How did you choose your first agency?

[DiverLS]

I certified my Senior year in College. It looked like fun. The shop that taught the class was PADI. So I'm PADI OW & AOW. I'm NAUI Rescue. I'll probably do PADI DM 'cause that's the shop I deal with. It is the shop that taught the University course. It turns out they are the oldest shop in the area (Reno, NV) and stay consistant. That I like.

 

[cwkline]

I didn't even know there were different agencies when I certified.
I certified with my niece, and picked a shop that was convenient for travel. They had their own pool, and some very good instructors. We spent half of each class in academics, then the rest in water. We were very comfortable in water when checkout time came.
BTW, it was with SSI

 

[lucidblue]

When I first got certified I didn't know anything about the different agencies, so it didn't matter to me. A friend recommended the LDS I went to and it was PADI. About 60 dives later and after some research I decided to go with a different LDS and got a NAUI Advanced Cert. Based on the two experiences, I feel like NAUI was more thorough, but that could have been the instructor. Next up is the NAUI Rescue class.

 

[imwright1985]

Reality is all of the things that you need to be familiar with for basic function and not kill yourself underwater has to be taught or you would see dive shops not accepting whatever brand cert you have. Where i am PADI and SSI are most common usually paired up with sdi, tdi and NAUI. From whats availible in the area you are i would ask how technically steared the course is and see how well the instructor is for being able to keep your attention and how clearly they explain things. Since im in Mechanical engineering i find the Technical aspect and theory pretty interesting but went with PADI outa price and convenience for my area even though NAUI is more tech and theory steared. If your just planning on basic recreational diving with like 60ft of water single tank no rebreather and just a total barebones kit im sure any course will cover what you need and find what fits you best. with the specialties mostly all can be taken with your openwater through whatever agency and you can build on your training that way. I think Open Water is a joke other than being able to get gear, fills and learning a couple things to cross over from snorkle to scuba but i had previous exposure to scuba gear from friends and know about atmospheric pressures and bouyancy from school so asides from spending 250 +books I learned enough for about a 1 hour class plus dive time

 

[diver 85]

Never knew there were choices---only dive shop in a hundred miles probably when we got certified.......so-----------what choice, PADI all the way....

 

[scubadada]

I did not pick my 1st agency. The course was offered in the classroom and pool at my high school and I signed up out of interest and convenience. The course was taught by the LA County Underwater Unit, it was a good one and got me off to a good start in diving. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Darcey]

Well, I had no choice unless I wanted to drive over an hour to get certified by SDI or NAUI. Both shops locally are PADI and it really wasn't a big deal to me anyway even after doing a ton of research and talking with other divers who were certified by other agencies. While I've been very happy with PADI I must say that as others have stated, it's mainly about the instructor, not the agency. I was very lucky to get hooked up with a fantastic instructor who has become more than just an instrustor but a great mentor and friend to me as I move my way up the ladder to DM and beyond.

 

[diveandclimb]

I chose the instructor who fit my budget, desire for a convenient location, and seemed to be competent which meant that I ended up with YSCUBA. I just signed up for my AOWs with a shop that I like and that will be through PADI, when I do my drysuit cert in the fall that will be through SSI. Anyway, my point is that the instructor is much more important. These days everything is excepted everywhere. That said, I plan to take some more advanced courses (Advanced Nitrox, Azimuth SCR) in the next year and I will be doing those with TDI not PADI because I feel that the curriculum is much better for these sorts of topics.

 

[RJP]

Would it have mattered to you if the local dive operation was only offering SDI or Naui or Padi or XX brand as long as you could then get your tanks filled and go diving?

Who knows the difference when they're going in to sign up for an OW class?

The shop where I did OW offered both PADI and NAUI by the same instructor. The deciding factor for me was "Next PADI class starts this Saturday..."

 

[Jim Lapenta]

When I signed up it was with at the time the only shop convenient to me. Since then 2 others have opened. In addition I did not know there was more than one agency til I joined scuba board and my instructor was very careful to not advertise that there was more than one(PADI). As a result I went all the way up thru DM, took a number of specialties, and spent more money that I needed to. Once I found out there were other agencies and since I wanted to go into tech some I got away from that shop pretty quickly. I also found out that there are OW programs that are more comprehensive and offer more knowledge at the beginner level. I became an instructor for one of them and then crossed over when that agency closed down operations. It never occurred to me to go back to my original agency.

As an instructor I make it a point on the first meeting with a new student to inform them of all the choices they have. I then explain the programs and allow them to do a comparison with the class I teach. I wish that had been done with me. I would have saved money, not bought alot of useless gear, and been better informed as a new diver.