Negative Aspects of PADI & BSAC Training?

[maged_mmh]

Hello all,
Is there anyone who is willing to cut the age old question??
in brief what are the disadvantages of PADI and those of BSAC???

 

[Jason Ooi]

Welcome to :sblogo:
:wave-smil :wave-smil

 

[Diving Doc]

In short.........PADI commercial enterprise and therefore customers pay for a service EG learn to dive. BSAC member based so you join a club to learn to dive and are (in most cases buut not exclusively) reliant on members to teach you.

I will not go into the PADI better then BSAC or vice versa discussion as, as other people have said, been done to death.

Personal opinion is that both agencies have their own strengths and weaknesses and it is up to the individual to decide.

 

[Hemlon]

Welcome to the board!

 

[Wilson]

Take the good Doctor's advice. Welcome to the Scubaboard!

 

[Guba]

The disadvantages (and advantages) of PADI (and just about any other dive training organization/institution) are much like my wife. Certainly, there are those days when I wake up, look over at her and--depending on how things are going that particular day--think "who is this woman, and what in the world am I going to do with her?"
And then there are days when I gaze at her and wonder, "What a lady! What in the world would I ever do without her?"
Point is, certainly every dive organization has those elements, whether they be policies, guidelines, or people, that drive us crazy. However, if they are quality institutions, then we will return to them for additional services and training and overlook (or try to change) those elements with which we are less than happy.
By the way, I don't suggest that latter course of action with a wife. Trying to change her into the woman you want, I have found, will usually produce, uh, rather unexpected and often unpleasant side effects. Much better to simply love her for who she is and learn to enjoy ALL her wonderful attributes. (Ladies, it works the same way with men, I think.)

 

[Thalassamania]

Joining a large, strong, active BSAC club is one of the best ways to learn to dive, as long as you can put up the inevitable and oh-so-British enforcer of every little rule and regulation that each club seems to be cursed with. The process can take you a while, but you will likely be the better diver for it.

If you have no need for club gear, club faculties, club trips or the social milieu, go to a commercial operator for training and equipment purchase.

 

[String]

Trying to be careful here but basically.

PADI:- Learn to dive/advance quickly with courses taking typically a few days
BSAC:- Takes a lot longer, up to several months per course. You may well finish the course with a lot of experience and dives though (more than the required minimum). Example i qualified it took months but i had 20 dives (as opposed to the minimum 5).

Reason for this is PADI is a commercial entity whereas BSAC is mainly club based with members typically meeting once a week for a club night and diving on weekends only. Instructors dont get paid so all training is voluntary.

PADI:- Pay for every course
BSAC:- Courses are free, you need to be a member of BSAC (~£45 a year) and a club but once thats done training is done free. BSAC does have a few "schools" where courses are sold in the padi way but these are few and far between.

PADI:- Standardised training and standards for everywhere in the world
BSAC:- Standards are catered more towards UK (or local to the area) diving and some things in a lot more detail in some areas as a result

PADI:- Clubs are rare and most are attached to dive shops. Most diving is done via dive shops
BSAC:- Diving normally done in clubs who own and operate their own boats so it works out quite a lot cheaper than using dive shops. Everything is run "at cost" only for legal reasons so the charges just cover insurance and fuel etc.

Although there are syllabus differences in training there are pros and cons to each agencies. I can think of thinks i like and dislike between the two but definately not going into detail here or it'll start a 30 page riot.

Note:- Both agencies qualifications are equally valid anywhere on the planet and you can join a bsac club with only padi qualifictions and so on. It isnt a rigid divide once you decide what to do with which agency. For example i started out BSAC, did some TDI qualifications and then did PADI. So im now qualified by 3 agencies (PADI OWSI and BSAC OWI cheque is in the post...).

Tried to keep that fair. Its my personal view of how things are between the two of them.

 

[Jupiter31]

Trying to be careful here but basically.

PADI:- Learn to dive/advance quickly with courses taking typically a few days
BSAC:- Takes a lot longer, up to several months per course. You may well finish the course with a lot of experience and dives though (more than the required minimum). Example i qualified it took months but i had 20 dives (as opposed to the minimum 5).

Reason for this is PADI is a commercial entity whereas BSAC is mainly club based with members typically meeting once a week for a club night and diving on weekends only. Instructors dont get paid so all training is voluntary.

PADI:- Pay for every course
BSAC:- Courses are free, you need to be a member of BSAC (~£45 a year) and a club but once thats done training is done free. BSAC does have a few "schools" where courses are sold in the padi way but these are few and far between.

PADI:- Standardised training and standards for everywhere in the world
BSAC:- Standards are catered more towards UK (or local to the area) diving and some things in a lot more detail in some areas as a result

PADI:- Clubs are rare and most are attached to dive shops. Most diving is done via dive shops
BSAC:- Diving normally done in clubs who own and operate their own boats so it works out quite a lot cheaper than using dive shops. Everything is run "at cost" only for legal reasons so the charges just cover insurance and fuel etc.

Although there are syllabus differences in training there are pros and cons to each agencies. I can think of thinks i like and dislike between the two but definately not going into detail here or it'll start a 30 page riot.

Note:- Both agencies qualifications are equally valid anywhere on the planet and you can join a bsac club with only padi qualifictions and so on. It isnt a rigid divide once you decide what to do with which agency. For example i started out BSAC, did some TDI qualifications and then did PADI. So im now qualified by 3 agencies (PADI OWSI and BSAC OWI cheque is in the post...).

Tried to keep that fair. Its my personal view of how things are between the two of them.

Bottom Line - (IMHO)

British Sub Aqua Divers are likely better trained, because of the time put into each course - diving is a sport of experience; PADI issues class cards with less time, less dives, etc than BSAC - also, "local" dives in Europe are likey more rigourous than the warm water Caribean diving so many get certified for.

As Americans, however, we tend to want it "NOW" - don't know how many would wait and take the time to complete a BSAC course. Seems to attract a more serious diver - and its in PADI's best interest to certify as many as they can. I know some slam PADI for their status as a profit making entity, but if there was a desire, I would think the BSAC would have made headway in the US - I've been certified since 1977 and unaware of chapters here - but someone correct me if I'm wrong. (I saw a BSAC card used at a dive shop here in the USA and it was accepted - welcomed, in fact - so it can't be that shops/dive operators don't honor).

I have PADI and NAUI and SSI certifications- but what makes a diver is time and experience while diving.

 

[Thalassamania]

Americans could afford to buy gear in the 1950s and 1960s so clubs where not required and the industry grew differently.