivals.)

Many of you indicated that the newsletter was very America centered.  Guilty 
as charged.  Despite my best efforts, I get most of my information from the 
dive press and our own sources.  I did suggest to a few readers that they 
become my correspondent in their perspective area.  I offer that opportunity 
to all of you now.  Please feel free to send me a brief note about what is 
going on in your part of the world that might interest other PADI Divers.  
When appropriate and possible, I will work it into the Fellow Diver 
Newsletter.  Maybe I can even get it on the website, so include pictures when 
possible.

With that said, here is some more news from America, my good friend Pat 
Hammer, and PADI 5 Star IDC owner in Chicago, asked me to mention the "Our 
World Underwater" consumer diver in the Chicago area on April 24-27th.  So if 
you are going to be any where near the windy city, go to the show.  If you 
ever thought of visiting Chicago, this is the best reason in the world to 
book your trip now!  Ok, I got carried away.  By the way, if you have any 
events that you want to tell the dive world about, don't forget to use the 
International Event Schedule in the padi.com website.  It's free, quick and 
easy.

So many of you shared great diving experiences you had during the PADI 
Adventures in Diving with me that I must say, the program is a hit. The way 
most of you described it, it's really not a course, but an experience.  If 
you haven't done so, please check it out and get the adventure of a lifetime 
and your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver rating.

Your thousands of notes also informed us that we need to do a better job of 
letting you know how to take the next step.  Almost half of you asked how to 
take the next step towards being a dive professional (I'm not kidding!).  
Well, we will be tweaking our website to make sure that everyone knows how to 
become a PADI Dive Master and Instructor, what kind of jobs are available, 
what kind of money can be made, and all that good stuff that you want to 
know. Until then, speak will  your instructor or PADI dive center.  They'll 
be able to help. PADI 5 Star IDC and CDC Centers along with Gold Palm IDC 
Resorts specialize in fulfilling dreams of careers in diving.

Many of you asked about specific information about dive destinations.  The 
most common question went something like this:  "I have been thinking about 
going to XYZ Dive Destination, can you tell me how the diving is and where's 
a good place to stay."  Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't gotten the 
opportunity to dive everywhere I would like to and certainly not in as many 
locations as you asked about.  However, I did give some great advice about 
diving in Lake Mead, Nevada!  So this is how you find out about those great 
dive locations.  Go to padi.com and look up the destination in the dive 
center and resort locator.  Our network of 4,500 dive centers and resorts 
would love to hear from you and answer your questions.  Your local dive 
center is also an excellent source of information.  If you're still stumped, 
contact PADI Travel Network and they can get you answers when no one else can.

Now I see the page break here so I know I am running long.  We promised to 
bring you a special offer where we ran across a really special one so here it 
is:

Blu Rivard, renowned marine artist, friend,  and  member of Project AWARE's 
Honorary Board of governors is offering Dear Fellow Divers readers who are 
PADI Divers and Members a 10% discount on purchases of any Fine Art Posters, 
Limited Editions prints, The Wooden Gallery Process and Limited Edition 
Collector plates.  Blu will donate ten percent of the proceeds directly to 
the Project Aware Foundation. The first 100 prints of Free Flight fine art 
posters will be hand signed by the artist for the Protect the Sharks Project! 
To order your Fine Art Poster or specified Collectibles simply go to 
www.blurivard.com.  Please give your PADI dive card # or membership number 
next to your name for discount verification.

Lastly, I hope you're all getting ready to party in Cayman again this year 
during The PADI Diving Society's Total Submersion event. This year it's from 
November 8th through the 15th and we're already expecting more participants 
than last year. Visit the PTN area of www.padi.com or www.sportdiver.com for 
more information. By the way Sport Diver just launched their revised website. 
If you haven't seen it, go by and take a look.

That's it for now. Again, thank you so much for all the great letters and 
e-mails.  I truly enjoyed replying to more than 1,600 of you personally.  I 
learned a lot about you and the job that PADI is doing.  Now, log off the 
computer, get a friend, and go diving!

Brian
Senior Vice President, Business Development & International Business.