Agency Wars

[lowviz]

There are differences between Naui and Padi, I learned quite a bit from both. Probably learned just as much from SB over the years. My take is to let the agencies fight it out. The real war is all about the people who have the almighty expendable currency in their pockets. Instead of "my agency is better than yours" amongst ourselves, how about saying "I was expecting a somewhat more rigorous course for the money I just paid out" to the agencies, all of them. "We have met the enemy and he is us" -Pogo, I cut it out of the newspaper when it first appeared.

 

[siikik]

Other than the childish name calling (elitist, Put Another...) I haven't seen wars about agencies here either. I've seen nothing remotely related to it on boats.

I have no freakin' idea, but it is really annoying that I can't post anything without somebody looking at my stats and bashing PADI, probably just to be annoying. I have very good friends that are NAUI instructors. Heck, even my wife has 2 out of 3 of her certs through NAUI. She asked me which agency to choose and I flat out told her she had to figure that one out on her own. So, I have to agree that in real life, I haven't seen the arguing like I do on this BB.

Sounds like you have failed to talk to the owner of a certain shop in East Orlando.

What I DO see on ScubaBoard ... increasingly more often ... is misinformation about what a given agency actually teaches. It usually comes from people who have never been affiliated with the agency they're talking about ... either as a student or an instructor. My impression is that they're simply parroting something they heard from someone at their LDS ... or read on the Internet.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Seeing that the entire industry is self-regulating, you would think this wouldn't happen as often as it does.



Ken

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Other than the childish name calling (elitist, Put Another...) I haven't seen wars about agencies here either. I've seen nothing remotely related to it on boats.

Okay so...war was a bad choice of word. Arguments would fit better. I have seen it on boats before and somewhat in the workplace.

 

[Walter]

Sorry to hear that, I've never seen it on a boat, folks just want to enjoy their dives.

 

[Teamcasa]

Sorry to hear that, I've never seen it on a boat, folks just want to enjoy their dives.

Same here. Even when we dive at the Casino Dive park with sometimes 100's of divers, instructors from many agency's along with thier students, I've never observed any angst between divers over agency differences. We all are there to dive and have fun.

 

[bjexpat]

What you will see is a discussion that revolves around what new divers should have been trained in and what is lacking. Some feel many of these issue are life or death important and are passionate about it. While these discussion typically refer back to the agency the root is really a philosophical difference of opinion.

These debates ultimately self-destruct but before they do, many people read and gain a new and sometimes different insight to their own training. Overall, they benefit the reader.

This is very well said - It comes down to "confirmation bias".

I just completed my PADI Advanced (and EANx) this week and felt like it was too easy for a title like "Advanced". On top of that, I had only 4 dives from my OWD before doing the AOW and was rusty on lots of things I learned during my OWD. I think the training tracks give you an academic base but a bit more experience should probably be mixed in. But maybe that's why shops require refresher courses...because they know their certs need to be matched with frequent dives.

 

[caver]

Most so-called agency wars are done over the internet. The real ones are done in court...Such as when TDI-SDI lost some key managment people to another agency.
The ones over the internet mean nothing,,,they are just entertainment.

 

[Quero]

I know but it's just weird that I don't see many SSI vs PDIC wars for example.

Well, over here there is a slight rivalry between PADI and SSI as they are the industry leaders in the region. NAUI isn't even on the radar. Mostly, though, we all get along just fine (except maybe for CMAS who are creating political problems for the rest of us, but that's not really an agency war--it's more a local CMAS leadership thing).

 

[Rhenry]

In my humble opinion there really is not a huge rivalry between all the agencies. The difference is how they approach diving. PADI is all about the marketing and the cash. The philosophy of PADI is to market the hell out of it and to cash in on the gold mine. Hey do train folks they are a competent agency that just sells and sells and sells. They are a leader in qualification numbers just because they market and sell their brand name. They also have tried to corner the market by adding in the books and first aid classes as well as other auxiliary items. Is this bad? No necessarily, they do put out the word about diving and they generate a lot of interest in diving. They bring in a lot of new folks into the dive community; all this comes at a cost.

On the other hand we have agencies who are all about the training and do not market them selves at all or very little. They have very little exposure to the general public, and most folks coming into diving have never heard of them. They know PADI and they have seen the PADI sign all over the place. They know PADI and therefore believe that PADI must be the only way to go. Most resorts have the PADI logo and sign all overt he place from cruise ships to boat docks. How many have a NAUI sign or logo hanging around? Or SSI? Or for that matter any other agency? Not many as a average citizen all I know is PADI and if someone tells me it’s all the same I question that. It would be like tell someone the Ford escort is just the same as a Mercedes Benz!!! It is just that lopsided. At the end of the day after some one has been diving for awhile they become aware of the other agencies and may go to one of them for another certification.

The only rivalry is in the minds of the public, and us. The real game is in the cash drawer, and that is the bottom line. The only game is how to get people into your organization and use your agency. Most every one else is getting into the market game,. They have seen what an impact PADI has made and how they are just gobbling every one up. It is about name recognition and marketing. PADI has it at this point, they have an advantage, but competition drives the market place. The other agencies will make a play to place PADI in second place. First there was coke, now it’s Pepsi please!!!

 

[fresh_fish]

In my experience, all the "wars" ended a few years ago. It used to be that a PADI charter could deny your dive because you were certified SSI. (a friend actually had this happen about 4-5 years ago). They were not required to acknowledge each other. That is no longer the case. All the certification agencies are required to acknowledge each other's OW c card as sufficient for a charter.

It still gets a little touchy if you are doing anything technical, as the AOW requirements may vary between agencies. An example would be showing your AOW card and expecting to dive nitrox. How is the charter to know that's the specialty you took? Like with SSI, you can choose your specialties, and may not have taken the nitrox class. However, PADI is more structured, and AOW means you took certain courses. There isn't as much choice in the curriculum.