Does size matter?

[knotical]

How big are the many recreational scuba training agencies?

PADI's Undersea Journal 2009 Media Kit says:

PADI Members currently certify about 68 percent of all divers in the United States

And:

More than 133,562 individual members and 5,716 dive centers and resorts operating in more than 180 countries and Territories

Note that members Includes DiveMasters and higher.

At: NAUI Worldwide Organization NAUI says:

With tens of thousands of dive professionals and numerous affiliated dive training centers in nations around the globe, we have over one-third (and growing) of the US market with an even larger market share internationally.

On a quick glance PADI's "68 percent" and NAUI's "one-third" would leave no room for anyone else in the US. At best, they are clearly using different denominators. At worst there are some incorrect "facts" being touted. Does anyone know what denominator NAUI is using? (PADI sort of defined theirs.)

Also, I haven't found anything readily available about size from the other agencies. Can anyone contribute info?

thanks,

k

 

[rstofer]

Well, it depends a lot on what "certify about 68% of all divers in the United States means". For example, my training is primarily with NAUI. Nevertheless, my Nitrox and Equipment Specialist are with PADI. So, PADI could say they certified me (for Nitrox). If you look at the PADI statistics, you will get a better picture (or not) Statistics, Graphs & History about PADI Scuba Diving Certification, Diving Instructors' Membership & Resorts Of course, SSI could chime in and say they certified me for high altitude diving.

NAUI claims to be the largest non-profit agency. OK, other than LA County and formerly YMCA, there might not be a whole lot of non-profit going on. I didn't see any hard numbers on certifications. I would imagine NAUI is 2d worldwide. They are quite popular outside of the US but PADI has the resort market pretty well covered.

SSI probably ranks third but that's just a guess on my part. I didn't find any statistics on certifications other than tens-of-thousands of instructors worldwide. Boy, is there any wonder why instructors don't make any money? SSI thinks they are popular in Europe. My wife was certified by SSI for OW but her AOW, Rescue, Nitrox and Equip Spec are with PADI. Both agencies can claim her.

I doubt you are going to get any of the information you want. You might write letters to the agencies and see if their PR people will respond. Don't count on it. Even if they do, you will have to parse the information to see what they are really saying.

I would propose the ordering as: PADI, NAUI, SSI, everybody else. But I think it is going to depend on where you are living as to which agency is more popular.

PADI is the elephant in the living room. They dominate the industry, without question.

Richard

 

[300bar]

OP and 2nd poster have covered it pretty much,
Although I don't think SSI is the 3rd player(worldwide that is) Guess CMAS would be 2nd or 3rd.
Atleast 3rd,even in the US they seem to be a rather big party.In europe they are at least and most likely 2nd.
NAUI and SSI combating for 3rd place.

 

[knotical]

One measure of size is the number of dive shops. Both PADI's and NAUI's claims were about their presence in the US.
Number of US dive shop listed on the various agency websites:

PADI - 888
NAUI - 329
SSI - 320
SDI - 198
PDIC - 58

The rest were under 10, or I could not find the information.

 

[Standingbear56]

Are you asking who is the largest agencies in the US or worldwide? The largest agencies worldwide would be PADI, then CMAS, with (I believe) BSAC coming in third. The largest agency in the US is PADI, followed by NAUI and SSI. CMAS is the world's oldest international training organization while LA County is the oldest US training agency.
Nothing like adding to the confusion.

 

[siikik]

If you were going to determine size by the number of certifications, you would have to limit it to the lowest common denominator, that being OW. As others have said, they have certifications from multiple agencies, myself included. Limiting the numbers to only OW lets you compare apples to apples since there is probably very few people that have a basic certification from more than one agency.

But you may get exclusions like me that don't fit into that group... Being NASDS certified, they started with AOW... I know SSI *tried* to give me an open water replacement card, and I told them where to stick it.

Other than that, I'm curious as to why you're asking.



Ken

 

[knotical]

, , , curious as to why you're asking.

Partly just general curiosity, partly discomfort when I see claims on websites that are lacking in detail, and possibly misleading.

 

[Steve50]

It's not how large your agency is...it's how you use it, that matters

 

[Thalassamania]

How big are the many recreational scuba training agencies?

PADI's Undersea Journal 2009 Media Kit says:And:Note that members Includes DiveMasters and higher.

Is should be noted that PADI does not really have members, it has customers.

At: NAUI Worldwide Organization NAUI says:On a quick glance PADI's "68 percent" and NAUI's "one-third" would leave no room for anyone else in the US. At best, they are clearly using different denominators. At worst there are some incorrect "facts" being touted. Does anyone know what denominator NAUI is using? (PADI sort of defined theirs.)

I'd take both figures with a glass of salt water, most agency claims tend to be self serving.

Well, it depends a lot on what "certify about 68% of all divers in the United States means". For example, my training is primarily with NAUI. Nevertheless, my Nitrox and Equipment Specialist are with PADI. So, PADI could say they certified me (for Nitrox). If you look at the PADI statistics, you will get a better picture (or not) Statistics, Graphs & History about PADI Scuba Diving Certification, Diving Instructors' Membership & Resorts Of course, SSI could chime in and say they certified me for high altitude diving.

You point out the problem well.

NAUI claims to be the largest non-profit agency. OK, other than LA County and formerly YMCA, there might not be a whole lot of non-profit going on. I didn't see any hard numbers on certifications. I would imagine NAUI is 2d worldwide. They are quite popular outside of the US but PADI has the resort market pretty well covered.

NAUI is the only significant player (in terms of numbers) that is also a non-profit, though one hopes for the success of SEI (the new YMCA) and recognizes LA County for the best training standards.

SSI probably ranks third but that's just a guess on my part. I didn't find any statistics on certifications other than tens-of-thousands of instructors worldwide. Boy, is there any wonder why instructors don't make any money? SSI thinks they are popular in Europe. My wife was certified by SSI for OW but her AOW, Rescue, Nitrox and Equip Spec are with PADI. Both agencies can claim her.

I doubt you are going to get any of the information you want. You might write letters to the agencies and see if their PR people will respond. Don't count on it. Even if they do, you will have to parse the information to see what they are really saying.

I would propose the ordering as: PADI, NAUI, SSI, everybody else. But I think it is going to depend on where you are living as to which agency is more popular.

PADI is the elephant in the living room. They dominate the industry, without question.

Richard

You're in the ballpark I think.

One measure of size is the number of dive shops. Both PADI's and NAUI's claims were about their presence in the US.
Number of US dive shop listed on the various agency websites:

PADI - 888
NAUI - 329
SSI - 320
SDI - 198
PDIC - 58

The rest were under 10, or I could not find the information.

Diveshop affliliations underestimate the importance of PADI and NAUI and overestimate the others (not sure about SDI).

Are you asking who is the largest agencies in the US or worldwide? The largest agencies worldwide would be PADI, then CMAS, with (I believe) BSAC coming in third. The largest agency in the US is PADI, followed by NAUI and SSI. CMAS is the world's oldest international training organization while LA County is the oldest US training agency.
Nothing like adding to the confusion.

CMAS is actually tiny. It is, primarily an organization composed of national diving federations and it's direct certificaiton program is, I expect, smaller than LA County.

 

[Pearldiver07]

And GM is the biggest car maker? (not everywhere, nor by every measure?)

That said, I don't think size matters at the recreational level, beyond knowing that your certification will be accepted when you travel to dive.

Still not the number one issue at the pro level, but having more options as to where to teach does help there.

By the way, Thal.... Thanks for the clarification. I thought that NAUI wasn't not-for-profit anymore. I guess I was mistaken.