Mixing certifications with agencies allowed?

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

At least edit the Snorkel Instructor out of it, lol

Can't do that, my shop is on the Lake, I make a killing every year teaching people how to snorkel especially at the local sand bar. People can learn to snorkel and find lost items that everybody loses during holiday weekends. Now by a killing, I mean I have never taught a Snorkeling class. But I do teach people to use the snorkel for what it is good for. Spitting water a great distance while in the pool waiting to learn a new skill. Or Under Water Sword Fighting, is always a favorite for new students. LOL

 

[Rooster59]

Mixed certs + bungee wing + split fins = instant death

 

[RJP]

There are dive ops that collect a card at the start of the dive and return it at the end. No card, no dive they say. They are not fussy about what the card is or from what agency as long as it means you have at least OW from a recognized agency.

I've never heard of this. Rare enough to find an op that actually wants to SEE my cards, much less take custody of them.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I've never heard of this. Rare enough to find an op that actually wants to SEE my cards, much less take custody of them.

I've seen it on quite a few dive boats. I forget, it was something along the lines of the Coast Guard rules and commercial charters.

 

[ericg753]

1-It's not about the agency, it's all about the quality of the instructor. The longer an instructor has been around. The more likely it is they have multiple agency creds under their belts.
2 - the more variety, the better IMHO. It rounds out your overall knowledge & skill level.
3- The longer you dive, the more likely it is you'll earn certs from a variety of instructors & agencies.
4-dont be a cheapskate. It's not about money. It's about the best possible training to keep you alive in a hostile environment. $50 or a $100 savings won't matter then.

Do yourself a favor and interview your potential instructors first and then decide.


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You make a very valid point. I didn't mean to give the wrong impression, it truly isn't about the money, but about the quality of the instructor. If I had to, I would pay the $150 difference under PADI, however what I didn't like is the PADI dive shop lying to me, telling me it has to be all under PADI.

My 14 yr old son recently got certified (last Sunday at Dutch Springs) under SDI. The dive shop costs, from start to finish (including equipment), charged WAYYYY less than the shop I went to. Quality instructors, they really spent a lot of time with him, whereas I felt like my training may not have covered everything this shop covered.

---------- Post added September 2nd, 2015 at 01:15 PM ----------

Yeah, honestly the whole list thing is kinda embarrassing. It has PADI on it. The things we do for business; sometimes we have to get over the embarrassment and realize, well at least I can pay my bills at the end of the day. I wished I would have learned earlier that there was more to diving than PADI. I would say in my career I have spent way more money on PADI than I ever have making profit. If it wasn't so prevalent in our area, I would not have a problem introducing my self as a former PADI Instructor. But they remain the industry leader, and the small number of other divers that make the same realization that I did, is still not enough for me to drop them at this time.

I'm still new to diving and am quickly learning how PADI is focused on $$$, more than SDI or others.

 

[Steve_C]

I do most of my NC coastal diving with Aquatic Safaris out of Wrightsville Beach, NC. They are a PADI and DAN shop. They collect the cards at start of dive and return at the end. Their web site says they are required in red print for emphasis.

"C-Cards will be collected on the boat by the crew and returned at the dock. Unless you are Jacques Cousteau, you will not be allowed to dive without a certification card. No exceptions! If you show up without a c-card, you will still be responsible for the cost of the charter and may ride on the boat."

Note that it does not say that a C-card will be collected from everybody. Showing an electronic version could be showing up with a C-card.

I have been diving with them for almost 10 years and they started this a couple years ago so I am guessing it is for liability reason. People do lie and there is not a guide in the water unless you pay extra and request it.

PS: They are not card pushers. I enjoy taking classes and asked them about 4 of their courses that sounded sort of interesting. Three of them they told me would be a waste of my time. I was already above the level of the course. There was one that they said I might enjoy. It was a specialty course called "Underwater hunter". (They have inshore and offshore versions). Training in hunting, cleaning fish, and related including a hunting dive. You need to provide your own pole spear or spear gun.

 

[Germie]

I've seen it on quite a few dive boats. I forget, it was something along the lines of the Coast Guard rules and commercial charters.

And when my buddy forgot his certs, I gave 2 of my certs and all was ok. In Asia they like my icediving cert.

Back to ts: you can mix certs. Nitrox is almost no problem if from really unknown agency. Other certs that can be a problem. But padi, tdi/sdi, cmas, iantd, ssi are really wellknown agencies and then you won't get problems.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I would think a solo (self reliant) card next to a fundies card would generate an odor that would follow you around everywhere.

Nasty-D? Who would name their agency Nasty-D?

Captain Ralphie and his crew. Coming in the next few months to amazon and on kindle.

 

[mselenaous]

Yeah, honestly the whole list thing is kinda embarrassing. It has PADI on it. The things we do for business; sometimes we have to get over the embarrassment and realize, well at least I can pay my bills at the end of the day. I wished I would have learned earlier that there was more to diving than PADI. I would say in my career I have spent way more money on PADI than I ever have making profit. If it wasn't so prevalent in our area, I would not have a problem introducing my self as a former PADI Instructor. But they remain the industry leader, and the small number of other divers that make the same realization that I did, is still not enough for me to drop them at this time.

Well said. I agree. I've been thinking more and more of retiring my PADI status but almost all of the 30 dive ops in my town are PADI centric. No matter what skill level or expertise you have here in the Keys, you can't work without being PADI.

Funny story, Netdoc went out with a local shop leading a coral restoration trip a few months back. Shop staffed asked him to sign forms and show his cert card. He pulled out his NASE Regional Training Director card (in PADI terms that's higher than Course Director, he an the instructor examiner). They had no clue, would not accept it. He then showed them his NSSCDS full cave card which they accepted.
He had lunch a few weeks later with the owner of that shop who just chuckled.