padi or ssi?

[QuoVadis]

Got OW/Advanced from a NAUI instructor who spent most of his time in PADI............He says NAUI goes more in depth than PADI.........HE says its better.

 

[garyfotodiver]

Everything usefull I have learned in life has come from listening to others more experienced than I. This includes diving.

I was not impressed with the PADI training materials that my daughter used last summer. There was not enough theory of diving physics. I wasn't that impressed with the classroom and pool session instructors either. For her check-out dives, I sent her to the LDS I use in Florida. She did four very tough boat dives, and the instructors made certain that she understood what she did.

We will not take any other courses until she gets experience diving.

 

[Mako Mark]

There was not enough theory of diving physics.

She did four very tough boat dives,

diving.

Because diving is all about being tough and learning physics???

gimme a break.

 

[Sylvain]

I agree don't go with an association because of the name, talk to the instructor first and you will know if you are comfortable with his approch just to give you an example my open water was with NAUI , Advance and Rescue with PADI and now working on my DiveMaste with ACUC why because some of the instrctor I spoke to seem very stress and I chose the one that were more relax and so far I had no problems. I am not saying that the stress one are not good but who want's to dive with people that rush everything ie Go Go Go lets get ready go in the water NOW anyway I think you all know what I mean.

 

[Bubble Blower 479]

I want to say the the agency is not at all the question. I started with NASDS in 74 and then SSI for all the rest. I didn't choose them because they were the best, they were the avaible dive shop. Most of the people I dive with are PADI or NAUI and I'm comfortable with all of them. I think the instructor makes a big difference, but I also think the student is the biggest factor. I took to the water very easily and never had the slightest moment of hesitation or anxiety. But I have helped many divers that needed lots of attention and support. No mater which agency they were with, they needed a good solid instructor to work with them.

Just for comparison, I'll tell about my OW class according to the standards at the time. We had 12 classroom and pool sessions. During the pool sessions we had to do much of the same things as today with a few additions. We had to breathe directly from the tank valve while underwater (it's not hard at all). To gaurd against sharks we had to remore our tank holding the valve and backpack so we could poke a shark in the nose with our tank. This was done back to back with our buddy as we ascended from such a dangerous dive. When we went to the lake for our open water dive/test (yes that is singular), we went to a depth of at least 40 feet and cleared our mask for the instructor. Then the assistant instructor shut off our air. We made the out of air signal, spit out our regulator, bubbled air out of our mouth, indicated we were going to surface, removed our weight belt and handed it to the assistant instructor and rocketed to the surface with an attempted flair near the surface to slow us down a bit. After everyone did the emergency ascent we packed up and went home. I forgot, we also had to tow a dive buddy along on the surface while "demonstrating" mouth to mouth recessitation (sp?) as we went. My total OW dive time was about 10 minutes.

With such a limited amout of experience we all came away certified and none of us every had an emergency arise later on. The key was the instructor taught us well in the classroom and pool and as students we were ready and willing to learn. I don't think the agency is the issue at all.

 

[scubatim77]

My take on it isn't cut and dry, but what I know is what I know, and what you know is what you know. There are horrible PADI instructors. There are horrible SSI instructors. As well as NAUI, and any number of the other about two dozen agencies worldwide. On the same note, there are great dive instructors in each organization. Who you feel comfortable with is the most important. In each dive shop, you will find representatives from both the horrible catagory and the great.

Diving is not considered a safe sport. It is an adventure sport. With the proper training and experience, you can make diving safer. Never believe that you are perfectly safe when you enter the water. Only proper training and experience can make you safer.

With that said, PADI gets a bad reputation due to the fact that you can go to just about any Carribean island and get certified in 3-4 days only going to class half days. That's 12-16 hours of training including open water dives and you can not learn all you need to know in that amount of time. Any good instructor will agree. Is that PADIs fault, or the individual dive shop\instructors? I am not one that is able to answer that question. I do know that just like any other investment, you should shop around.

Find out what the shops minimum requirements to pass a class are. Find out how much classroom time is involved and hands on training is involved or are they going to give you the books so you can teach yourself and they just sell you a card. I personnaly know of two dive shops that sell you cards, and one of them isn't PADI.

Each agency is required to teach to and industry mandated minimum standard, who in your area raises the bar the most is the one that you should go with. Get the best training possible, even if it costs a little more money and takes more time. When you hit the water, you will be able to look around and see which divers on your charter took the short cut with cheaper and faster and you will be happy you didn't.

 

[garyfotodiver]

Because diving is all about being tough and learning physics???

gimme a break.

Not at all, and if one select-quotes it is very easy to misunderstand the other person's comcepts.

The physics is important IMO, and I will teach her as she progresses in her diving. Knowledge is power.

As far as the tough dives, the dives were made just after a couple of stormy days in FL, and the sea was rough. On the third dive, a 72fsw wreck, at least one diver aborted because of the seas. These are simply facts; I never said one must be tough to be a diver.

 

[PonyBottle]

Worry about the instructor.

Interview them. Choose one that actually dives and has real world experience to share.

Have fun. Be safe. :jetfighte

You hit the nail on the head!

 

[terri]

Because diving is all about being tough and learning physics???

gimme a break.

Understanding the physics of diving is one of the most important things to learn, don't you think?

 

[paulwlee]

Because diving is all about being tough and learning physics???

gimme a break.

Understanding the physics of diving is one of the most important things to learn, don't you think?

This is true, but I think the physics in the PADI Open Water manual is more than enough to learn to dive.

It's nice to learn more in-depth material if one has the capacity to do so, but if one doesn't, it just confuses and distracts from learning the core knowledge.