TL;DR: Is there any difference between any of the certification agencies anymore, or does it all boil down to the instructor? If there is a best (or better) cert, what is it? I am not looking for the cheapest/easiest or the chest-thumping'est route. I'm looking for the agency this is most likely to ensure that my training will prevent me from being a statistic in some government report.
I got certified almost 20 years ago by PADI (OWD) and DRI (Public Safety Diver) and then took 14 years off from diving. Recently, I went on vacation and did a re-cert and some OW dives in Jamaica. While diving with the "resort divers" I ended up rescuing a dive buddy at the surface (she forgot to connect her low-pressure hose) and helping a panicked diver when she was faced with a swim-through that she wasn't ready for... Both of those situations showed me that I am under-trained for what I was encountering and encouraged me to get more training. Here's the question: Is there any real difference between any of the dive training agencies anymore, or is it more just a question of who your instructor is/and the instructor's experience? I did my AOW training with PADI in 01, and just repeated it last month, and while I learned some things, I can say that on the whole, I have not been impressed with dive training in general. I want to know that my instruction and skill set is the best that I can have and while there's a certain measure of individual responsibility there, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, I don't know what I don't know.
If there is a difference in agencies, what who/which has the hardest training? I don't want to take the easiest route, but I'd rather be trained by the best. Is that a thing anymore?
Thanks.
I got certified almost 20 years ago by PADI (OWD) and DRI (Public Safety Diver) and then took 14 years off from diving. Recently, I went on vacation and did a re-cert and some OW dives in Jamaica. While diving with the "resort divers" I ended up rescuing a dive buddy at the surface (she forgot to connect her low-pressure hose) and helping a panicked diver when she was faced with a swim-through that she wasn't ready for... Both of those situations showed me that I am under-trained for what I was encountering and encouraged me to get more training. Here's the question: Is there any real difference between any of the dive training agencies anymore, or is it more just a question of who your instructor is/and the instructor's experience? I did my AOW training with PADI in 01, and just repeated it last month, and while I learned some things, I can say that on the whole, I have not been impressed with dive training in general. I want to know that my instruction and skill set is the best that I can have and while there's a certain measure of individual responsibility there, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, I don't know what I don't know.
If there is a difference in agencies, what who/which has the hardest training? I don't want to take the easiest route, but I'd rather be trained by the best. Is that a thing anymore?
Thanks.