Agency comparisons

[nyprrthd]

I am not sure that you can be sure you are getting good information in a forum such as this. The person writing in may be a very objective, clear-headed, and informed person. Or he or she could be an ill-informed hothead who overreacts to half knowledge and rumor.

How will you know the difference?

I have seen a lot of misinformation spewed out in these forums in anger.

One of the biggest mistakes is to make the hasty generalization fallacy. It goes like this. "I had a bad experience with a specific instructor from [whatever agency]. Therefore that entire agency must suck."

Take anything you read here with enormous quantities of salt grains.

I couldn't agree more! I always take everything I read on the internet forums with a grain of salt. One has to discount the "complainers" who don't seem to be happy unless they're unhappy, and the cheerleaders who will defend their favorite whatever to the death. Then there are the folks who just plain don't know what they're talking about, but sound as if they might. I always look at a poster's profile before I take their posting as "gospel." But I could easily have created a profile that makes me look like Jacque Cousteau, so that could be misleading too. The bottom line is, read what everyone has to say, and make your own decisions.

I think that the PADI AOW course is something that is in my future, but I don't think we would get a whole lot out of it until we've got 30 or 40 dives under our belts. I consider my OW certification a permit to learn how to dive. The learning curve since we got certified has been quite extreme, and we've been lucky to hook up with some incredible divers and DM's who have helped us hone our skills. And, our instructors were "by the book" types, who made us do all of the "optional" skills; everything repeated until we had it down pat. Simply, this thread is aimed at finding out if there is a better option for advanced training than PADI. Looking forward, we would probably take an AOW course while on vacation, so it would not be with our LDS; unless we went on one of their package trips.

We're not interested in collecting cards, just getting the best training and experience possible. I never want to be one of those divers that no one wants to dive with, or near.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I've seen lots of padi divers with less than a dozen total dives holding an advance card. Padi does not require dive totals to get their advance card.

 

[nyprrthd]

Al,

I agree with those that have said that going from OW to AOW with virtually no experience would be counter-productive. PADI seems to allow it in an attempt to keep people in the sport, increase revenues, and give a sense of accomplishment to those who need it.

I personally see no sense in doing a 100 foot dive until I get better control of my SAC. Our bouyancy skills have increased exponentially, but still need some work before I would want to concentrate on a navigating specialty, or other new task loading.

But, that's just my opinion, and I could be wrong......

 

[Walter]

I know for a fact that to be a SSI Advanced Open Water diver you must log 24 dives and have 4 specilities (which requires 2 dives per specility, but you can combine some dives together). It is my understanding that with PADI you can be an "Advanced Open Water diver with as few as 9 dives??? IMO 9 dives does not make you any more than an open water diver with a couple extra dives... Ok I have a nomex suit on!

That's an apples to oranges comparison. While both agencies certify you as "Advanced," SSI doesn't actually have an advanced course. Compare SSI's Advanced to PADI's Master Diver. They both follow the same concept - x number od specialties and x number of dives. I believe (but I'm not sure) they require approximately the same in terms of specialties, but PADI requires approximately twice the number of dives.

Drew, what is the world coming to? You're defending YMCA and I'm defending PADI.

Another PADI benefit is that their qualifications are the most recognised worldwide. Try taking a YMCA C card to France!!

They are all recognized world wide. I must admit, I've never dived in France, but I have dived in much more remote areas of the world and have never had a problem. What about a CMAS card in France? With a photo copy of your Y card and a small fee, you can have a CMAS card.

I'm sure others can verify this, but I believe that YMCA still has a long standing arrangement with CMAS. See this thread. A matter of a little bit of paperwork and you can arrive in France with a CMAS card to go with your YMCA card... no further training required. Of course there is the small matter of a fee for the paperwork.

Walter, or anyone, able to verify this is still current?

It is current. You can get a CMAS card at any time by sending in a photo copy of your YMCA c-card and a small fee. You also have the option of getting a YMCA and a CMAS card at the same time when you are certified.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

NAUI requires 5 dives for OW (one can be a skin dive) and then they require 6 dives for AOW so you could be an "Advanced" diver with only 10 scuba dives. I liked the old system where you had OWI, OWII (now advanced), Advanced (now Master Diver) and so on. OWII is a much better description for someone with 10 dives. The best part about teaching for NAUI is the freedom to add skills and course material to your classes. I pull a skill or two from the DM class for my AOW students and we use the Master Diver text instead of the Advanced Diver text since this is a 10 week college course. At the university we set the minimum at 400 minutes of bottom time during the class to pass. Water temperature determines how many dives this takes.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Drew, what is the world coming to? You're defending YMCA and I'm defending PADI.

BRACE YOURSELVES! There's been some sort of tear in the space/time continuum--WOOP WOOOP WOOOOP!
:hai:
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[freediver]

I know for a fact that to be a SSI Advanced Open Water diver you must log 24 dives and have 4 specilities (which requires 2 dives per specility, but you can combine some dives together). It is my understanding that with PADI you can be an "Advanced Open Water diver with as few as 9 dives??? IMO 9 dives does not make you any more than an open water diver with a couple extra dives... Ok I have a nomex suit on!

In my opinion it's an incorrectly termed course. Try not to think of it as PADI's Advanced Open Water Diver course, think of it as PADI's "Advancing" Open Water Diver course. I consider it a mere extension of the Open Water course.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

When a padi aow diver wants to dive with you a great question to ask is how many dives and when is the last time you dove.

 

[Walter]

That's a good question anytime you're diving with anyone you don't know.

 

[nyprrthd]

BRACE YOURSELVES! There's been some sort of tear in the space/time continuum--WOOP WOOOP WOOOOP!
:hai:
Ber :lilbunny:

ROFL! :lol3: