Question PADI vs SDI for Advanced Certification

[GearheadExplorer85]

I like the SDI/SSI method of taking 4 actual classes. . See if you can swap the boat course out for something else. Yes you’ll absolutely learn more taking the navigation speciality than just doing one simple dive.

Thanks for the reply Robert! I have emailed Nanaimo Dive Outfitters to see if I can swap out the boat course with either Nitrox, Search & Recovery, or Night/Limited Visibility. I'm kind of leaning toward the latter two.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Thanks for the reply Robert! I have emailed Nanaimo Dive Outfitters to see if I can swap out the boat course with either Nitrox, Search & Recovery, or Night/Limited Visibility. I'm kind of leaning toward the latter two.

I would highly recommend nitrox. If you don’t take it as a part of AOW, take it soon after.

 

[GearheadExplorer85]

I did the SDI Advanced of 4 specialties. No sampler platter for me!

Thanks Marie! That makes sense to me. If you already know what you want, why take the long way around by doing samplers instead of just going all in from the start?

What specialties did you take when you did yours?

 

[GearheadExplorer85]

If you’re getting four actual real specialty classes with SDI then I’d do that. I think PADI’s sampler platter is a joke and doesn’t really train you for anything other than seeing what specialties you want to continue with after that. The only thing PADI AOW is good for is a pass ticket so you can go on charter boats.

Yeah, I have heard/read that a lot of charters and liveaboards require at least AOW. That is a small part of why I'm doing this.

 

[GearheadExplorer85]

I'd definitely go the SDI route without a doubt. I'd swap the boat with nitrox or wreck. Night is also good.

In the advanced diver course I teach, students do the wreck, deep, night, navigation and nitrox specialties. Buoyancy and boat are done by default with no card.

Thanks BoltSnap! I emailed the one shop to see if they can swap the boat course with something else. I like how you structure your course...you're basically working on buoyancy no matter what type of dive you're doing. For boat diving, it just seems to be a matter of paying attention to what the skipper/divemaster tells you.

 

[GearheadExplorer85]

Here is the advantage to the PADI route.

If you do the one dive sampler and decide that the one dive was enough, you don't waste your money on a specialty you neither want nor need. If you do decide that you want to go on to do the full specialty, then you can do it, with nothing lost.

Hi @GearheadExplorer85

PADI AOW and SDI Advanced Adventure Diver are the equivalent courses. Comparing AOW to SDI Advanced Diver is not an appropriate comparison. You can do more complete courses under either agency. I don't know about SDI, PADI AOW dives can count toward your specialty certifications.

Boulderjohn, that's what I was getting at when I talked about PADI in my OP. You did a better job of articulating my thoughts lol

Scubadada, thanks for pointing out that PADI AOW and SDI ADDP are not an apples and oranges comparison. Let's say that I went the PADI route and took the AOW course. Then I decided to take the complete Deep, Navigation, and Night course after. Then I think the playing field would be even. In this scenario, I don't think the buoyancy course would be necessary because there are more required dives and buoyancy is being practiced anyway.

 

[GearheadExplorer85]

I actually live in Victoria, so Jay is pretty close to me. My main motivation for choosing Nanaimo is to get a change in scenery. But if better training is available in Victoria, then I don't mind staying in town.

I didn't know that SDI gives their instructors more latitude over their courses than PADI. That's good to know.

I'll shoot Jay a message and see what he says. Thanks for the tip! I'll keep your course recommendations in mind also.

First, you are on Vancouver Island, not far from Victoria. You should speak to Jay Schier (@decompression) about training.

Here's the one big difference between SDI and PADI: SDI allows/encourages instructors to add performance requirements/dives to courses (sensible ones of course). Now it isn't required for an instructor to do so (and Jay and I have lamented that not all SDI instructors take advantage of this). But Jay does it. Speak to him about how he adds.

A boat diving course ... that's kind of a red flag to me, SDI shop or not. If they see this and get upset, they can contact me directly and I'd be happy to elaborate further on that.

I'd recommend the following courses:
1) Advanced Buoyancy Control, augmented to be GUE fundies/UTD Essentials-like (and Jay is a UTD instructor)
2 & 3) Navigation and Limited Viz/Night. Should be really hard. Now is a good time for this with the start of algae blooms.
4) Deep. Jay will teach a good course on this.

 

[Marie13]

Thanks Marie! That makes sense to me. If you already know what you want, why take the long way around by doing samplers instead of just going all in from the start?

What specialties did you take when you did yours?

Wreck, deep, night, and nav

Wreck included limited penetration

 

[BoltSnap]

Thanks BoltSnap! I emailed the one shop to see if they can swap the boat course with something else. I like how you structure your course...you're basically working on buoyancy no matter what type of dive you're doing. For boat diving, it just seems to be a matter of paying attention to what the skipper/divemaster tells you.

Please note that my advanced course includes more than the specialties as mentioned above. I include knowledge/training for environment and oceanography, marine life, buddy diving, dive planning, rescue, some first aid, equipment modification/adjustment/preventative maintenance, different types of water entries; shore sandy/rocks/boat, etc. It is usually 12 openwater dives, 3 confined water/pool sessions and few classroom sessions in addition to eLearning.

If the student was trained and certified by another instructor, regardless of what agency, or one of my students who did their course with me more than 2 years prior, I require one extra pool session to review and evaluate ALL skills that are taught in my entry level scuba diver course. Everyone has to be on the same page in terms of skill, knowledge and competence levels.

I charge accordingly. I am the most expensive dive instructor in the country, possibly in the region and I make sure that I charge more than others for the training courses I teach. BUT, if you compare what I charge for the course contact hours and number of openwater training dives and what others charge, I am the best value in the country. If the prospective student is shopping primarily on price, I don't take them and ask them to seek somebody else.

I don't believe in the "sampling specialties" as an "advanced" course. Advanced course for me is an "advanced course" not gimmicky courses.

I teach NAUI and NAUI encourages me to exceed the standards as long as they are reasonable and don't violate safety rules or the general standards of the NAUI respective course levels.

 

[ginti]

In this scenario, I don't think the buoyancy course would be necessary because there are more required dives and buoyancy is being practiced anyway.

I am not an instructor, but I guess that good instructors usually do this:

If the student was trained and certified by another instructor, regardless of what agency, or one of my students who did their course with me more than 2 years prior, I require one extra pool session to review and evaluate ALL skills that are taught in my entry level scuba diver course.

Because, too often, buoyancy and other basic skills are not as good as they should be. Also, if a diver learns some bad habits, practice will reinforce them, and the result will be even worse.

I don't know @BoltSnap in person, but his approach is sound. Find an instructor with the same care for basic skills. To be clear, if you like diving, you will continue after the course, and the differences you mentioned between PADI and SDI won't make any difference in the long run. On the contrary, learning excellent buoyancy, trim, and other essential skills since you start will make a huge difference.

To give a reference, I consider buoyancy and trim adequate (for recreational diving) if you can maintain, more or less, a maximum of 30 degrees off horizontal while remaining within 5 ft/1.5 m of a target depth when performing tasks like mask removal, sharing gas, deploying an SMB, etc. And still, there are significant margins of improvement.

If you are sure your buoyancy is adequate, forget my post - and go the way you prefer Otherwise, a course where you can practice basic skills is quite a good idea - but ensure the instructor is good enough.