Question for SSI Bods ref logged dives

[zilch]

Under the SSI scheme,which the wife and I have recently graduated..as you do more dives and gain experience, you can move up the SSI levels, i.e. novices like moi are level 1, after 12 certified dives, then level 2 open water etc..you send your certification card off to get it upgraded, you can move to Stress and Rescue and then advanced upon doing the necessary course and completing a number of dives..

We are planning to go with our friends (CMAS) this october to egypt for 5 days diving in the red sea.. and i was wondering whether any dives we do..which are logged count towards the SSI experience stream..have to be signed by an SSI instructor, or whether it could be PADI, CMAS, BSAC instructors that can sign off the dive log and it still be recognised by SSI.

Can anyone advise whether it has to be a SSI certified divemaster/instructor that has to sign off the dive logs in order to get the dives recognised by SSI.

Cheers

Jim

 

[gtxl1200]

Under the SSI scheme,which the wife and I and i was wondering whether any dives we do..which are logged count towards the SSI experience stream..have to be signed by an SSI instructor, or whether it could be PADI, CMAS, BSAC instructors that can sign off the dive log and it still be recognised by SSI.

Can anyone advise whether it has to be a SSI certified divemaster/instructor that has to sign off the dive logs in order to get the dives recognised by SSI.

Cheers

Jim

I'm SSI certified. I do a dive even a shore dive with my buddy I log it and half of the time I dont even have my buddy sign it and my Dive shop recognizes it as a dive. You didnt quite have it right though. You get certified your a level one(1) diver you log 15 more dives your level two(2) Then along with those what 30 dives I guess I'm not sure of the number you have to take four(4) of the SSI specialty courses What ever 4 you want. which mean money out of your pocket and into theirs I took dry suit, Nitrox, Navigation, and Nighttime/limited visibily. once you take the class and the dives then you get your advanced. then the next step you have to have logged 50 dives and take your Stress and rescue course which agains mean the money thing mentioned above.

NOw you dont have to send your card in to get it upgraded they just put a sticker on it until you get all your specialties and that done then they just issue you a new card for advanced. Right now my card has a sticker that says logged 24 Or more dive even though I'm closer to 40 but my advanced card hasnt come in yet plus it has a Nitrox sticker on it and the other specalties that I took. Also take your log book when you go to the dive shop they will also sign off on that and put a sticker in it for each level. plus your specialties. I took a charter boat a couple of weeks ago and he wanted to see my log book and my Card.

 

[zilch]

thanks for that, so irrespective who i dive with, then SSI should recognise it. SSI centres seem pretty thin on the ground in Egypt..The only reason i asked is that i would like to go for SSI advanced sometime next year in OZ, but was informed by the school i did the O/W with I would need a minimum of 24 dives before hand...just want to make sure

 

[Pandie]

gtxl1200 - thanks for that info! My friends and I just finished our SSI certification, and we were itching to get back into the water, but we wanted to do some beach dives before jumping back on the boat. Ya know, to make sure we don't kill ourselves I think we'd rather have a problem in 20' of water just off-shore rather than in 80' of water in the middle of the ocean.

The one thing that was keeping us back was thinking that maybe they wouldn't "count" or, more precisely, that we weren't "allowed" to do dives without a divemaster. It's good to know that it seems that's not the case?

 

[Windwalker]

I am also SSI Certified. Any dives that I do are counted. Around here. The levels of Certification don't really mean much other then for goal setting. Getting the Dive shop recognition is nothing more then a Pat on the back and an Attaboy. I think that another reason that SSI might like their fingers in the logbook is so that they can recommend updates, further training, ensure no faked entries, and to check to make sure one is following the training for insurance purposes.

 

[Pandie]

Right... I was actually more concerned that we *COULDN'T* do dives without a divemaster until we were AOW. Da boys were worried about the "counting" of the dives

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Log 'em all, and dive as many as you have time and money for. You'll gain valuable experience whether your LDS will accept thm or not!

 

[garyfotodiver]

Right... I was actually more concerned that we *COULDN'T* do dives without a divemaster until we were AOW. Da boys were worried about the "counting" of the dives

From where do you deduce that you cannot dive without a DM until AOW completion? I have heard this before and am puzzled.

 

[diverbrian]

To keep things straight, GTXL1200 has it right. I am an SSI DiveCon. The Level 1,2,3,..... (etc.) are basically what Windwalker referred to. That is strictly relevant to the number of dives that you have.

The Advanced Card is 24 dives plus four diving specialties of your choice. I took Drysuit, Nitrox, Navigation, Night/Limited Vis., and Search and Recovery specialties. I know that is five, but I had the Nitrox included with my Open Water and the Drysuit specialty was included with my purchase of the drysuit. Our shop will let you take the course that includes those specialties and most shops bundle different specialties for their advanced. Right now, our LDS does a "Great Lakes Advanced Course" which consists of ooat diving, deep diving, and navigation (again Nitrox is included with the LDS' OW course so that makes four specialties).

The next non-professional card (and the last available as a non-professional) is the Master Diver which is essentially an AOW with 50 dives and a Stress and Rescue specialty added on. (Technically, 50 dives and 5 specialities. One of the specialties must be Stress and Rescue).

The color of sticker denoting your logged dives changes with the number. For example, I currently have near 180 dives, but my gold (for 100 dives- to whatever the next level is) portion of the card has me listed at 120 or more logged dives.

Some shops may get picky about having them signed off. I sign off dive logs if asked. But, I don't do it without prompting. If you run into a "picky one", go ahead and get them signed. There is NO requirement for those dives to be with a dive professional! Most shops don't care if they are signed or not and many reputable charters aren't going to take you to a really treacherous dive site without watching you dive in an easier one first, regardless of card or log. There are just too many divers who got whatever cards that they received on the "fast track" and never learned to dive properly on the way to completely trust cards and dive logs.

 

[DeputyDan]

I am OW with SSI and the last dive with a DM was the last certification dive.