PADI or SSI? And Why????

[paschen]

I went PADI though Naui was also offered - it suited my style of learning.

I called prolly 10 places to speak to the instructors, sent off lots of emails and spoke to a LOT of locals - divers and not - on who they had heard was the person/company to learn with.

Needless to say I was by no means disappointed.

My class size was me. They roped a buddy in for me who practised their skills - so it was great for me. One instructor to one student - pretty good!

I am doing my AOW with the same group now - 6 of us - of which only I am PADI with the other 5 Naui (incase you suck at advanced mathematics). For the required 5 dives, I have done 8 dives and have 4 of the required. Our instructors love to dive - so for them any excuse is a good excuse. The ratio is really good here too - 2 instructors to 6 students.


Now about resort qualifications - Not saying they are all like this - but we often see a local holiday company doing this - and it is so sad to watch. They literally get dragged around by their instructors underwater and do the mandatory skills in around head high water. How on earth can these ppl dive? The answer is, they can't, but they don't know it.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I've been PADI for ow,aow,nitrox,deep,uwnav.drysuit,equip spec,rescue, and now divemaster. ONLY because of my instructor. Some of PADI's policies sit a little off with me but I can live with them. I plan on being a PADI instructor. However once I hit that 100 dive mark I'm going to the nearest SDI instructor for my solo cert. I know I don't really need it for local stuff buit a future trip may require it. I've already done some solo dives and like the freedom. I'll probably stay with PADI thruout my dive career but I'm always open to new agencies and instructors if they have what I want.

 

[Babydamulag]

As we progress in our lives as divers we gain some wisdom that "must" be shared with new/prospective divers. I always tell new divers that they must first commit to diving, research your local dive bubbas (or bubbettes), read a book or two about diving, then make a decision to further the commitment. Then, it is at this point the future diver selects the instructor (or agency). Standards are close between the organizations. Safety is always paramount at all organizations. BOTTOMLINE- Go where you are comfortable and vote with your money and your feet! Always keep 50 bar.

 

[genxweb]

Most of my certifications are padi but I do hold a ssi dry suit cert which padi recognizes. So with that being said I would make sure you find a instructor as the others stated that you feel confident in and you trust. Good luck in your search

 

[gangrel441]

ummmm there some type of scuba thing about pebbles I'm unaware of? cause I think this went wayyyy over my blonde head

*smile*

ZenDiva

Nahh. The Grasshopper thing comes from the old TV show Kung **, starring David Carradine. His master was the one who insisted on calling him 'Grasshopper", and the master's constant challenge to Grasshopper was to snatch a pebble from the master's hand. When he succeeds, it is time for him to leave because he has leanred what he came for.

Sorry...didn't mean to talk over anyone's head there.

 

[ZenDiva]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh ok......LOL......hmmm I may have to snatch a sea shell or a shark's tooth...but doubt a pebble *wink*

ZenDiva

 

[gangrel441]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh ok......LOL......hmmm I may have to snatch a sea shell or a shark's tooth...but doubt a pebble *wink*

ZenDiva

All depends....plenty of pebbles in the quarries I am stuck with here....you salties have more sand and sharks teeth and sea shells.

 

[alemaozinho]

PADI is the most recognised Agency in the world

 

[Charlie99]

PADI is the most recognised Agency in the world

So?

If a dive op or tank fill station want to see a cert card, they will take just about anything. One time I even convinced a dive op that my Japanese driver's license was a scuba cert card. :banana:

 

[*Floater*]

Instructor's quality and course price are most important to me, but those factors aside I prefer NAUI to SSI and PADI.

I took open water with SSI, advanced open water (AOW) with PADI and Nitrox with NAUI. The reason I prefer the latter is that they teach deep stops and introduce students to their NDL RGBM tables in addition to the regular dive tables. Also, in their AOW equivalent they train divers to go down to 40m (~130ft) whereas PADI (and SSI I think) only train divers to go down to 30m (100ft) - though PADI does offer a specialty course that adds that 10m to your certification if you want it.