PADI vs SSI certification

[MikeFerrara]

It is more important to get a good instructor that you are comfortable with than the certification agency. I am NAUI my wife is working on PADI I am planning PADI AOW in the spring. They are interchangable. Quality of instruction is the key. Being brand new you may not be in a position to judge who is best so ask around.

As you can probably tell, not all of us agree that the agency isn't important. While a good instructor with a bad agency CAN teach a good class, any instructor with a good agency WILL teach a good class because the agency DEMANDS it!

Let me say this one more time. A good agency demands that the instructor teach a good class. If "good" isn't built into the training standards of the agency you have NO reason to expect it.

You are right. The quality of instruction is key but the place to start is with an agency that teaches their instructors how to provide quality instruction and insistes that they do.

Sorry to rant but we hear this all the time, that the instructor is more important than the agency. However, that's only true because the mainstream agencies aren't any good and they permit their instructors to teach lousy classes...which of course meet agency requirements. You have to find an instructor that has learned how and decided to teach good classes on his/her own with the agency being no help.

 

[talonraid]

wow, it's getting even better than I imagined....

 

[drbill]

Welcome to SB, Angie!

It would help knowing where you currently reside or where you plan to do your training. As for the specific agency, the suggestion to look for a shop and instructor you feel comfortable with is very important. There are good (and bad) instructors in all agencies. You want one you feel can give you the teaching and attention you need. Talk to others in your area (or post here in your geographic region's forum) to ask about specific shops and instructors where you plan to be.

Good luck and above all enjoy your new sport!

 

[Davetul]

Basics are basics no matter what your card (or anyone here) says they're still basics. What I recommend is going with an instructor you feel comfortable with. If you plan on continuing your dive education through courses, look at the advanced course types for each organization that you have available to you (prices included) and see which one fits your lifestyle, budget, and is easier for you to follow.

I certified SSI when I started diving. When I finally decided to 'turn professional', I went through PADI. I liked the advanced path of PADI more than I did the SSI path. Is it any different? Not really, the same information and requirements (basically) are there, just in a different pattern.

Good luck and welcome to SB

 

[Walter]

Basics are basics no matter what your card (or anyone here) says they're still basics.

Very true. The problem comes when basics are left out. That happens more often than not.

 

[MikeFerrara]

A lot of recommendations to find an instructor that you're comfortable with.

It's nice to be comfortable and in general just feelin good. Unfortunately, feeling comfortable, happy or whatever other emotion you'd like to consider is no indication that you are actually getting good training.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Very true. The problem comes when basics are left out. That happens more often than not.

That's why agency doesn't matter and it's more important to feel really good.

 

[Walter]

LOL! Too funny!

 

[Davetul]

Very true. The problem comes when basics are left out. That happens more often than not.

I agree...and that varies from instructor to instructor. Find someone that you can work with and makes you feel comfortable about the material.

Sleazy instructors don't discriminate between certification agencies, but choosing a good instructor is safer than choosing the first one you find based on what color his/her C-card is.

 

[jpcpat]

That is not true. Perhaps you should actually read their very different standards before making such ridiculous statements.

Walter, I said, "All the agencies use the same standards. Real differences are minimal".read the second sentence. In context, I was saying that, for an OW student, differences between standards (for a qualified diver) was minimal. It's true, not ridiculous.