SSI and PADI

[firemedic8082]

If I were to decide that I wanted to be duel certified by both SSI and PADI how would I go about doing that?? For example would deep diver with SSI transfer into requirements for PADI and vice versa, or I would I have to the same class again for PADI??

-Thanks

[Walter]

Take a class with an instructor who teaches for both or take the class twice. Why would you want to do such a thing? Collecting cards?

[firemedic8082]

Nope just curious. Thanks Walter

[pelsung]

Once you're certified as a "deep diver" or nitrox diver or ultimately an "Advanced Diver" its accepted as your dive level. I've been diving for almost 20yrs and I've never heard of anyone saying "your NAUI Advanced open water cert. doesn't count...you need a PADI or SSI or SDI advanced cert".

For example: I'm SSI certified for nitrox, no one says "sorry, were a PADI shop so you need to be PADI nitrox certified" once you certified for deep dives or navigation or nitrox or what ever....your fully certified.

Certification for instructor or divemaster is different however...

[sid101]

I have been doing snorkeling and some diving for the past 18 years (since i was 8), just getting certified by SSI, the reasons behind this are:

1.- Can't get tanks filled without a cert and my compressor just stopped working, can't find another one here.
2.- Being a solo diver all my life i am starting to want someone to dive with.
3.- Can't dibe anywhere but where i can take my tank with me so nowhere that needs an airplane to get there.
4.-Diving has changed a lot over the years and i want an update so i become safer altho i consider myself to be a pretty safe diver.
5.-Tired of teasing form friends who own scuba shops ^^

So i started to look at different scuba schools, the only NAUI in Venezuela is 4 hours away so that was out of the question.

I really like PADI and have friends who own PADI diving center and are great divers, would be great to learn more with them but I consider PADI to be much more of name and don't agree with their teaching techniques and some other stuff, altho a big name always brings some security that noone will ever not recognize your C-Card.

Then there is SSI wich i knew very litle about, i went to a SSI dive center and started talking to one of the instructors, he explained to me the SSI system and i was glad to see SSI puts a big emphasys in experience and security, that's what got me to take the course with them. They are known everywhere and the instructor i found is a ghreat guy whom i enjoy very much and who shares most of my view in diving and how it should be done.

I hope my own experience can help you at least a bit =).

[Rhone Man]

I could see why an instructor might want to issue multiple cards from different agencies for the same course, but I couldn't really see much upside for the student. Unless you thought an agency might go bust...

[SCUBA482]

I have been doing snorkeling and some diving for the past 18 years (since i was 8), just getting certified by SSI, the reasons behind this are:

1.- Can't get tanks filled without a cert and my compressor just stopped working, can't find another one here.
2.- Being a solo diver all my life i am starting to want someone to dive with.
3.- Can't dibe anywhere but where i can take my tank with me so nowhere that needs an airplane to get there.
4.-Diving has changed a lot over the years and i want an update so i become safer altho i consider myself to be a pretty safe diver.
5.-Tired of teasing form friends who own scuba shops ^^

So i started to look at different scuba schools, the only NAUI in Venezuela is 4 hours away so that was out of the question.

I really like PADI and have friends who own PADI diving center and are great divers, would be great to learn more with them but I consider PADI to be much more of name and don't agree with their teaching techniques and some other stuff, altho a big name always brings some security that noone will ever not recognize your C-Card.

Then there is SSI wich i knew very litle about, i went to a SSI dive center and started talking to one of the instructors, he explained to me the SSI system and i was glad to see SSI puts a big emphasys in experience and security, that's what got me to take the course with them. They are known everywhere and the instructor i found is a ghreat guy whom i enjoy very much and who shares most of my view in diving and how it should be done.

I hope my own experience can help you at least a bit =).

So for the rest of us who may not know the different training differences, what are they? I'm not provoking the PADI v SSI topic, but I am curious what SSI offers in their training regime that PADI doesn't. PM me if you think it's more appropriate

[sid101]

Well that's a somewhat difficult question

Some of the differences I see are basically that PADI instructors cannot step away from the "formula" they are told to teach, nothing less and nothing more, the PADI system works just fine and for what I know the majority of divers today dive using what they learned in their PADI courses and are doing just fine so there's not a problem at all with that, the problem I see in their system is that "formula" in wich the "PADI way" is the only way taught. I don't like that, another thing I don't like is that divers can go straight out from the OW course to the AOW and that doesn't seem right to me.

SSI instructors as well as NAUI instructors can change somewhat the education they give, never take from it but actually add to it, in my case I asked my instructor if we could spend some more time practicing in my buoyancy underwater and we are going to, he offered to take some time appart with me so he can explain some of the phisiological aspects of diving in depth with me (since he saw I was very interested in learning more about that), also the way in wich SSI teach procedures I find better not the procedures by themselvbes but the fact that PADI divers only do stuff once or twice and then the class moves to the next topic, SSI makes you practice until the movement happens in a somewhat second nature way, also if you want to go AOW you need to have at least 24 dives logged (including the dives from the AOW course), of course any PADI shop will take you as soon as you get your SSI OW and make you into AOW but you won't get that in SSI, 24 dives no less this puts an emphasys in experience wich I like very much.

These are just examples that I can extrapolate into what I think/feel is the "attitude" of an agency, maybe I am terribly wrong but it makes sense to me.

Oh another thing, I feel the PADI tables are way too liberal, not saying they don't work or are faulted just seems too liberal for my taste.

I am not in ANY way trying to say PADI is not a good agency and I like a lot of things about them, they just don't suit my taste in some things and SSI does so I go SSI, for some people PADI may adapt better to them for me is SSI.

[SCUBA482]

Well that's a somewhat difficult question

Some of the differences I see are basically that PADI instructors cannot step away from the "formula" they are told to teach, nothing less and nothing more, the PADI system works just fine and for what I know the majority of divers today dive using what they learned in their PADI courses and are doing just fine so there's not a problem at all with that, the problem I see in their system is that "formula" in wich the "PADI way" is the only way taught. I don't like that, another thing I don't like is that divers can go straight out from the OW course to the AOW and that doesn't seem right to me.

SSI instructors as well as NAUI instructors can change somewhat the education they give, never take from it but actually add to it, in my case I asked my instructor if we could spend some more time practicing in my buoyancy underwater and we are going to, he offered to take some time appart with me so he can explain some of the phisiological aspects of diving in depth with me (since he saw I was very interested in learning more about that), also the way in wich SSI teach procedures I find better not the procedures by themselvbes but the fact that PADI divers only do stuff once or twice and then the class moves to the next topic, SSI makes you practice until the movement happens in a somewhat second nature way, also if you want to go AOW you need to have at least 24 dives logged (including the dives from the AOW course), of course any PADI shop will take you as soon as you get your SSI OW and make you into AOW but you won't get that in SSI, 24 dives no less this puts an emphasys in experience wich I like very much.

These are just examples that I can extrapolate into what I think/feel is the "attitude" of an agency, maybe I am terribly wrong but it makes sense to me.

Oh another thing, I feel the PADI tables are way too liberal, not saying they don't work or are faulted just seems too liberal for my taste.

I am not in ANY way trying to say PADI is not a good agency and I like a lot of things about them, they just don't suit my taste in some things and SSI does so I go SSI, for some people PADI may adapt better to them for me is SSI.

I appreciate the response and lack of bashing one agency or the other. Just an honest opinion given. I did NAUI about 22 years ago and just did PADI again due to a significant lapse. NAUI couldn't find any of my records and I sure didn't have them. Anyway, I was pleased with my instruction, but then again I paid for one on one course and was able to do tasks to proficiency. My instructor was also very open to discussing a lot of different techniques. I tend to agree with you regarding the OW to AOW issue of experience, but then after speaking with PADI they give a good reason of getting that much more dive time with supervision. Anyway, didn't want to hi-jack this thread was only interested in what some of the differences may be.

Thanks again,

[JohnQPS122]

"...PADI instructors cannot step away from the "formula" they are told to teach, nothing less and nothing more..."

That is not true at all, at least not in my experiences taking my own classes 24 years ago nor in my experiences observing my wife's classes in the last couple of years.