Mapping IANTD courses to SSI

[quietlife4me]

At $11/hr for someone to coach/teach…that’s a bargain anywhere

 

[Big Dan K]

It is too good a deal, for sure. I actually feel so guilty about it that I am planning to buy an AI dive computer from his shop to make it fair. Already bought a spare video light from him

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It is too good a deal, for sure. I actually feel so guilty about it that I am planning to buy an AI dive computer from his shop to make it fair. Already bought a spare video light from him

And the instructor? Ask about his/her compensation for everything and then divide by the number of hours he/she spends with you.

 

[Big Dan K]

It was a six person class, so the instructor made out OK. It is a lot of students for one instructor, but there was another instructor training a AOWI along for the class. With two real instructors and a trainee, us students made out pretty well too

But before the trolls start in, no, it did not make me an advanced diver, regardless of what my card says.

 

[tursiops]

it did not make me an advanced diver,

 

[suricatasuricata]

My understanding of the rules is that SSI will give you the AOW cert if you have enough dives and complete any four specialties. But they recommend that the four are from the five core classes: buoyancy, night, deep, navigation, and nitrox. Most SSI shops offer a four course bundle for a decent price. At my shop it was all the core classes except nitrox for $350

Just for fun, I tried pricing the same four classes (buoyancy, night, deep, navigation) at my LDS. It comes to ~ $1100. That comes to 4 hour pools, 7 certification dives and some hours of class work.

Most likely, I will try to get the deep, navigation and dry suit cert out of the way, hopefully learning some skills too!

 

[suricatasuricata]

Just to clear something up,
I can't speak for all boat captains, but I can speak for myself.
Qualifications outweigh certifications in all but one aspect.
Insurance.
If you take people out diving below 60' and they don't have AOW, you are in violation of your policy if anything happens.
Same goes for deep diver below 100' and technical certs below 130'.
In the US, liability is what makes the rules, not the owners and captains.

Skimming online, it looks like there are similar rules that apply abroad as well, which is one of the reasons why the liveaboards and some dive shops appear to care about the cert.

 

[suricatasuricata]

In my open water courses, I ask my student what they think a good diver looks like. I then show them @Trace Malinowski's video here:


I then tell them when evaluating a course, determine if that course will get them closer to their ultimate goal (which can change over time). WCGTTWHI? (What Courses Got Trace To Where He Is?)

This video is really good, thanks for sharing @wetb4igetinthewater! This captures visually the massive contrast that I saw between recreational diving and watching/working with Cave divers. The diver appears precise, with all gear streamlined and in control. To me, this is the sort of diver I'd want to be. Especially because the Ocean is a precious, magical place and I'd hate to be the person colliding and destroying the reef, cause I have not trained myself well!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

This video is really good, thanks for sharing @wetb4igetinthewater! This captures visually the massive contrast that I saw between recreational diving and watching/working with Cave divers. The diver appears precise, with all gear streamlined and in control. To me, this is the sort of diver I'd want to be. Especially because the Ocean is a precious, magical place and I'd hate to be the person colliding and destroying the reef, cause I have not trained myself well!

Trace IS one of the best out there. Setting such high standards takes many years and a lot of yard work. But it is doable. Reaching out to him (or similar) for just workshops based on their feedback of weaknesses that you may have is something I recommend. It is something I plan on doing with my rebreather. Different instructors have different approaches/emphases. While I dive a Hollis Prism 2, I'll be linking up with a cave instructor who teaches two different units for the same thing.

 

[lostsheep]

If you’re looking for more tech type diving , Pinnacles Dive Center is just North of you in Novato and they have their own boat in Monterey, Rick teaches TDI and PADI. Your only other choice for more techy dives is going to be GUE / BAUE. After you do fundies you can pay your BAUE dues and try to jump on their rec charters. I’ve heard horror stories about people never getting on the rec boats, YMMV. I do recommend Beto , he’s a good instructor but you’ll probably have to wait a while until he has an opening.