PADI vs SSI?

[jpcpat]

Vivian,

Welcome to diving, and to Scubaboard! You'll enjoy both, I hope.

For your criteria, there's no significant difference between PADI and SSI. I'm a PADI instructor, but I'm also very familiar with SSI. The instructor makes a bigger difference here.

By all means, talk to the instructor before signing up for a class. Walter's list is very thorough, and very good. Beyond the answers you get, ask yourself if you want to spend all this time with this instructor. This is recreational diving, and learning it should be fun, too.

BTW, Cold water does not mean Cold diving. It means a heavier wetsuit, and slightly trickier bouyancy control. No big deal, really.

 

[Louma]

My two cents - don't forget the independent instructor. Do some more research to find one in your area, you don't need to go to a LDS to get a quality course.

 

[Rhone Man]

Not detracting from all the earlier posts about picking by instructor rather than agency, but in the event there was a tie breaker, I would choose PADI over SSI (or other dive training agency).

Why? For now at least, PADI is still the only agency which allows your certification to be verified online (although I gather NAUI are close to making this available - can't speak for others). So, if you accidentally head out on holiday forgetting your C-Card, you are a bit stuffed if you are with one of the other agencies.

 

[Walter]

Doesn't everyone carry one or two c-cards in their wallet and another in their save a dive kit?

 

[Standingbear56]

Doesn't everyone carry one or two c-cards in their wallet and another in their save a dive kit?

At $30 a pop - heck no! I may need that to buy a gallon of gas someday!

 

[IDS_Bill]

PADI vs. SSI. When it all comes down to it, they both teach you to dives - albeit in very different ways - and the end result is you in the water. Each has a very different schedule so make sure that it fits your schedule and timeframe.

The statement about the instructor making the difference is more true than you know. Even though PADI has (in my opinion) the best materials and most refined process, you can still get a bad instructor that makes it miserable. There are several things out there that I do not agree with (eRDPs, eLearning, eAnything with diving) so try to maximize personal time with the instructor. Read the books, watch the DVDs and use the instructor fully. He/She will provide excellent practical knowledge, will teach you and help you hone your skills and will burn safety procedures into your long term memory and muscle memory. This is important!

I am a PADI instructor and have taken TDI, IANDT and NAUI courses but choose to teach PADI because of their materials and support. I am independent these days (seems dive shops are dropping like flies in AZ - go figure) and I concentrate on Technical Instruction but I prefer the smaller, intimate setting of private ionstruction these days.

Whatever you pick, be safe, have fun and keep learning and diving...

Bill Jamison
Arizona Dive Training

 

[Walter]

At $30 a pop - heck no! I may need that to buy a gallon of gas someday!

Silver Advanced and Nitrox in my wallet, Open Water in my save-a-dive kit. They cost me more than $30 a pop, but it doesn't cost anything to keep them where I'll need them. My dive club keeps photo copies of member's c-cards, if someone forgets theirs, operators have accepted the photo copies. Less than $30 a pop for photo copies.

 

[O.M.O.H.]

Hey welcome to this sport! (and to the board I'd guess...)

I hope i won't not repeat anyone else reply... so i will just say IT DOESN'T MATTER. What is really important is quality of instruction in each individual case. Some people might prefer SSI over PADI or SDI over NAUI or YMCA, etc... but in my experience, unless you are training for something very specific, like decompression or cave or rebreather... the agency does not play any major difference if your instructor is worthless. from what i know, cards from all these great organzations are equally well accepted throughout the world and they all teach you pretty much the same thing.

To sum up... talk to people, meet instructors at each particular local store and then, once you are set on the instructor, not an agency start your training.

Cheers!

P.S. for your initial training (OW) you would hear people suggesting to go with a non-profit agency like NAUI, but then again its only an opinion.

 

[2905luvsbubbles]

As a SSI instructor, I could say I am biased, but actually my local shop is SSI, so that is what I went with. All of the posts have been very good. To clarify an earlier post about SSI, they support dive shops by requiring the instructors to be associated with a LDS. What that means is I can't order C-cards through SSI, but must go through my affiliated LDS. Not neccessarily a good or bad thing. I agree that it is important for the instructor to work with the students until they are ready for the check out dives. Some students are naturals and some struggle with certain skills. As an instructor, I struggled with certain skills when I was a OW student, so I think I can relate to some students better than instructors that have never struggled with skills. Talk with the LDS/instructor and go with the one that best meshes with your personality and learning style.

 

[Standingbear56]

Silver Advanced and Nitrox in my wallet, Open Water in my save-a-dive kit. They cost me more than $30 a pop, but it doesn't cost anything to keep them where I'll need them. My dive club keeps photo copies of member's c-cards, if someone forgets theirs, operators have accepted the photo copies. Less than $30 a pop for photo copies.

The idea of the dive club keeping copies is interesting. I'll have to see if our club OCDNY would be interested in doing that. Great idea Walter, thanks.
Safe Diving,
George