PADI or SSI for travelling instructor?

[junx]

Hey guys, I have a couple questions and hoping to get some advice...

Heres the situation. Without knowing anything about diving, I decided to do my open water with SSI through a dive shop in Adelaide, Australia. Fell in love with the underwater world, and have since completed Deep, Wreck, Nitrox, Boat specialties, as well as Stress and Rescue. I have had plans to become an instructor for about 9 months now. It ties in well with my passion for travel and could earn myself a little income along the way.

So, I am ready to start my Dive Master course, but I have noticed that in Adelaide theres only one SSI shop, the rest are PADI. I have noticed more PADI places than SSI around Asia, and have even seen internships through GVI for PADI, but nothing for SSI.

My grand plan is to be at instructor level within 3 years time. This is how long it will take for me to pay off my home and create a passive income that will allow me to travel certain places without any extra income, so thought diving would be a great way to earn a bit of extra coin. But should I be going with PADI or sticking with SSI? I dont want to be an SSI instructor and have limited employment opportunities.

I can do all the courses here through SSI for around 10k
I could cross over to PADI and do an internship + coral reef conservation specialty in Mexico for $16k
I could travel to asia and become a PADI instructor over a couple of months

The money side isnt really relevant, I just want to know what dive school qualification would give me the most employment opportunities

Thanks friends

 

[RJP]

But should I be going with PADI or sticking with SSI? I dont want to be an SSI instructor and have limited employment opportunities.

PADI's market share of certifications is approximately 75% worldwide.

 

[diversteve]

PADI.

I travel in the Caribbean a lot and find it difficult on some islands to even find an SSI shop. And when you do the ratio is 10-20 PADI to one SSI. Same in Hawaii, Mexico, etc. If you haven't aleady, compare both websites dive shop locators. Not that this is a hotspot for diving - Arizona - but we have 33 dive shops in the state - 4 are SSI.

One other consideration is that with SSI there's a required shop affiliation. With PADI you can teach privately if needed/desired. I'm SSI (not an instructor) and I suggest you go with PADI. We recently had an SSI shop close here and about 10 of my friends lost their instructor work. The other shops couldn't absorb the load so two of my friends stopped teaching and one relocated to Los Angeles to find a new job.

 

[DevonDiver]

PADI is, by far, the market leader.

You could cross-over into SSI later... You probably wouldn't have to do a full instructor course. My cross-over was 2 or 3 days. In contrast, PADI don't allow 'crossovers'... You have to do the full. IDC

 

[junx]

Thanks for the replies so far guys! This is exactly what I thought was the case. I didnt know about the shop affiliation requirements with SSI though, which is handy because I know that a lot of divers are free lance divers through Asia.

It looks like I will be crossing over to PADI

 

[demed]

Hey guys, I have a couple questions and hoping to get some advice...

Heres the situation. Without knowing anything about diving, I decided to do my open water with SSI through a dive shop in Adelaide, Australia. Fell in love with the underwater world, and have since completed Deep, Wreck, Nitrox, Boat specialties, as well as Stress and Rescue. I have had plans to become an instructor for about 9 months now. It ties in well with my passion for travel and could earn myself a little income along the way.

So, I am ready to start my Dive Master course, but I have noticed that in Adelaide theres only one SSI shop, the rest are PADI. I have noticed more PADI places than SSI around Asia, and have even seen internships through GVI for PADI, but nothing for SSI.

My grand plan is to be at instructor level within 3 years time. This is how long it will take for me to pay off my home and create a passive income that will allow me to travel certain places without any extra income, so thought diving would be a great way to earn a bit of extra coin. But should I be going with PADI or sticking with SSI? I dont want to be an SSI instructor and have limited employment opportunities.

I can do all the courses here through SSI for around 10k
I could cross over to PADI and do an internship + coral reef conservation specialty in Mexico for $16k
I could travel to asia and become a PADI instructor over a couple of months

The money side isnt really relevant, I just want to know what dive school qualification would give me the most employment opportunities

Thanks friends

SSI instructors can only teach when tied to a shop and their market share is in single digits with a spotty international coverage