PADI vs SSI, from instructor / dive shop owner point of view

[Diving Dubai]

I did my OW with PADI and everything since with SSI. PADI required everyone to purchase printed materials (in 2013) individually

To clarify:

I can't speak for 2013, But PADI have do E learning for courses where all your theory is done on line (Certainly from OW through to Instructor) . Course costs are generally split between cost for course and additional cost for course materials or E Learning. Personally I prefer hard copy rather than sitting in front of a computer. But everyone is different. Not all specialities are covered by E- Learning.

PADI {snip} was more strict about the instructors following a script. Ours went a little off script one morning to teach us about BP/W, but otherwise you had to do skills in a particular order

Not so, I'm free to teach students in BP/W as a PADI instructor. I'm careful how much gear information to give to students only as not to confuse them during OW. But I'm happy to introduce them to other gear (since I have BP/W's jacket, Side mount of my own). I don't follow a script and impart as much info as is requested - again without confusing the students

The actual skills for each lesson are indeed written down and the lessons take a logical order building on each other. The order I get students to perform the skills within the lesson is up to me. We do have flexible skills, which can be done at any time (after a certain point) too

 

[kelemvor]

Amateur here.

Do divers really seek out a dive shop because of the agency it's affiliated with?

When I got certified, I had no idea there was more than one. I ended up taking the SSI waiver from one shop to another shop that was NAUI. He laughed about it, didn't want the waiver that I'd had doctors sign. I still assumed it was because the waiver came from a different shop and was unaware about agencies.

After certification, it never occurred to me to look for a NAUI shop when I'm out of town. I just look for a shop. Later I took some training through another agency/shop.

I guess GUE divers might seek out a GUE shop because of their strong preference to dive with other GUE divers. Other than that, does it really happen that someone chooses your shop because you are PADI or SSI or any of the other hundreds of agencies?

 

[JackD342]

To clarify:

I can't speak for 2013, But PADI have do E learning for courses where all your theory is done on line (Certainly from OW through to Instructor) . Course costs are generally split between cost for course and additional cost for course materials or E Learning. Personally I prefer hard copy rather than sitting in front of a computer. But everyone is different. Not all specialities are covered by E- Learning.



Not so, I'm free to teach students in BP/W as a PADI instructor. I'm careful how much gear information to give to students only as not to confuse them during OW. But I'm happy to introduce them to other gear (since I have BP/W's jacket, Side mount of my own). I don't follow a script and impart as much info as is requested - again without confusing the students

The actual skills for each lesson are indeed written down and the lessons take a logical order building on each other. The order I get students to perform the skills within the lesson is up to me. We do have flexible skills, which can be done at any time (after a certain point) too

Also, PADI OW default is to learn with computers. RDP is an option, not a requirement. The one skill sequence I would like more latitude for in the standards is mask skills. If a student is struggling with that, I would like to be able to continue to build confidence with success in other areas, and then circle back to that rather than creating a hard stop before proceeding further.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Amateur here.

Do divers really seek out a dive shop because of the agency it's affiliated with?

When I got certified, I had no idea there was more than one. I ended up taking the SSI waiver from one shop to another shop that was NAUI. He laughed about it, didn't want the waiver that I'd had doctors sign. I still assumed it was because the waiver came from a different shop and was unaware about agencies.

After certification, it never occurred to me to look for a NAUI shop when I'm out of town. I just look for a shop. Later I took some training through another agency/shop.

I guess GUE divers might seek out a GUE shop because of their strong preference to dive with other GUE divers. Other than that, does it really happen that someone chooses your shop because you are PADI or SSI or any of the other hundreds of agencies?

I find that amateurs often, not always, want to stick with the same agency. Not sure why. I find that once they try another agency, they see a different philosophy and then want to experience other philosophies.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Also, PADI OW default is to learn with computers. RDP is an option, not a requirement. The one skill sequence I would like more latitude for in the standards is mask skills. If a student is struggling with that, I would like to be able to continue to build confidence with success in other areas, and then circle back to that rather than creating a hard stop before proceeding further.

I agree and disagree with your sentiment regarding mask clearing. I was helping with a class in the pool recently and had a couple of students decide to quit because they couldn't get the hang of clearing a mask. Let me back up and state this wasn't a PADI OW class. At first I thought maybe if we can move on to something else and then circle back to this later. But then after thinking for a minute, while trying to put their minds at ease and assure them that they could in fact perform the task that was being asked of them, I came to the conclusion that it probably wouldn't be a great idea to move forward because the rest of the required skills are all pretty much done underwater and if something happens with the mask, the student is likely to bolt to the surface if they can't clear a mask. I'm not an instructor. At this point in time I don't want to be an instructor. So this is really just my opinion. But I can certainly see both sides of the fence here.

I find that amateurs often, not always, want to stick with the same agency. Not sure why. I find that once they try another agency, they see a different philosophy and then want to experience other philosophies.

I can certainly identify with this sentiment. For the longest time I really only wanted to stick with NAUI certs because I regarded them as being one of the top agencies, but my LDS switched over to another agency so I continued on. Took the Rescue course under that agency and nor myself or the other three students in my class were impressed with the material so we ended up getting certs for that agency, plus Rescue and Advanced Rescue under NAUI in the same class for the cost of the cards. Fast forward to later in the year and I sign up for what I think is going to be a MSD class under the new agency and come to find out it's actually being converted into a combination MSD & DM course for a little extra money. Then once all requisites are completed for the MSD portion of the course, we learn that the shop is again switching primary agencies and converting over to SDI. I was actually pretty excited about that because I wasn't really impressed with the other agency's learning materials and didn't really feel like I was getting much out of the courses. I say all of that to say don't be afraid to explore other training agencies. You just may find that you like them better.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Other than that, does it really happen that someone chooses your shop because you are PADI or SSI or any of the other hundreds of agencies?

I would agree with you for 99.99% of the divers. I've watched "the strip" in Thailand where divers go from one shop to another looking for the quickest and cheapest for whatever course.


My opinion, is that what divers seek above all is a sense of community and belonging. It can be as easy as recognising someone and spending the time of day over a coffee even if they don't' buy anything. If they do and they're a regular, make them feel like they have a good deal. A bit of free advice or making simple fixes for free goes a long way

If you're in a resort type location, a place that's cool to hang out. There's a dive centre in Labuhan bajo (Komodo) one of many, except they have a gBar. It offers good inexpensive food, and drinks in a no frill atmosphere geared to the majority of the divers. It's always buzzing. I've never dived with them but I've spent most evenings there. They've made a place where people want to hang out.

I suggest also that the profit margin on Food and Beverages is well above that from gear and courses

 

[NAM001]

I've heard that PADI membership costs are twice as high as SSI. Is it in any way justified, other than PADI's aggressive marketing thus providing more clients (arguably) ?
I've seen threads like "most PADI shops in my area switch to SSI" (in Europe), and recently I was told that here in Asia it's the same - PADI shops tend to switch to SSI. So PADI seems to lose its position and that's why their trademark is quite arguable client attraction.

Also I've heard that PADI materials are somewhat outdated, while SSI uses more modern approach to teaching (e.g. were the first agency to force using computers instead of tables around ten years ago). Is that true?

Any other thoughts and opinions? Is there any point to open a PADI branded dive shop in 2019?

Could it be that Padi can teach without a shop hosting the training. That has always been the main thing i get from padi instructors. I had a local shop have to give up their SSI teaching becasue their shop closed but was allowed to keep their Padi teaching.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I agree and disagree with your sentiment regarding mask clearing. I was helping with a class in the pool recently and had a couple of students decide to quit because they couldn't get the hang of clearing a mask.

I ease into mask clearing using a set of exercises I picked up from @Peter Guy. Having students breath with just their faces in the water (standing in confined water or using buckets), filling their masks and standing up and then clearing, all help with doing things underwater.

 

[JackD342]

Could it be that Padi can teach without a shop hosting the training. That has always been the main thing i get from padi instructors. I had a local shop have to give up their SSI teaching becasue their shop closed but was allowed to keep their Padi teaching.

I can't speak for SSI but yes, there are tons of individual PADI members: independent instructors, DMs, etc.

 

[tursiops]

there are tons of individual PADI members: independent instructors, DMs, etc.

I'm an example.