Open Water with Referrals, SSI + PADI?

[Matt Clancy]

That is exactly what my wife and I did. We did the course work and pool at a SsI shop and the checkout dives with the padi shop. Our local dive shop contacted the padi operator and sent is down with the referral sheet. No problems!


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[Goodtime Adventures]

PADI do not offer universal referral, whereas SSI do. So - unfortunately for you - you could do your PADI theory/confined at home, and OW dives with SSI on holiday, but not the other way round. Getting your full SSI cert before travelling is definitely worth considering though. PADI centres will accept it worldwide, and it will mean much more enjoyable fun dives on your vacation, rather than doing skills and training dives.

Good luck & happy diving

 

[boulderjohn]

PADI do not offer universal referral, whereas SSI do. So - unfortunately for you - you could do your PADI theory/confined at home, and OW dives with SSI on holiday, but not the other way round. Getting your full SSI cert before travelling is definitely worth considering though. PADI centres will accept it worldwide, and it will mean much more enjoyable fun dives on your vacation, rather than doing skills and training dives.

Good luck & happy diving

As has been explained previously in this thread, PADI does not endorse the universal referral, but it does not prevent its instructors from following those procedures. Many PADI shops and instructors fully participate in it. The key idea is to check first.

 

[oly5050user]

As has been explained previously in this thread, PADI does not endorse the universal referral, but it does not prevent its instructors from following those procedures. Many PADI shops and instructors fully participate in it. The key idea is to check first.

Absolutely right..As a PADI instructor If I had a student that took a referral and came back with a form stating he/she did the dives with an instructor and expected me to issue a certification card I would not do it. I did simply did not witness the diver completing the dives and would not sign a statement (certification) that they did. If I had a student from elsewhere coming to me to DO the dives from another agency, I would first do a simple evaluation in a pool, do the dives ,sign their universal form,tell them to have a nice day.
They then must go BACK to their original instructor and get the card out of them. I am not issuing a PADI certification card to them, I only took them diving and their instructor back home is responsible to "certify" them.If they want PADI certification I would have them take the final ow written exam and they can have a PADI card if they pass the test.