which agency to go pro with????????

[windtech]

OK i going to start beating that dead horse again.:lam:

OK i am trying to figure out witch one is the best one to go pro with. i have sdi ssi padi and naui :voodoo: in the local area if you call 60 miles one way local. i have meet with each of there dive instructors and they all are great instructors i have done some classes with them to try them out. so the find the instructor that you like is, i like all of them. so i am asking as a whole witch agency is the best one to go with.

little back ground i live in the upper northeast of Pa. so i am doing wrecks off the coast sometimes but manly just local fresh water dives. i am not looking to start a dive shop or really work for one. work with one yes. :shortbus:



this is what i would love to do for retirement I'm not looking to do this as a full time job now or in the future. i love teaching people what i have come to love myself. i am teaching every day in my 9 to 5 job in one way or another.

:sinq:

 

[tbone1004]

depends on what you want to do and why. PADI offers 0 flexibility in their training, as such I won't work with them... Just my preference, that being said if you want to run a dive shop or teach for a living, PADI is a lot better as far as being known so it's easier for business.

NAUI is great and who I work with for recreational stuff, it's awesome in that as long as you meet the minimum standards set you can do whatever you want, doesn't matter how you get there.
I.e. our "scuba 2" class which is rescue/advanced diver teaches students surveying and use of full face masks, lift bags, doubles, whole bunch of stuff that would get us booted out of PADI.
Our Scuba 1 class which is OW/nitrox does full navigation circuits at their open water training with no instructor. Just the buddy pair going around and an AI above them out of sight. That is unheard of in almost any OW class and would get us kicked out of PADI.

SSI/TDI is good too, but I don't have a lot of experience dealing with them. Heard good things though

 

[Crowley]

depends on what you want to do and why. PADI offers 0 flexibility in their training, as such I won't work with them... Just my preference, that being said if you want to run a dive shop or teach for a living, PADI is a lot better as far as being known so it's easier for business.

NAUI is great and who I work with for recreational stuff, it's awesome in that as long as you meet the minimum standards set you can do whatever you want, doesn't matter how you get there.
I.e. our "scuba 2" class which is rescue/advanced diver teaches students surveying and use of full face masks, lift bags, doubles, whole bunch of stuff that would get us booted out of PADI.
Our Scuba 1 class which is OW/nitrox does full navigation circuits at their open water training with no instructor. Just the buddy pair going around and an AI above them out of sight. That is unheard of in almost any OW class and would get us kicked out of PADI.

SSI/TDI is good too, but I don't have a lot of experience dealing with them. Heard good things though

PADI are not inflexible in their approach to teaching, however yes - the standards are there to be met and teaching GUE tech during an open water course would indeed be a violation thereof. I have to add that PADI do in fact allow certain portions of the basic Open Water course to be conducted by a DM or AI without an instructor in the water and without the instructor being booted out of the organisation. I would advise a more careful reading of those standards before before claiming to know what can or cannot be done.

Having said that, the sentiment that the agency you choose depends on the business available is wholly correct. There would be no point whatsoever being a NAUI instructor in my location, because they don't exist here; PADI or SSI would be the way to go.

If you wish to work with a dive shop on a casual baisis, talk to the dive shop and determine which agency they operate under. Crossing over between recreational agencies is, indeed, fairly easy but also fairly expensive and it would make no sense to put yourself through an SSI training program if the dive centre with whom you wish to work offers NAUI training.

Linguistically yours,

C.

 

[DevonDiver]

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[AndyNZ]

I would agree that PADI is not inflexible, it's just that the majority of PADI IDC classes don't really focus on how to teach to the intent of the standards - therefore it appears that they don't support flexibility.

I haven't done a full SDI ITC, so can't comment on how well it prepares you for teaching in comparison to PADI. As an experienced PADI instructor, my crossover to SDI was relatively simple (I had done a TDI ITC) and has certainly made life easier for me in terms of how I choose to teach above and beyond minimum standards. It's not that PADI don't allow this, they just don't encourage.

Between the two, I was glad to learn how to teach through PADI originally. They have a structure to their teaching that prevents you from messing up big time in your first few years of teaching. Personally, I beleive that the structure limits you after a while. Saying that, agencies like SDI (and please remember I haven't done an SDI ITC!) which allow you add skills and structure your courses as you see it might be too open ended unless you bring a lot of maturity and experience to your teaching from previous lives... which if you are nearing retirement is not unlikely.

I can't comment on NAUI.

Bottom line, all agencies offer something of value. All have some disdavantages. If you pick one now, you don't have to stick with them forever - crossovers are not overly difficult. Even in a system as apparently as prescriptive as PADI, you can still teach above and beyond the minimum standards they prescribe. It just takes cajones to go against the flow - if you read the standards and make a decision informed by that, you can still teach a good course.

Saying that, I have chosen to teach exclusively for SDI/TDI. For me, that is my best option as the agency actively encourages me to extend minimum standards. It may be different from you, in reality there is no right answer to your question.

 

[Mayor]

Trace Malinowski PSAI, PDIC, TDI, etc, etc.....is in your back yard and could help you in so many ways. Take a look at his profile of what he can teach. I will be doing my DM with him after a few other classes. If your looking for an easy class then this is not the right one.


http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/members/tracemalin.html

 

[ajduplessis]

... i have meet with each of there dive instructors and they all are great instructors i have done some classes with them to try them out. so the find the instructor that you like is, i like all of them. so i am asking as a whole witch agency is the best one to go with....:

If they are all good, go for the least expensive.

 

[Downing]

Or the best looking.

 

[windtech]

Or the best looking.

i am still looking for a female instructor.

 

[=C=]

Tough question, Im a realist, like it or not PADI teaches the world to dive.

I did my IDC in Vero Beach Florida wit EASE for a grand with room and board included. Its warm sunny, and takes a week. My best vacation ever (well not really it was a ton of work). Heres the link PADI IDC, IDC Florida, PADI IDC Florida, PADI Instructor course, CDC, Career Development Center, meals and accommodation included, Advanced Open Water, rescue Diver, Divemaster, OWSI, MSDT, Gas Blender Instructor, tec Deep Instructor, tec trimix Inst.

If your serious about becoming an instructor, take your time on DM locally then take a trip to get instructor card.