reccomendations for basic certifications

[emtdan]

A whole bunch of people at my school have asked me what certification orginization i reccomend for OWD.

I, myself am a PADI rescue diver, but started out with YMCA and am trying to stir up interest in diving at my school.

I have written out materials for everybody but i was wondering how you classify the four major orginizations, PADI, NAUI, SSI, and YMCA.
I realize that i am going to get very conflicting opinions from everybody, but i am interested in both positive and negative comments.

are there more orginizations that i am missing that i should include?

any help would be appreciated.

thanks a lot
DES

 

[ChrisA]

There are likely greater differences between PADI instructors then between
training orginizations. The instructor and who the instructor works for can
mater more then which organizatin issues the card. Also I'm sure you must know
that a good part, maybe even most of what you learns comes after certification.

A whole bunch of people at my school have asked me what certification orginization i reccomend for OWD.

I, myself am a PADI rescue diver, but started out with YMCA and am trying to stir up interest in diving at my school.

I have written out materials for everybody but i was wondering how you classify the four major orginizations, PADI, NAUI, SSI, and YMCA.
I realize that i am going to get very conflicting opinions from everybody, but i am interested in both positive and negative comments.

are there more orginizations that i am missing that i should include?

any help would be appreciated.

thanks a lot
DES

 

[bwerb]

The distilled wisdom from many a post on this topic is that basically...the instructor is the single most important factor in dive training. A great instructor can take a mediocre course and make it phenomenal whereas a poor instructor can make the best course a complete waste of time. The true bare bones basics are taught more or less universally, the manner in which they are presented, the timeline, the number of dives, depth of theory etc. can and do differ.

Walter made a phenomenal comparison of the major differences between agencies a couple years ago...a search (or PM to walter) should direct you accordingly.

I'll repeat for emphasis...it really is far more important to have a great instructor than to argue endlessly compairing the pros/cons of each agency.

 

[Michael Schlink]

This a great, hard to answer, but a great question. Many will say that it depends more on the instructor, which is true. The agency you choose will have plus's and minus's.
You might try a simple chart with pro's and con's of each. The convenience of one shop over another. How much pool time you'll get from each shop/agency. The more the better, a lot of dive shops have really shortened the training process, in some cases too much so. The training materials available such as PADI's self study Cd-Rom.
Equipment configurations such as DIR. Processing and training fees. Worldwide acceptance. Once you have something narrowed down then it's time for a few interviews.
If you get this all done please post your results, it would be fun to see what you came up with.

 

[scubaputz]

I'll repeat for emphasis...it really is far more important to have a great instructor than to argue endlessly compairing the pros/cons of each agency.

...or worrying about saving a buck or two on instruction. The latest trend seems to be to find the cheapest dive instruction available. In most cases, you'll get exactly what you pay for.

 

[Walter]

Actually, there are major differences between agencies.

SSI, for example requires its instructors to be affiliated with an SSI dive shop. Some say this ensures quality control because it allows for direct supervision of instructors. Others say it undermines it because shops are usually the ones who push instructors to cut corners. If instructors need supervision, who supervises the store owner?

PADI has very few required skin diving skills and no confidence building skills. It's a bare minimum program.

NAUI has more rescue skills in its OW course than most agencies.

YMCA has lots of skin diving, rescue and confidence building skills required as part of its OW course.

You can find good and bad instructors with any agency.

 

[Don Burke]

A whole bunch of people at my school have asked me what certification orginization i reccomend for OWD.

The instructor is the big factor.

An instructor for one of the major agencies who is or has been an instructor for another agency seems to have a leg up, but it is not a sure thing. Most students think their OW instructor was great, so you can not use that as an input.

You really need to talk to the individual. If he/she strikes you as someone you would let fix your brakes, you should be fine.

 

[scubaputz]

...shops are usually the ones who push instructors to cut corners.

You got that right. I don't care what the standards say, MOST students are NOT ready for open water after 5 pool sessions. Especially when the instructor's time is divided among 8-10 students.

Putz

 

[paolov]

I have written out materials for everybody but i was wondering how you classify the four major orginizations, PADI, NAUI, SSI, and YMCA.
are there more orginizations that i am missing that i should include?
thanks a lot
DES

They are all SCUBA Diving agencies making a buck on the wonderful sport of SCUBA DIVNG, while trying to maintain their clients/students alive while enjoying the sport.

There are a lot more agencies you have not listed, some are GUE, SDI, TDI, IANTD, PDIC, and alot more.

 

[emtdan]

They are all SCUBA Diving agencies making a buck on the wonderful sport of SCUBA DIVNG, while trying to maintain their clients/students alive while enjoying the sport.

There are a lot more agencies you have not listed, some are GUE, SDI, TDI, IANTD, PDIC, and alot more.

I consitered them, but are they all recognized everywhere? I have already had a big fight with one of the other certified people spearheading this, over what material the first student should start reading. He read the first chapter of the PADI book, then read and watched the DVD for the SSI materials, and liked the SSI one, i give up....

but back to what i was saying.... do all of the orginizations do a basic certification? I though all of those did technical certifications, and gasses training.....
is it true? I have nitrox certification from TDI...

thanks a lot for your help, its been very helpful.