Hey gang,
This is my first posting on the board. I have been checking it out for a couple weeks and have decided to join in.
I got my OW 7 years ago and have 125 dives (all caribbean) to date. I live in an area in the midwest where there is not a lot of diving spots near by. I never bothered to get my AOW because I have never been denied going on a dive because I didn't have one. However, diving has become a passion and I am very interested in advancing my certs.
Here is my dilemma...I am PADI OW, my local dive shop pushes SSI (and before you say OMG another "which is better" please read on). My question is about crossover between the 2 agencies as I advance. For ex. If I would like to do some specialty courses w/ my LDS which are SSI then later I'm in the Caribbean and want to do some specialty dives with a shop that is PADI...will that work? I have read on the forum that SSI has specialty courses where PADI has specialty dives so it sounds like that may not work.
And then take it further up the ladder. If I get my MD with SSI then later want to become a Dive Master through PADI, or vice versa, is this possible? Or will I need to do some back tracking.
This is a long-winded way to ask a simple question...is it much better to just pick one agency and stick with it?
If this subject has been beaten to death on the forum I apologize
Thanks for any input and I look foward to learning tons from the forum.
This is my first posting on the board. I have been checking it out for a couple weeks and have decided to join in.
I got my OW 7 years ago and have 125 dives (all caribbean) to date. I live in an area in the midwest where there is not a lot of diving spots near by. I never bothered to get my AOW because I have never been denied going on a dive because I didn't have one. However, diving has become a passion and I am very interested in advancing my certs.
Here is my dilemma...I am PADI OW, my local dive shop pushes SSI (and before you say OMG another "which is better" please read on). My question is about crossover between the 2 agencies as I advance. For ex. If I would like to do some specialty courses w/ my LDS which are SSI then later I'm in the Caribbean and want to do some specialty dives with a shop that is PADI...will that work? I have read on the forum that SSI has specialty courses where PADI has specialty dives so it sounds like that may not work.
And then take it further up the ladder. If I get my MD with SSI then later want to become a Dive Master through PADI, or vice versa, is this possible? Or will I need to do some back tracking.
This is a long-winded way to ask a simple question...is it much better to just pick one agency and stick with it?
If this subject has been beaten to death on the forum I apologize
Thanks for any input and I look foward to learning tons from the forum.
feature. Hope you enjoy your time here. Click my Username to PM me if I can help? Helpful Hint: I have 
