General question can you help?

[scubadad71]

Just wondering.....being certified through one agency, how can you gain certification through other agencies? Do you have to retake cert classes with each agency?

 

[tstormdiver]

Most agencies will recognise most certifications from others up until the professional level (DM/ Inst.). There may be a few that are not recognised, but not many. Generally there is no reason to retake the course unless it fall into the unrecognised category. To get that same certification through another agency,.. yes you may have to take it over, but say if you are agoing for your Master diver level through agency X, then the certifications from agency Y will typically be recognised & counted towards the Master Diver certification. However if you are Open Water certified through agency X, & you want to be Open Water certified by agency Y, then yes, you might have to retake the course.

 

[Walter]

If you have an Open Water (or whatever that particular agency calls it) certification with agency A, you don't need an Open Water certification with agency B. You can take Advanced Open Water with either agency A or agency B or even agency C. You can take specialty classes with any agency. They recognize each other's certifications.

 

[Walter]

if you are agoing for your Master diver level through agency X, then the certifications from agency Y will typically be recognised & counted towards the Master Diver certification.

I think you may be mistaken on this point. There are two ways to get a Master Diver certification. 1. Take a Master Diver class through one of the agencies (SEI and NAUI are two examples) that offer it. or 2. Take a specified number of specialty classes (Usually including rescue) and log a specified number of dives, the apply (and pay the fee) for a Master Diver certification through one of the agencies (PADI and SSI are two examples) that offer the ND certification using that method. If you take the second option I believe all the specialties have to be with the agency issuing the MD certification.

 

[Katamuki]

Not to mention Walter, that NAUI's Master certification is lightyears away from PADI's pay-as-you-go plan.

To the OP, most certification levels are similar but NOT the Master cert from NAUI.

 

[tstormdiver]

I think you may be mistaken on this point. There are two ways to get a Master Diver certification. 1. Take a Master Diver class through one of the agencies (SEI and NAUI are two examples) that offer it. or 2. Take a specified number of specialty classes (Usually including rescue) and log a specified number of dives, the apply (and pay the fee) for a Master Diver certification through one of the agencies (PADI and SSI are two examples) that offer the ND certification using that method. If you take the second option I believe all the specialties have to be with the agency issuing the MD certification.

You are correct. Thank you.:cool2:

 

[scubadad71]

Thanks for all the info , i appreciate the input everyone

 

[Walter]

Not to mention Walter, that NAUI's Master certification is lightyears away from PADI's pay-as-you-go plan.

To the OP, most certification levels are similar but NOT the Master cert from NAUI.

The thread isn't really about quality or even differences between classes. I was just hoping to avoid a misunderstanding in the MD process. In my opinion, all certification levels vary greatly between agencies in terms of quality, so potential students should choose carefully. On the other hand, there are already lots of threads on that topic and anyone interested can find those discussions quite easily or simply start another. There's no need to hijack this thread.