Changing agencies for next level of certification?

[DougK]

My wife and I got our OW certification from SSI at a dive shop the more distant of the two cities we live between. We liked the shop and the instructors. We chose that shop because price was a little better and there instruction period meet our schedule best.

Now we want to get the AOW. The other city near us is a PADI shop.We also like the guarry they dive at better.

What are the pros and cons of changing agencies for the next certification?

Example: if I want to get something higher than AOW with SSI will they accept a PADI AOW?

 

[Walter]

You need to evaluate what you get from each before you can make a decision. To answer your question, yes, SSI does recognize PADI's c-cards. When you compare, compare PADI's Master Diver with SSI's Advanced. They are similar. PADI has an Adventures in Diving course which results in receiving an Advanced card upon successful completion. SSI has no similar class. Instead, SSI's philosophy is a diver completes various specialy courses and receives and Advanced card when they have all their requirements met. There's no actual course for that card. PADI does the same with its Master Diver card. I'm not sure, but I believe the requirements for the two are similar except I believe PADI requires more logged dives (a fairly recent improvement - good job, PADI) for Master Diver than SSI requires for Advanced.

You might also search for independent instructors in the area. NAUI's AOW will, IMHO, give you a slightly more complete training than PADI's AOW. YMCA's AOW is similar to PADI's in quality, but YMCA also has Silver Advanced which is much more comprehensive than either. Do your homework before you choose a class and ask each instructor exactly what you can expect.

 

[mania]

It's no problem. I did OWD with SSI, AOW with PADI and now (after my Advance Nitrox with IANTD) I'll be doing DiveCon with SSI

Mania

 

[ScubaFreak]

Hey Doug,

Do whatever course takes your fancy. 99% of agencies recognise each others standards. So if there's an element of a PADI course (for example) that takes your fancy over something from another course- do the PADI one!

Diving isn't about the agency your with, but about what skills you want to learn and the direction you want your dive career to take!

Good luck

Scubafreak

 

[aquaoren]

OW-SSI
AOW-IDD
Nitrox-TDI
As you can see, I jumped from one agency to another too

 

[kevink]

There are slight diferences from agency to agency. I would concentrate on who is teaching the class, and what the content will be. If you like the instructor, it may be worth a 20 minute longer drive.

You can hop from agency to agency pretty much all the way until you want to become someone that trains other instructors.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I wish I had been able to experience different agencies - just for the experience. But the only shops in my area were both PADI. No harm done, I just wish there had been a choice.

 

[sweatfrog]

When you compare, compare PADI's Master Diver with SSI's Advanced. They are similar. PADI has an Adventures in Diving course which results in receiving an Advanced card upon successful completion.

You might also search for independent instructors in the area. NAUI's AOW will, IMHO, give you a slightly more complete training than PADI's AOW. YMCA's AOW is similar to PADI's in quality, but YMCA also has Silver Advanced which is much more comprehensive than either. Do your homework before you choose a class and ask each instructor exactly what you can expect.

Actually, all of the agencys have similar and competitive AOW classes. The misconception that PADI' s Master Diver class is like SSI's Aow class comes from the fact that PADI requires 5 specialties be accomplished and 50 dives be completed to become a MSD. However, each of those specialties must be PADI and you must become a PADI Rescue Diver as well. SSI's AOW isn't nearly as in-depth as that.

PADI used to have an AOW+ that required additional bookwork from the Divemaster class. It was very similar to the NAUI AOW class, but PADI dropped it due to a lack of interest by consumers. The emphasis for the AOW is not, nor should it be on the word Advanced, no matter which agency. Experience is the key to any sport, but taking a course under the auspisis of a competent Instructor will help beginners avoid pittfalls of the bad habits of their peers.

The Adventures in Diving course does not give a diver an Advanced card. It is 3 of the 5 dives you need to become an AOW diver.

You can hop from agency to agency pretty much all the way until you want to become someone that trains other instructors.

Not really, if an IT wants to teach technical courses, they can teach through more than one agency. How do you think all those second generation Instructors got to that level.

 

[SteveDiver]

My wife and I got our OW certification from SSI at a dive shop the more distant of the two cities we live between. We liked the shop and the instructors. We chose that shop because price was a little better and there instruction period meet our schedule best.

Now we want to get the AOW. The other city near us is a PADI shop.We also like the guarry they dive at better.

What are the pros and cons of changing agencies for the next certification?

Example: if I want to get something higher than AOW with SSI will they accept a PADI AOW?

It really does not matter which you go with. What is MOST important is how the instructor is that teaches you...I received my PADI OW then NAUI AOW now I am going to a PADI shop for rescue....They all recognize each others cert. I was in a SSI shop the other day and considered taking their rescue course until I met the instructor who must of got his cert out of a cracker jack box. He was a complete idiot!

 

[voop]

<snip>

PADI used to have an AOW+ that required additional bookwork from the Divemaster class. It was very similar to the NAUI AOW class, but PADI dropped it due to a lack of interest by consumers.

<SNIP>

Which, imnsho, is one big mistake. I ended up becomming a DM just, simply, to expand my diving knowledge -- but with no desire to cary "liability". Having had an Advanced Plus course would have been my thing then...

....of course, becomming a DM, I realized that I enjoyed teaching scuba, and then went on to become an instructor. As an in structor, I have then been contemplating various ways of "reintroducing" an Advanced Plus course...hmm...perhaps I feel a distinctive speciality thing comming up......

The Adventures in Diving course does not give a diver an Advanced card. It is 3 of the 5 dives you need to become an AOW diver.

Actually, "Adventures in Diving" is a program of "trying out various diving specialities". One can do as many as one wants. If you do three "adventures in diving dives", you can get a card saying that you are an "Adventure Diver". If you do five "adventure in diving dives", including "deep" and "navigation", you can get a card saying "advanced open water" -- in principle, that is.

I've never issued an "adventure diver" card, actually. Nor done a PADI advanced-card with only 5 dives. But that's just me....