Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke View Post
There is a dive site off Koh Tao (can't remember the name) that is a really good drift dive. Get it a bit wrong and it's quite easy to end up a hundred metres or more away from where you need to be. Even with a BCD and fins, it's quite a tough swim. Throw in a bit of panic, return to the surface a few hundred metres from the boat, and hey presto, some other fuckers day is ruined because they have to fetch you back - or worse still...........
Sail Rock, I believe- depending on the time of year, currents can be strong anywhere near Koh Tao. In any case, if someone passes the same PADI certification test you did, you wouldn't dive with them? You've never been paired with a stranger because you turned up on a dive alone or with an odd number of people? Do you require that they demonstrate a certain set of skills before you enter the water with them?

Of course you don't, because you know they've already been tested- if the OP passes his test, you'll know he's capable of swimming those hundred or more meters himself because he'll have already proven he can do so- that's the point of a standardized test- you already know what he's been taught and what he can do- that doesn't mean he's a great diver, but it means he should be able to look out for himself and help you if necessary.