SSI Open Water Certification: Some concerns

[tstormdiver]

Be an interesting 'poll'...To see what others thought........Hey SB, want to put it up for a vote ????.......

As long as I learn the skills needed for the dives I want to do, by a thorough instructor, I don't care how many cards I have from any number of agencies. I am currently certified by PADI, SSI, SDI, TDI, IANTD. As long as I have the credentials, to let me do the dives & skills to do the dives,... that's all I care about.

 

[Jerrod]

True. With the AOW, I can take any 4 specialties and get a max of 8 dives and probably 4-8 classroom sessions. The NAUI AOW, is considered their Open Water 2, and requires deep, navigation, and night/limited visibility. The three others are open. Also, there is no class room but everything is treated as a workshop then dive.

The NAUI master diver is 8 workshops/dives and classroom time. What sucks about NAUI is it is all chosen for you.

Be mindful that SSI's AOW is not the same as PADI's, for example. My Brother-in-Law signed up for SSI's; in a nutshell, it was a 'package deal' of 4 'pick your choice' specialties. PADI's AOW entails 5 different specialty dives, one Deep, one Navigation, the rest your choice, and you don't get a special certification (aside from AOW itself), but the specialty dive made during AOW can count as one of the required dives for a specialty that you take later.

So, I took AOW, and later took the Deep Diver specialty under PADI. The deep dive in the AOW course counted toward the dive requirements for the Deep Diver specialty when I took it.

SSI's AOW course is a different thing. You actually train & certify in 4 different specialties.

Richard.

 

[Jerrod]

I have recently dove with a NAUI instructor and also completed a GUE primer and PADI PPB and Nitrox.

Like others have said, it's all about the instructor. If you have a bad instructor, the course will be terrible. So I just want to say others that have had a bad experience, research here and know what to look for. Then interview scuba instructors (I tell them i want to observe a class before doing xx class) and find one that seems genuine and willing to help you.

Thanks,
Jerrod

 

[eponym]

I have recently dove with a NAUI instructor and also completed a GUE primer and PADI PPB and Nitrox.
Like others have said, it's all about the instructor. If you have a bad instructor, the course will be terrible. So I just want to say others that have had a bad experience, research here and know what to look for. Then interview scuba instructors (I tell them i want to observe a class before doing xx class) and find one that seems genuine and willing to help you.

That is a great approach!

-Bryan