SSI Open Water Certification: Some concerns

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom