SSI or PADI?

[Alessandro Calello]

Hello everyone,

Me and my girlfriend we are thinking about becoming professional Divers and undertake this career, we want to start from the Dive Master course and then hopefully the Instructor one, but our doubt is one, which is better for learning process and then find a job? SSI or PADI? I heard that PADI is the most expensive and common, but too many people has it so it's way more difficult to find a job being PADI certified because there is too much competition and if you are SSI instead it's easier to find a job, is that true?

 

[Scott]

One major difference between the agencies.
With SSI as an Instructor you must be affiliated with an SSI facility. So think about how many SSI facilities are located where you wish to teach.
With PADI you do not have to be affiliated with a facility.
Are there more PADI facilities or instructors than SSI? Most likely.

As for cost. I was speaking with a friend who is contemplating becoming an SSI instructor. The cost was not that far off from what it would cost to become a PADI instructor.
Price is going to vary by region

 

[Diver0001]

Hello everyone,

Me and my girlfriend we are thinking about becoming professional Divers and undertake this career, we want to start from the Dive Master course and then hopefully the Instructor one, but our doubt is one, which is better for learning process and then find a job? SSI or PADI? I heard that PADI is the most expensive and common, but too many people has it so it's way more difficult to find a job being PADI certified because there is too much competition and if you are SSI instead it's easier to find a job, is that true?

I would think if you are SSI or PADI certified it will make little difference to your ability to find a job. IIRC PADI controls about 75% of the market though, so as PADI instructor you will probably have more options open to you.

As it is, there is a massive glut of instructors. Getting a job might not be a problem but getting one that can support you financially might be. Agency affiliation isn't going to change that.

R..

 

[BoltSnap]

In this case, I'd consider NAUI for sure. NAUI has much higher training standards especially at the leadership level and there is much higher demand for NAUI instructors by the NAUI dive centers for sure. There are probably more NAUI dive centers looking for NAUI instructors than there are available NAUI instructors. Once you become a NAUI instructor, it is far easier to cross over to any other agency than the other way around.

 

[sheeper]

You should also look at the fastest growing dive cert agency and the 2nd largest. Look into SDI (www.sditdi.com). I went with them and do not regret a minute of it. The economics are very favorable for a dive professional. Bottom line is that i can make more money teaching SDI/TDI than any other agency

 

[stuartv]

If it's available, you might also look at how many shops were affiliated with each agency 3 and 5 years ago and how many there are now, so you can get a sense of which agencies are growing the fastest.

My anecdotal experience makes me wonder if PADI isn't actually shrinking, if you're just looking at number of shops in the U.S. that are PADI shops now compared to 3 or 5 years ago. It definitely seems like SSI is growing fast! That said, I've done all my training (which is all within the last 2 years) with SDI and TDI, and would do so again.

 

[scubadada]

No arguments about what others have posted. My own experience is that PADI is still, easily, the most represented training agency. I'd love to see stats. Not sure how it relates to employability, many ops have more than one affiliation also.

 

[stuartv]

My two local shops were PADI 2 years ago. One was also SDI. They have both added SSI since then and one has completely dropped PADI. The other will still do a PADI cert if you ask, but their default offering when I got certified was SDI. Same basic OW training. $50 cheaper. And with SDI, they can print the C cards right there at the shop. No waiting on PADI to print and mail them.

 

[Marie13]

At my LDS, SDI OW training is $200 cheaper than PADI.

 

[scubadada]

My two local shops were PADI 2 years ago. One was also SDI. They have both added SSI since then and one has completely dropped PADI. The other will still do a PADI cert if you ask, but their default offering when I got certified was SDI. Same basic OW training. $50 cheaper. And with SDI, they can print the C cards right there at the shop. No waiting on PADI to print and mail them.

My SDI solo diver card was printed on site at Jupiter Dive Center. I actually got 2, one was printed upside down on one side so they printed me a 2nd