Ssi vs padi certification

[blue steal]

It not about the agency, It's all about the instructor.
SSI certified for OW & AOW

 

[SC_Hoaty]

.....
I have quibbles with both organizations training material, but they are very minor and I can address them in class....I am becoming more SSI oriented, as I feel they are more customer oriented. SSI ALLOWS and ENCOURAGES me to add to the base curriculum, PADI discourages this practice, I believe as it opens me, and them up to additional liability. SSI has a program that the text book is available on line after student is certified. PADI requires you to purchase a text book. I REALLY like the idea that my students can access the training material any time to brush up and refresh their knowledge.ALSO, importantly for me....SSI allows me to not license somebody who I feel is genuinely NOT safe and NEVER will be safe, with PADI..if they can meet the performance requirements, I MUST license them. There have been a few, that I wish I could have with held certification.
.....

The quoted section above really goes to the heart of the "is it the agency or the instructor" debate. The base curriculum for both SSI and PADI is similar. If only the base is taught, then clearly the instructor is the factor for making a difference.

When one has a choice between two equally wonderful instructors, one agency would encourage teaching more then the base curriculum, and one would discourage it. Thus, as others have said, ask questions, compare your choices, and go with the one that gets you the best instruction available to you.

 

[Awesome!]

I'm PADI OW certified, and last summer I spent a week diving with a group of fellow noobs who were SSI certified. There were two differences I found. First: was that the table they used was slightly different than mine. Second: when doing a skill review deal they hadn't learned what to do if a regulator freelfows, and I had. Neither mattered when we were actually diving though.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

I'm PADI OW certified, and last summer I spent a week diving with a group of fellow noobs who were SSI certified. There were two differences I found. First: was that the table they used was slightly different than mine. Second: when doing a skill review deal they hadn't learned what to do if a regulator freelfows, and I had. Neither mattered when we were actually diving though.

I've also noted differences in the tables, although both agencies have made them optional (the instructor does not need to teach tables anymore). During my SSI OW we learned reg freeflow stuff - it happened all the time in the pool with the rental gear. Maybe that was just my LDS. Did your PADI OW teach gas management and SAC computation? I ask because I'm 90+% certain that this is one area where my instructor went waaaay beyond the agency base curriculum. Just curious.

 

[Splash-X]

It's going to be VERY hard to compare. Take a single dive shop, two instructor at the same shop will have different methods for teaching the same skills. While they both follow the same course guidlines and standards students of Instructor A will learn slightly different than Instructor B.

With that said, it's near impossible to compare two instructors classes let alone different instructors at different stores in different agencies.

At the end of the day what you should be asking yourself is, is the dive shop and instructor you selected a good fit for you. Are they easy to talk to, does their personality mesh well with yours? If someone is uncomfortable with an instructor for what ever reason, the over all learning process will be hampered and it wont matter if they're the best instructor in the world, the student will be distracted and wont be at their best.

 

[peterbj7]

the instructor does not need to teach tables anymore

Yet another example of the dumbing down of these courses. Show someone how to use the PADI dive planning "computer" and if they remember they'll be able to go through the mechanical motions, but they won't have a clue what they're doing. Goes totally against the spirit of what they profess to be - professional educators. Teach anyone to learn facts and they'll soon forget them, whether to do with diving or anything else. Show them how to understand those facts and they'll probably retain them for a long time.

How can any instructor teach an into-level diving course and NOT go over what happens when a reg freeflows? Beggars belief.

 

[Thalassamania]

It's going to be VERY hard to compare. Take a single dive shop, two instructor at the same shop will have different methods for teaching the same skills. While they both follow the same course guidlines and standards students of Instructor A will learn slightly different than Instructor B.

I explained this rather fully here.

With that said, it's near impossible to compare two instructors classes let alone different instructors at different stores in different agencies.

Actually, as I demonstrated, it is rather easy to do so, it just takes a little statistical acumen to understand the comparison.

At the end of the day what you should be asking yourself is, is the dive shop and instructor you selected a good fit for you. Are they easy to talk to, does their personality mesh well with yours?

That's a lot of happy horse pucky. If you want to learn to dive, find someone who dives the way that you'd like to be able to and find out who trained them. Don't worry about you "mesh" with the instructor, put yourself in the instructor's hands and carefully follow instructions. Low and behold ... you will be diving like the person whom you wanted to model yourself after.

If someone is uncomfortable with an instructor for what ever reason, the over all learning process will be hampered and it wont matter if they're the best instructor in the world, the student will be distracted and wont be at their best.

We've all had students that were not "perfect fits." I'll still say that they came out much better divers than they would have had they found their Instructor soul mate who just happened to be teaching an 18 hour, 3-day, 4-dive course.

 

[cmaha76]

I got my OW with an SSI shop, at the time, I compared my OW book to my wife's PADI book from a couple years earlier and they seemed almost identical. I have since gotten my AOW and Nitrox through PADI and working on my Rescue with a PADI shop. I've got to agree that it really is the instructor and the shop that makes the difference and not the agency.

 

[sansky]

Hi,

I am PADI certified and my family is getting ready to be certified SSI - I didn't even realize there was a difference when I signed them up for the classes until I picked up the info. Are there any serious cons or pros to an SSI certification?

Thanks!

Both agencies abide by the same rules and regulations.

The main difference between the two are Padi allows any instructor to teach, even if it is out of their house. SSI requires going through an actual store facility - instructors can't teach out of their home or trailer, or whatever.

They won't go wrong being certified through SSI - they are just as prestigious ad Padi used to be in the old days.

Just so you don't think I am being con about Padi - I am Padi certified for Open Water and Advanced; IDEA for Nitrox; TDI for Rebreather and Advanced Nitrox; and SDI for Solo Diver.

All certifications were done through a store facility - I believe in supporting the local dive shops.

The most important thing of all is having a "good instructor"!!!!!

 

[SC_Hoaty]

I got my OW with an SSI shop, at the time, I compared my OW book to my wife's PADI book from a couple years earlier and they seemed almost identical. I have since gotten my AOW and Nitrox through PADI and working on my Rescue with a PADI shop. I've got to agree that it really is the instructor and the shop that makes the difference and not the agency.

I thought most folks on this thread agreed that the BASE curriculum is similar for PADI and SSI. No surprise that the books are similar. And if all you expect to be taught is the base curriculum, then you are correct the instructor is the sole variable.

Only when you have the choice to be taught MORE than the BASE curriculum will the agency come into play. One will encourage it, one will not. When a wonderful instructor must withhold certain skills until you have signed up for the appropriate specialty course, ask yourself if it was him (the instructor) or the agency.