Will PADI Recognize SSI specialties (Perfect Bouyancy)

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Have opportunity to take SSI Perfect Buoyancy this Friday have set personal goal to get Master Diver by April this year by end of March before trip to Cozumel in April and need two more specialties for total of five already have AOW, Rescue Diver along with three PADI Specialties (Wreck, Dry Suit, & Enriched Air). Don't care which dive agency I get specialties with as long as PADI will recognize them for Master Diver. taking suggestions for other specialty courses I should look at that will make me a better diver. I have 234 logged dives and in the neighborhood of 100-150 dives that I failed to log that were in my Suunto Cobra Dive computer (stuck in perpetual dive mode till battery died) that I failed to log before it died and I cant retrieve dive data.

Here is a simple explanation of the 2 agencies and the requirements from each to earn the Master Scuba Diver Certificaiton.

 

[tursiops]

Here is a simple explanation of the 2 agencies and the requirements from each to earn the Master Scuba Diver Certificaiton.

Very helpful. The SSI MSD cert has less training than PADI and costs less.

 

[northernone]

I'm still waiting on a NAUI instructor to let me know how the NAUI MSD covers so much more than the PADI MSD...because truly, I am interested in it if that is indeed the case. But no one is speaking up and their website seems to indicate otherwise.

I will state a Padi MSD covers nothing. There is no knowledge or skills component. It is acknowledgement award stating what various OTHER PADI certifications the diver has already taken.

I have friends who don't have a Padi MSD cert but they can simply buy one, because the prerequisites are met. It isn't a training certification even though we market it as a "certification pack" of other certs.

Perhaps this clarifies.
Cameron

 

[Dogbowl]

I will state a Padi MSD covers nothing. There is no knowledge or skills component. It is acknowledgement award stating what various OTHER PADI certifications the diver has already taken.

I have friends who don't have a Padi MSD cert but they can simply buy one, because the prerequisites are met. It isn't a training certification even though we market it as a "certification pack" of other certs.

Perhaps this clarifies.
Cameron

That part I understand - that it’s not actually a course, but if I complete all the requirements such that I qualify for the PADI MSD, will I be ahead or behind completing a NAUI MSD, in terms of how much I’ve cumulatively learned?

Or were @BurhanMuntasser ’s comments about NAUI covering so much more than PADI’s MSD based only on the fact that you actually learn stuff in NAUI’s vs PADI’s is only a recognition of previously completed courses?

Based on @Lake Hickory Scuba’s helpful video above, I get the difference between PADI and SSI, and it seems they are more similar than different content-wise (SSI only requires 4 specialties vs PADI’s 5, but SSI’s AOW is different than PADI’s). Nice gesture though from SSI to not charge for MSD!

@Lake Hickory Scuba , so is it possible to do only 2 SSI specialties and get SSI MSD, where everything else was done via PADI, including OW, AOW and Rescue? Or did I misunderstand your video?

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

@Lake Hickory Scuba , so is it possible to do only 2 SSI specialties and get SSI MSD, where everything else was done via PADI, including OW, AOW and Rescue?

Yes it is. Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue, and 2 of the 4 Specialties required to earn the Master Scuba Diver Certification from SSI, can be from any other recognized agency. Many of my students earn their SSI Master Scuba Diver rating this way. Some will earn both their PADI and SSI rating at the same time, by simply taking 2 additional courses from SSI. They will start and complete the PADI path, then crossover and take 2 specialties from SSI, and after we enter in all their PADI certifications, SSI awards them with the SSI Master Scuba Diver Certification. A lot of divers, myself included, take pride in their certifications, and like being awarded for taking courses. Even after 30 years in this industry, I still get excited when I earn a new certification.

 

[Dogbowl]

Yes it is. Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue, and 2 of the 4 Specialties required to earn the Master Scuba Diver Certification from SSI, can be from any other recognized agency.

Oh, wow! That’s nice! Thank you for clarifying, @Lake Hickory Scuba !

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Oh, wow! That’s nice! Thank you for clarifying, @Lake Hickory Scuba !

You're welcome.

 

[Dogbowl]

I learn best in a structured way, via courses. I like to read theory, then apply in practical applications. That’s how I’ve always learned best. That’s why I like taking courses. I also like to receive certifications to let me know I’ve actually accomplished a learning goal. I cannot just “go dive” and learn eventually because scuba is not intuitive to me.

 

[boulderjohn]

Remember that back when the Master Scuba Diver certification was created, we did not have anything like the various levels of advanced training available today. People who qualified for the MSD rating back then had taken pretty much all the training that was available then, so it had a lot more meaning than it does today.

To give you an idea of the difference, I recently measured my stack of certification cards at about 2 inches, so I have had a lot of training. (This counts my instructor cards.) I am a technical diving instructor and a cave diver, but I do not yet qualify for the MSD certification. Maybe someday.

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

so it had a lot more meaning than it does today

Don't know about you, but I got the same butterflies in my stomach when I earned my SSI Master Scuba Diver Certification 3 years ago, as I did when I earned my PDIC / SEI Master Scuba Diver Certification 6 years ago, as I did when I earned my PADI Master Scuba Diver Certification 15 years ago, as I did my Open Water Scuba Diver Certification back in 1988. I guess I take more pride in myself than others.