Why have dive certification agencies held out so long in teaching dive computer use to entry-level divers? The answer is simple yet stunning. Dive certification agencies derive their income from dive training materials, diver certification fees, dive centre and resort membership fees, dive instructor and divemaster membership fees and instructor certification evaluations.

Dive certifications are the largest source of revenue followed by dive training materials and guess what, dive tables or an electronic version of a table is sold by the dive certification agency. These agencies derive no income from the sale of dive computers and have historically shown little interest in promoting dive computers.

The dive centre or resort on the other hand generates a large portion of their income from equipment sales and wants to sell as many dive computers as possible, now we have a situation where goals are misaligned. This is slowly changing, dive centre and resort owners are placing pressure on certification agencies to change their approach and standards to support dive operations.

Seriously, do regular divers actually dive without a computer these days? Sure, there will still be the resort diver who dives once a year and doesn’t own their own equipment who may still use tables but more often than not they will follow a dive guide who plans and manages their profile for them. Dive tables are designed for square profiles, how limited is such an approach? Why make the effort and steam to a beautiful wall, sloping reef or wreck and then limit yourself to such a restrictive profile when the computer divers are making long multi-level dives seeing so much more of the site – you just wouldn’t.