PADI or NAUI

[Water Nymph]

I mangaged to stumble in here and read the posts.
I'm in South Carolina And looking for a diving instructor
( preferably 1 close by.. )Does any body know a good one around here?

 

[Perky182]

OK I am in between my classroom and O/W and getting a little concerned. Even though everyone says that it
doesn't matter which agency you choose, it seems no one ever mentions the one training me. I feel my instruction has been good so far but it is a little diconcerting when you never see your agency mentioned. My wife and I are going through SSI which was recommended by a few friends of ours that were certified through them. Is this certification as good as the rest? Am I being concerned over nothing? Like I said earlier, I feel my instructor has been good up to this point, but being new to the sport I really have nothing to compare him to.

Dwaine

 

[scubanole]

perk don't worry about it I'm SSI certified and I have had no problems using it. It is right up there with PADI and the rest of them.

 

[Rick L]

Im a ssi certerfied diver too (divecon) I too feel its more
whos teaching you! I feel a good instructor should not push
anyone into anything they are not ready for!! and help the
student find his or her own comfort zone! Ive seen a lot
of people scared out of diving by being rushed.
my 2 cents Rick L.

 

[Tavi]

My Open water Cert is SSI, I did it in the Bahamas. Then my wife and son found an Instructor they really liked at home (I like him too,but it was their choice of where to go for their certifications). So my Nitrox cert is NAUI. One thing I like about SSI is they make sure you have experience before giving cards. Advanced Open water requires 4 specialty coarses and 24 logged dives.

So far I've had 2 great Instructors. I hope you've found one too.

Tavi

 

[egg007]

i too would like to try different certs Naui divemaster is 25 dives, PADI 60 so guess which one I would like to take!!!
GUE seems to be real comprehensive.

 

[greg somers]

To be a qualified Naui divemaster you will have to have done
60 dives as well.You may start training before that but you will not get your cert until you post your 60th dive.
Cheers mistaken ears,
The Gasman.

 

[jbd]

Hey Gasman,
I have tried to locate information about the number of dives required to actually recieve certification in leadership positions from the NAUI website. No luck. All I can find is pre-requisite number of dives before training can begin. I have read portions of the NAUI standards an dpolicies book and don't recall seeing this info either. Can you point me in the right direction to find this info?

Thanks

jbd

 

[greg somers]

I checked the Naui website too and they only have the entry levels there which surprised me.The requirements are in my leadership manual.If you can find someone who is divemaster or above that can let you look at their copy then you should find it there.When I did my Divemaster training it was 60 dives needed by course end and some had to wait for their cert.card until they had completed the 60.The divemaster training IS dive intensive to give you the dives and the instructor training is less dive intensive but more teaching orientated.Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Gasman

 

[jbd]

I'll look at the instructors manual next time I'm the dive shop.