A different twist on an old question

[glbtrekker]

Hi all, I know that people have asked the "which dive certification organization is best" question a thousand times and obviously there have been a thousand subjective answers. At least one of which is "it all depends on the instructor."

I understand that choosing a good instructor is more important than the particular organization that one is certified through (PADI, NAUI, SSI, SDI, etc.). I also understand that they teach essentially the same material, at least when it comes to the basics. My question is a little different. How do the programs differ? For example,

• Is one program more "in depth" than another?
• Is one program more academically challenging than another?
• Is one program more physically challenging than another?
• Does one program require greater swimming abilities than another?
• Is one program more safety conscious than another?
• Is one program more stringent on testing than another?

Again, I'm really not looking for the whole "it depends on your instructor" debate...just wondering about the requirements of the organization. Any help can will be greatly appreciated as I slowly inch towards taking a certification class. Thanks!

[Captain Larry]

Hi all, I know that people have asked the "which dive certification organization is best" question a thousand times and obviously there have been a thousand subjective answers. At least one of which is "it all depends on the instructor."

I understand that choosing a good instructor is more important than the particular organization that one is certified through (PADI, NAUI, SSI, SDI, etc.). I also understand that they teach essentially the same material, at least when it comes to the basics. My question is a little different. How do the programs differ? For example,

• Is one program more "in depth" than another?
• Is one program more academically challenging than another?
• Is one program more physically challenging than another?
• Does one program require greater swimming abilities than another?
• Is one program more safety conscious than another?
• Is one program more stringent on testing than another?

Again, I'm really not looking for the whole "it depends on your instructor" debate...just wondering about the requirements of the organization. Any help can will be greatly appreciated as I slowly inch towards taking a certification class. Thanks!

My advice: Just do it!!
They're all variations of the same basic program.
Find a nice shop that sells great gear and has a course that fits your schedule.
Don't agonize over agencies because it isn't really worth the effort.That's based on 30+ years of seeing divers from every agency. Review your materials, preferably cd/roms, in plenty of time to absorb it, then review them again. You'll be fine. If you decide to come somewhere like the Florida Keys to do your training you'll have an enjoyable experience with warm water, great reefs, excellent instructors, and outstanding boat crews.

[jridg]

I agree with the previous post.

I will add that I have experience with PADI and NAUI - the general consensus I have come away with is that they are pretty much the same. However, I will also add that in my experience, at the BASIC level or first cert - NAUI goes a little more in-depth with the science behind it all. I have to go on memory here as I have not been involved with a NAUI class for about three years now....

Again - just do it - keep doing it - do it till it hurts! (Not really ).

That initial C-card is more like a license to learn. Keep learning and you will only become better.

[spectrum]

The agencies do differentiate themselves in certain ways. Some in the general approach to the OW certification and some in how they deal with thing like AOW/

Out of respect to your desire to avoid the "it depends on the instructor" mantra i will add that it depends on the student too . If you spend 6 months on ScubaBoard and read a text book or two you can show up for OW knowing more than they will set out to teach you academically. That frees your head to fill gaps and focus on the water work. Obviously folks get certified every day doing the bare classroom requirements and a few actually end up diving for several years. The industry is set-up to bring divers into the sport and I feel often does itself a disservice by setting the bar too low as many times divers really don't have what they need to get off and running.

Back to your question.....
Some agencies require significant work on watermanship skills. PADI has lead the way on relaxing swim requirements and has removed most non essential skills. This probably contrasts most with SEI (Formerly YSCUBA) Which still emphasizes swimming, skin diving and certain training activities intended do develop skill comfort and problem solving abilities.

AOW is another area with some differentiation. PADI and most others require that you make a series of individual dives that give you a taste of the topics. SSI handles each specialty as a course usually involving several related dives. The number of actual dives you need to make also varies with the agency.

By the book PADI has a very defined content with specific skills placed in specific pool sessions and so forth. NAUI gives the instructors more latitude on allows the addition of other skills and challenges as the instructor sees fit.

If I misrepresented any of these agencies I'm sure someone will set us straight but that is what I have gleaned.

Pete

[texdiveguy]

Don't fret so much....all recreational agencies will get you started and you can take it from there!!! Go for it if it's REALLY something you want to do.....and most of all enjoy it and have fun or your waisting your time/$$.

[visibilityunlimited]

I can only speak from a standpoint of differences between a couple of different agencies.

SDI is one of the only agencies so far that requires the use of dive computers in all phases of their training. I am almost positive that all others are still using the dive tables.

PADI regarding the dive table, PADI was the first to change the dive tables and to add the Wheel for multi level calculations (takes an hour to learn and 15 minutes to forget how to do it)

CMAS which is more European seems to be heavier on the academics but turns out excellent divers (I dove with a few and was impressed).

It is a very interesting question that you posed and I would like to hear from more divers about it.

[NetDoc]

For me the differences are as follows:

PADI... abides by the RTSC. Good and solid and how I was first certified.
SDI... all but abandoned tables in favor of computers (It makes a LOT of sense). First to embrace online academics (Also makes a lot of sense)
NAUI... Emphasis on self and buddy rescue from OW and up. Allows me to put a proper emphasis on diving on a computer.

[EvenKeel]

I'm a total tadpole when it comes to diving. However, I recently had this discussion with my father-in-law who's taken every diving course under the waves. He even took all of the instructor courses but refused to get the certification because he didn't want to have to carry all that liability insurance. This is what he had to say:

"Each organization has a slightly different curriculum. Each dive shop has different instructors with different teaching styles. So, no one organization is better than any other; or, that is to say, some people prefer PADI and some people prefer NAUI and some people prefer SSI, but no organization is "better" than any other.

My best advice is to visit as many shops as are available to you and talk to the instructors. Find someone that you "click with" and go with it. If you can't get along with the instructor, it's just going to be a frustrating experience. If, however, you find an instructor that is right for you, the class will be much more enjoyable.

It's really the same with finding a good dive buddy. There are going to be people that you get along with and there are other times when you wish you'd stayed on the hard. Don't rush and sign up with the first shop you enter. Talk to the instructors, get to know a bit about their experience and services. Come back another day and just browse while watching their interaction with other customers. You can get a good feel for a shop just by hanging out for a while. Maybe even get referrals from previous students. Diving isn't cheap. Make sure you're spending your money in the right place for you.

There is no right or wrong answer because, in the end, the goal is to have that card that says you've earned the right to rent equipment and jump off a perfectly good boat. It helps if you had fun doing it."

After reading that, I realized that it's more about personality than about who teaches the most stuff. And he's right; as long as I learn the skills to be safe in the wet, I'd rather learn it from someone whose company I enjoy.

EK

[EvenKeel]

For me the differences are as follows:

PADI... abides by the RTSC. Good and solid and how I was first certified.
SDI... all but abandoned tables in favor of computers (It makes a LOT of sense). First to embrace online academics (Also makes a lot of sense)
NAUI... Emphasis on self and buddy rescue from OW and up. Allows me to put a proper emphasis on diving on a computer.

Regarding dive tables and computers...

I've always felt that it's best to know why 12 x 12 = 144 before you learn that you can type it calculator. Meaning, I'd rather have the knowledge to make those calculations myself before I rely on a piece of equipment to do it for me. There might be a time on a 130' wreck dive where my computer goes **** up. I want to know that I can figure out my ascent time and safety stops on my own so I don't go **** up on the way up.

I'm going PADI, but that's because my father-in-law trained that way, I found a good shop with good instructors, and it just makes sense to me. Your results may vary.

EK

[Hoomi]

I'm going to echo some of what EvenKeel said.

On a general level, computers are wonderful. They make many aspects of our lives so much easier (I don't know how I ever lived without a word processor). However, when I see every day just how much they've enabled the dumbing-down of our culture, I'm led more and more to believe we are relying on them too much.

I see college educated managers and engineers that cannot compose a coherent sentence without spell-check and grammar-check software to clean it up for them. I see cashiers who cannot make accurate change unless the computer tells them how much to give back. I see kids who cannot play make-believe unless the gaming system creates a realistically-rendered avatar and presents all manners of distracting quests for them to hack their way through.

Learning to write means learning how to sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, and composing a coherent essay. Learning math means learning how to calculate basic equations without a calculator or computer doing all the work for us.

As EK pointed out, when it comes to diving, the lack of knowing how to figure NCL's and SI's and so on without a computer can lead to serious risks. Learning how to use tables may be "old fashioned" and not nearly as comprehensive as what a computer can do for us, but if we're carrying our tables with us, then if the computer malfunctions, we're not out of luck.