PADI or SSI

[bruce119]

About 6 years ago I got my Open Water cert. from my local shop. At the time he was all PADI. I was doing good Then I got injured and was down for a wile about 4 years.

I'm starting to back into it I went back to the shop. Same old shop same guys. But now he does SSI. I asked why He said PADI was looking to make money. You could learn the same and the courses are cheaper.

Just wanted to hear some input PADI verses SSI or any other.

Thanks
Bruce

 

[shark.byte.usa]

For what? A refresher course? taking ow again? or beyond?
IMHO up till AOW/ Rescue they are pretty much the same info.

SSI and PADI take different routes after that; Padi's DM->AI->Instructor vs SSI's Divecon->Instructor. You'll also tied to an LDS with SSI once you go for Divecon, whereas PADI DM's are not, if my information is correct.

I got my OW with SSI, it was a good long course, felt confident once it came to OW certification, wouldn't have changed a thing and sent my son to the same place a few months later, but now will be taking PADI AOW & Rescue, because I've made an LDS change.

 

[TheRedHead]

I took SSI OW, PADI AOW and some SSI specialty courses including Nitrox. I really like SSI's approach better as they emphasize getting some experience before taking AOW. The only reason I took AOW was to dive a wreck that required it and I had almost 100 dives at that time. I chose PADI because it was the quickest route to AOW.

 

[havnmonkey]

My only experience is with SSI, thats what my LDS does. I see PADI everywhere though. SSI was good, I enjoyed it; I went on for Nitrox and now I'm working on AOW with Night/Wreck/Boat for my trip to Roatan. I think it's more of an important choice to go with a good LDS and Instructor than either SSI or PADI.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I've got certs in both PADI and SSI. I went with SSI for DiveCon (Dive Master) because I like the fact that DiveCons must affiliate with a shop. There are a lot of terrific Dive Masters out there, but being completely independent is not necessarily the best thing. If a shop owner has any brains, he or she will ensure the DiveCons affiliated to the LDS are well trained.

NOTE: That is not a slam against PADI or any other professionals, just an observation.

Jeff

 

[vkalia]

As an instructor with both PADI and SSI, my 2 cents on the great PADI vs SSI debate:

PADI has, IMO, better educational materials for self-study. The PADI videos are better the SSI videos (especially for OW), which makes for easier self-study. SSI, OTOH, lets the instructor exceed standards, so with an experienced instructor, you can get a really content-rich course.

Other than that, at the OW level, the courses are very similar. From Advanced onwards, there is a different philosophy. I dont teach PADI specialties any more b/c I prefer the freedom of SSI specialties, which let me add on what I think is important. But for less experienced instructors, the detailed layout of PADI courses is a big plus and as I said before, it also ensures consistency.

From a student point of view, these differences are minor. The dedication and integrity of the instructor is a far more important thing.

From an instructor point of view, most of us have a bias or the other due to a bunch of reasons. Mine is with SSI, admittedly (I have been reviewing their tech curriculum in development, and looking to possibly become an instructor trainer with them), and a lot of other instructors I know who are members of both agree. However, in an ideal world, this shouldnt transfer onto the student, but occasionally it does.

Vandit