Certification crossover?

[thomasj1107]

So if you get OW through PADI, can you do further certifications through a different agency, or are you stuck with one or how does it work?

 

[FF / EMT]

Yes, you can train with any agency you want, and remember, pick the instructor, not the agency

 

[thomasj1107]

So if I did OW with PADI and then I do advanced with a different agency, what am I losing? Can I no longer do anything further with PADI or what?

 

[RyanT]

So if I did OW with PADI and then I do advanced with a different agency, what am I losing?

GUE is different from the other big agencies. But otherwise, nothing. PADI, SSI, etc. recognize equivalent courses from other agencies.

 

[Eric802]

Except for GUE, OW is pretty standard across the board.the next step is some version of Advanced OW, just has different names.

 

[thomasj1107]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of doing AOW with PADI vs SSI?

 

[tursiops]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of doing AOW with PADI vs SSI?

Many more places will offer it, so you get more chances to choose a good instructor.

 

[Eric802]

You’ll see the advice many times - don‘t worry about the agency, find an instructor you’re comfortable with. I was OW/AOW through PADI but will probably jump to SDI/TDI for future stuff.

 

[FF / EMT]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of doing AOW with PADI vs SSI?

There’s more padi places than SSI places.
You can also “put another dollar in” every time you learn something new, and if you want an
E-card you have to pay 30 bucks every 3 years.
Padi is the biggest, but as far as being the bestest, debatable.

In reality, just about no one cares where your AOW card came from or your nitrox card or even Tec cards, because, once again, you’re picking an instructor not an agency.
I’ve got cards from, padi, ssi, DRI, and soon sdi and tdi.

One thing about the padi, aow, it’s just a sampler, in fact it can be done with you’re OW,
Do each one individually, eg. Night, deep, nav, and search, etc.
Then after you get a few dives under your belt, do a stress and rescue course.

 

[RyanT]

@thomasj1107, The variation (terrible to outstanding) across instructors is huge. At the end of the day, you want an instructor who will train you to dive and dive well. I see that you are in Orlando, you're not too far from Ft. Lauderdale. I highly recommend Landon and @custureri and @LandonL at Aqui. Their students walk out of there as competent divers.