Online Nitrox Certification Course(s)

[flfishhead]

Looking at getting my Nitrox certification. Was talking to the owner of a local dive shop; and he said they offer a course that is taught at the shop, but "most folks" prefer to take an on-line PADI course (this shop apparently is mostly PADI oriented), which costs about $189 (roughly). Anyway, found an on-line course offered by someone called Scuba Divers of America (SDA), upon satisfactory completion of which, they will send me a Nitrox certification card which is recognized "anywhere in the world". Their course costs about half the PADI course.
Question is, are they (SDA) a reliable organization, and will their cert card really be recognized "anywhere in the world"? (If I take their card into my local dive shop, will they look at it and say "sorry, not acceptable"?)

 

[gcarter]

It is a scam, not a reputable agency.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

No they are not reputable. The physical.address for them I believe to at one time been a vacant lot in Vegas. No agency will accept their course work. you still have to go into a shop and analyze tanks with an on line course. The shop accepts paperwork from a legit on line class. This one is not. They also post names of shops that are supposedly affiliated with them or will accept their paperwork. Problem is that many shops don't know they are on that list!

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[fjpatrum]

I did the TDI nitrox course for $119 online. I think the SDI version (computers vice tables) is also $119. PADI's is overpriced, in my opinion, but it's basically the same course from what I could tell.

 

[boulderjohn]

No they are not reputable. The physical.address for them I believe to at one time been a vacant lot in Vegas. No agency will accept their course work. you still have to go into a shop and analyze tanks with an on line course. The shop accepts paperwork from a legit on line class. This one is not. They also post names of shops that are supposedly affiliated with them or will accept their paperwork. Problem is that many shops don't know they are on that list!

Actually, the physical address is a vacant lot in Arizona, not Vegas.

Many agencies (including PADI) have warnings on their web sites that they do not recognize anything from SDA.

SDA is absolutely a scam, but if you show the card at a shop and the person there doesn't know better, it might be accepted. Or it might not. Ask yourself this--how lucky do you feel today?

If you want to save money and have a card with that same legitimacy, make up a name for another agency and find someone with a card printer to make one for you.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Thanks for the correction. Knew it was in a desert somewhere. :=)

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[flfishhead]

Thanks for the info folks. Had a feeling they might not be on the up and up. I'll keep looking into other options.

 

[GoBlues]

I took the PADI OW course but with my schedule I ended up take the SSI course. At home study, very limited classroom time, and we did two dives (just to make it legal, all we really needed to do was analyze the tanks). It was a good course, easy to do, but the instructor is the main part.

 

[buton]

My course was 120 plus the book at my lds with class at the shop with instructor...

 

[mselenaous]

Many of the reputable agencies offer online Nitrox courses. The certification needs to be completed with an instructor who will give you a quiz, review how to analyze & document your mix, dive planning & calculations (tables/computers), etc. Most charge about $120 (NASE, SDI, others), while PADI charges $205. The only advantage to the PADI course is that you can find a PADI instructor to complete it just about anywhere you go. I recommend finding a local instructor, then use his/her agency's elearning. It is the instructor that is going to fill-in/enrich your basic knowledge and general understanding of the academic materials.