SSI Referral to Padi OW cert

[rommelwood]

There's a groupon in New York for part I of the SSI certification that includes the classroom and pool instruction. Can this be transferred to a PADI instructor who completes the OW course for PADI certification?

 

[scjoe]

You need to check with the shop you intend to finish with to make sure they handle referrals. Both SSI and PADI participate in the universal referral program, but a specific shop might not. Some shops say they take referrals, but it turns out they are only referrals from their own organization. That is not what the universal referral program is about.

Keep in mind that you will have to pay the second shop a fee as well, so the cost of splitting the course may be higher than finishing where you start.

As I understand the referral program, you will get an SSI Cert from the instructor you start with, not the PADI instructor you finish with. Both certs are accepted everywhere and each organization recognizes the other's for purposes of moving on to an advanced cert, so I wouldn't worry about whether you end up with a SSI or a PADI cert.

 

[Boardndave]

What scjoe said. You'll be just fine, as long as you find a shop that either natively certifies OW through SSI, or is a Universal Referral destination. They're pretty darn common. I did SSI pool, then used Universal Referral to do OW dives through a PADI shop. You should know that there is usually a fee involved with doing a Universal Referral... ~$40 USD.

 

[boulderjohn]

Actually, SSI participates in the universal referral program, but PADI as an organization does not. In fact, they are opposed to it because they feel strongly that the instructor who does the OW testing should be the certifying instructor. They see a potential problem if a diver has a skill-related accident after being certified to dive by someone who never saw the diver in the open water.

PADI does, however, allow individual instructors to participate in the universal referral program if they want to. If the PADI instructor agrees to do this, then he or she will use the universal referral process, and the diver will be certified by SSI. If the PADI instructor does not wish to do this, though, then the only real option is to have the PADI instructor give a PADI certification. In that case, some additional work will be required to complete the process, and it may cost a little more.

The safest thing to do is to have the SSI instructor locate an instructor who will officially agree to the universal referral program at the diver's destination.

 

[c0r3yz]

Just out of curiosity, what's the reasoning behind wanting to finish with PADI instead of SSI? If you're willing to do the classroom with SSI, why not just do the checkout dives with them as well?

 

[boulderjohn]

Just out of curiosity, what's the reasoning behind wanting to finish with PADI instead of SSI? If you're willing to do the classroom with SSI, why not just do the checkout dives with them as well?

It usually happens when a student goes on vacation to a location that does not have an operator that is certified to teach for the original agency. There are PADI shops just about everywhere. SSI is pretty big, but it is not everywhere. Some of the smaller participants in the universal program have very little presence in resort areas.

 

[Boardndave]

Just out of curiosity, what's the reasoning behind wanting to finish with PADI instead of SSI? If you're willing to do the classroom with SSI, why not just do the checkout dives with them as well?

The OP did mention wanting a discount...that may be it.

 

[rommelwood]

Thanks for the feedback. Two reasons for the question: 1) I'm certified with PADI and this is for my fiancée. So we can have the same certification and have to worry about any place not having one or the other. 2) Groupon discount. What can I say? Money's tight these days....

 

[boulderjohn]

Thanks for the feedback. Two reasons for the question: 1) I'm certified with PADI and this is for my fiancée. So we can have the same certification and have to worry about any place not having one or the other. 2) Groupon discount. What can I say? Money's tight these days....

In that case don't worry about the Universal referral. The PADI instructor can give you a PADI certificaiton. There is an extra step beyond the norm, but it isn't much. Make sure they know ahead of time what the situation is.

BTW, either certification is recognized around the world, and if you want to take more advanced classes together later on, it is not hard to cross over.

 

[oly5050user]

There's a groupon in New York for part I of the SSI certification that includes the classroom and pool instruction. Can this be transferred to a PADI instructor who completes the OW course for PADI certification?

The groupon ticket is for the facility that you purchased it from.so if the SSI facility is in lets say, Westchester NY, then that is the only place to use it.Any other instructor,PADI or any other,would expect to be paidtheir normal rate.We offered groupon at one time here in NY for discover scuba sessions.We sold them for $25. and out of that groupon gets $12.50 plus credit card charges and we got the rest.Really was not worth the effort it took.
If what you are truly asking is if she can get a PADI certification after completing a SSI course academic and pool portion the answer is yes.She would need to go to the pool with the PADI instructor at least 1 time and take/pass the final written exam.At that point the 4 training dives can be done and she would have a PADI certification.