PADI vs SDI
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I guess I'm not finished with my comments from the peanut gallery. Let's explore this agency vs. agency and "it's not the agency, it's the instructor that matters" issue philosophically by creating an imaginary dive resort on the fictional island of Utopia with hypothetical instructors.
Utopia has it all. Deep and shallow pristine reefs, amazing caves, shallow wrecks, deep wrecks, sharks, whales, walls, prolific marine life, etc. They are set up to cater to the discover scuba diver as well as the rebreather equipped cave diver. The dive center has 10 instructors on staff.
Instructor #1, we'll call him Jarrod Irving, once lived in the Florida Keys and began diving as a teenager. He was trained by Walter as a YMCA diver and after years of diving experience found himself going to college in North Florida and majoring in geology. He became a YMCA instructor at the recreational level, but after years of cave diving he also became an NACD instructor, an NSS-CDS instructor, an IANTD instructor, a TDI instructor and finally a GUE instructor all the way up to Cave 3, Tech 3, rebreather, etc. He also became a course director with NAUI. But, after meeting and falling in love with Instructor #2 he decided to leave Florida and move to Utopia. But, in order to work at the dive center, he had to crossover to PADI.
Instructor #2, we'll call her Jessica Albanian, started diving as a teenager as well with BSAC and CMAS in Spain. She dove extensively off Egypt, Italy, and the Canary Islands where she got into cave diving. After that, she did lots of solo dives in caves in France and the UK. She received a degree in photography, but ended up in front of the camera as a supermodel. In fact, she is the only supermodel who has ever photographed the interiors of the Lusitania, the Britannic, the Andrea Doria, and explored inside an iceberg. She is an IANTD trimix, rebreather, and freediving instructor. She became a PADI instructor, a PADI course director and was hired to be the manager of the resort.
Instructor #3, we'll call him Jacques Zissoup, started diving in the French military. After he left military service he went to commercial diving school and became a diver with Comex. Too many hydreliox dives below 1000 feet found him wanting to quit commercial work and get into recreational instruction. He became a CMAS instructor and worked at a Club Med for a couple years before getting hired to work at our resort. Because he can fix compressors and diesel engines, he was hired without having to crossover to PADI.
Instructor #4, we'll call her Pamela Anders, grew up in Malibu. She was into surfing, competitive swimming, and became an L.A. County lifeguard in college. She started diving soon afterward certified through her very tough L.A. County Scuba instructor. She became a NAUI instructor after a few years to work with kids at Seacamp. Her degrees in marine biology and icthyology found her working with various species of sharks and got her a job at our resort working with sharks doing feeds and training instructors to feed them. She's now a PADI instructor to have a job at our resort.
Instructor #5, we'll call him Moby Ishmael, was hired because he had extensive experience as a boat captain fishing off Gloucester, running crew boats to oil rigs in the North Sea, and competing in yacht racing. He can hand build boats and skipper anything you care to name including having worked as an officer for Carnival. Although hired to be a boat captain, he had to go through instructor training so he went to Pro Dive and became a zero to hero PADI instructor in a few weeks' time. He rarely gets wet, but teaches a few discover scuba courses here and there or does pool training.
Instructor #6, we'll call her Jafi I. Candi, she actually completed a great YMCA scuba program while a camp counselor in Ohio. She became a YMCA instructor and had lots of dives in a local quarry. She made a few warm water trips, liked coral reefs and applied for the job at our resort. She did an SDI crossover and is currently doing a PADI IDC waiting for the IE. She's relatively inexperienced and is learning the ropes.
Instructor #7, we'll call him Mitch Pukannon, actually was trained by me first as a YMCA lifeguard then as a PDIC diver and instructor. I kicked his butt and made him do GUE style drills ad nauseum. He decided to go Tech 1 and Cave 1 with GUE and is working on becoming a GUE instructor, but while in Ohio at a quarry he met Jafi and decided she was pretty cute and quit college and his rock band to come to our resort. He's only been in freshwater and is doing the PADI IDC as well waiting for the IE.
Instructor #8, we'll call him Bob Marks (this is a hypothetical character any relationship to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental), is an instructor with EVERY agency known to mankind. Experience: You name it. If he isn't an expert in it he at least dabbled. He's just more or less retired and living the good life, but having a job as an instructor helps buy things like milk at $8.99 per gallon and a DiGiorno for $20.00 US funds on our island. He's friendly, personable, and the tourists like him because he's not an arrogant know-it-all dive pro.
Instructor #9, we'll call her Padi (not a blood relation to the agency) Thai, is from Southeast Asia and is a PADI instructor. She has a lot of experience divemastering tourists on reefs and warm water wreck dives. You know, the typical deal, but she is great at her job.
Instructor #10, we'll call him Li Ward, is a local who grew up spearfishing at depths greater than 100 feet. He competed in freediving competitions and later became a deep air instructor with PSAI and then became an SSI and SDI instructor. He's currently doing a PADI IDC. But, this dude can find any small obscure bit of marine life at a glance and can teach other people to be small picture divers spending a whole dive just looking at the myriad of life on one coral head.
The world economy suddenly changes and the Eastern European countries take over the sport of scuba diving ushering in new rules, policies and training that would make a Russian soldier weep into his vodka. Compared to the new standards all former agencies were STROKES (which happens to be the name of the new agency): Spetsnaz Trained Rebreather Only 'Kuzitz Environmentally Sound. Our instructors have achieved PERFECTION people!
Unfortunately, this economic boom was short-lived as a mistake was made when someone in advertantly misplaced a decimal point in the world's most popular currency converter.
SDI emerges the industry leader and all scuba instructors are SDI/TDI/ERDI and all restaurants are Taco Bell. However, the YMCA program begins again, but pnly a couple experienced YMCA instructor trainers are left to teach an instructor cadre that is all brand new with minimal experience.
Do our 10 instructors have less to offer with SDI? Will doing a few more skills in the open water course make THAT much difference in diver training? Or, would a scuba student benefit from our instructors who will make them excel at a few skills to demonstration quality rather than doing a whole bunch of skills to minimal standards? What if one agency asked for 5 skills done to a higher level than another wanting 10 skills done to a less strict level? Or, what if the agency didn't require high standards, but the instructor did? There are too many variables. The diving program, the instructor, the student and the training environments all come together to help make a diver.
Utopia has it all. Deep and shallow pristine reefs, amazing caves, shallow wrecks, deep wrecks, sharks, whales, walls, prolific marine life, etc. They are set up to cater to the discover scuba diver as well as the rebreather equipped cave diver. The dive center has 10 instructors on staff.
Instructor #1, we'll call him Jarrod Irving, once lived in the Florida Keys and began diving as a teenager. He was trained by Walter as a YMCA diver and after years of diving experience found himself going to college in North Florida and majoring in geology. He became a YMCA instructor at the recreational level, but after years of cave diving he also became an NACD instructor, an NSS-CDS instructor, an IANTD instructor, a TDI instructor and finally a GUE instructor all the way up to Cave 3, Tech 3, rebreather, etc. He also became a course director with NAUI. But, after meeting and falling in love with Instructor #2 he decided to leave Florida and move to Utopia. But, in order to work at the dive center, he had to crossover to PADI.
Instructor #2, we'll call her Jessica Albanian, started diving as a teenager as well with BSAC and CMAS in Spain. She dove extensively off Egypt, Italy, and the Canary Islands where she got into cave diving. After that, she did lots of solo dives in caves in France and the UK. She received a degree in photography, but ended up in front of the camera as a supermodel. In fact, she is the only supermodel who has ever photographed the interiors of the Lusitania, the Britannic, the Andrea Doria, and explored inside an iceberg. She is an IANTD trimix, rebreather, and freediving instructor. She became a PADI instructor, a PADI course director and was hired to be the manager of the resort.
Instructor #3, we'll call him Jacques Zissoup, started diving in the French military. After he left military service he went to commercial diving school and became a diver with Comex. Too many hydreliox dives below 1000 feet found him wanting to quit commercial work and get into recreational instruction. He became a CMAS instructor and worked at a Club Med for a couple years before getting hired to work at our resort. Because he can fix compressors and diesel engines, he was hired without having to crossover to PADI.
Instructor #4, we'll call her Pamela Anders, grew up in Malibu. She was into surfing, competitive swimming, and became an L.A. County lifeguard in college. She started diving soon afterward certified through her very tough L.A. County Scuba instructor. She became a NAUI instructor after a few years to work with kids at Seacamp. Her degrees in marine biology and icthyology found her working with various species of sharks and got her a job at our resort working with sharks doing feeds and training instructors to feed them. She's now a PADI instructor to have a job at our resort.
Instructor #5, we'll call him Moby Ishmael, was hired because he had extensive experience as a boat captain fishing off Gloucester, running crew boats to oil rigs in the North Sea, and competing in yacht racing. He can hand build boats and skipper anything you care to name including having worked as an officer for Carnival. Although hired to be a boat captain, he had to go through instructor training so he went to Pro Dive and became a zero to hero PADI instructor in a few weeks' time. He rarely gets wet, but teaches a few discover scuba courses here and there or does pool training.
Instructor #6, we'll call her Jafi I. Candi, she actually completed a great YMCA scuba program while a camp counselor in Ohio. She became a YMCA instructor and had lots of dives in a local quarry. She made a few warm water trips, liked coral reefs and applied for the job at our resort. She did an SDI crossover and is currently doing a PADI IDC waiting for the IE. She's relatively inexperienced and is learning the ropes.
Instructor #7, we'll call him Mitch Pukannon, actually was trained by me first as a YMCA lifeguard then as a PDIC diver and instructor. I kicked his butt and made him do GUE style drills ad nauseum. He decided to go Tech 1 and Cave 1 with GUE and is working on becoming a GUE instructor, but while in Ohio at a quarry he met Jafi and decided she was pretty cute and quit college and his rock band to come to our resort. He's only been in freshwater and is doing the PADI IDC as well waiting for the IE.
Instructor #8, we'll call him Bob Marks (this is a hypothetical character any relationship to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental), is an instructor with EVERY agency known to mankind. Experience: You name it. If he isn't an expert in it he at least dabbled. He's just more or less retired and living the good life, but having a job as an instructor helps buy things like milk at $8.99 per gallon and a DiGiorno for $20.00 US funds on our island. He's friendly, personable, and the tourists like him because he's not an arrogant know-it-all dive pro.
Instructor #9, we'll call her Padi (not a blood relation to the agency) Thai, is from Southeast Asia and is a PADI instructor. She has a lot of experience divemastering tourists on reefs and warm water wreck dives. You know, the typical deal, but she is great at her job.
Instructor #10, we'll call him Li Ward, is a local who grew up spearfishing at depths greater than 100 feet. He competed in freediving competitions and later became a deep air instructor with PSAI and then became an SSI and SDI instructor. He's currently doing a PADI IDC. But, this dude can find any small obscure bit of marine life at a glance and can teach other people to be small picture divers spending a whole dive just looking at the myriad of life on one coral head.
The world economy suddenly changes and the Eastern European countries take over the sport of scuba diving ushering in new rules, policies and training that would make a Russian soldier weep into his vodka. Compared to the new standards all former agencies were STROKES (which happens to be the name of the new agency): Spetsnaz Trained Rebreather Only 'Kuzitz Environmentally Sound. Our instructors have achieved PERFECTION people!
Unfortunately, this economic boom was short-lived as a mistake was made when someone in advertantly misplaced a decimal point in the world's most popular currency converter.
SDI emerges the industry leader and all scuba instructors are SDI/TDI/ERDI and all restaurants are Taco Bell. However, the YMCA program begins again, but pnly a couple experienced YMCA instructor trainers are left to teach an instructor cadre that is all brand new with minimal experience.
Do our 10 instructors have less to offer with SDI? Will doing a few more skills in the open water course make THAT much difference in diver training? Or, would a scuba student benefit from our instructors who will make them excel at a few skills to demonstration quality rather than doing a whole bunch of skills to minimal standards? What if one agency asked for 5 skills done to a higher level than another wanting 10 skills done to a less strict level? Or, what if the agency didn't require high standards, but the instructor did? There are too many variables. The diving program, the instructor, the student and the training environments all come together to help make a diver.
I love it that I had to read the entire post to get to this line!!!
Instructor #8 sounds like an OK Dude?
Sounds like something I'd ;like to do.
Does Instructor #1 marry Instructor #2, or do I still have a shot?
ucfdiver
Contributor
I've dove with a few padi divers and it left a bad taste in my mouth. SSI and NAUI seem to be what the more reputable instructors in my area are offering. Even so, I'd take a PADI instructor who was full cave + wakulla award over a naui instructor with all his OW credentials.
My instructor has his NAUI, PADI, SSI and a few other instructor certs, and could give out any of the cards he chose. He chose naui 10 years ago and now chooses ssi. I don't think I'd be any less competent of a diver if he had given me any one of those 3 cards, since he teaches the same class for all of them.
My instructor has his NAUI, PADI, SSI and a few other instructor certs, and could give out any of the cards he chose. He chose naui 10 years ago and now chooses ssi. I don't think I'd be any less competent of a diver if he had given me any one of those 3 cards, since he teaches the same class for all of them.
This is the most uneducated quote i've read on scubaboard to date, and personally I take offence to it.
It's childish and immature.
I've spent 8 years going through the PADI system, and there's been things that I've disagreed with along the way, but I endeavour to provide quality training to all my students...
The fact is that PADI is most likely the biggest certifying agency compared to the rest...lets play a little maths game and say for example that 10% of all certifications will have incidents during their Scuba lifetime. If Agency 1 certifies 20 times more divers than Agency 2 Agency 1 will have 20 times more incidents. Therefore Agency 1 receives more of a bad name.
I've become more of a lurker on this site in recent months because of stupid posts like this one.
/rant over.
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