SCUBA Certification ?

[lizzyhermit]

NAUI, PADI or SSI. Does it really make any difference ?

 

[Alan Reagan]

PADI is more widely known.

I'm NAUI. They all use the same standards.

 

[AfterBurner]

I went SSI. According to my instructer, as long as it's one of these three well knwon schools, it doesn't really matter.

 

[dmurdock]

I went PADI because that's what they taught in college 15 yrs ago. As far as I can tell, as long as you take a REAL class and not one of the 30 min rush jobs you get on a cruise,etc... it's all the same principles. I would check if you have a local community college around that might offer it. Sometimes the classes are cheaper and maybe a bit better organized.

 

[TPCDrafting]

My lil' woman and I did padi here a couple years back. So where's the good open water diving now that the gulf is all churned up? I'm looking for heading that way in Feb. for a week.

 

[rbattelle]

I went SSI. According to my instructer, as long as it's one of these three well knwon schools, it doesn't really matter.

I also have SSI, but until this thread I didn't even know there were others.



-Ryan

 

[BarryG]

I also went PADI but not sure that it makes any difference. If you have one of those 3 you are good to go. One thing I did notice is that in the advanced classes SSI is cheaper but at a cost. To get advanced open water in SSI you have to take like 3 specific disiplines and when completed with the course you are certified advanced open water and in those disciplines ( deep water, navigation, boat diving etc) whereas PADI you still have to make those same discipline choices but when completed with the class you are only certified as advanced open water. To get certified by padi in those disciplines you have to take another class specifically for that disicpline. So SSI is cheaper in that regard but PADI is probably going to give you better education to be certified for disciplines. My old diving instructor used to call PADI= Pull Another Dollar In. I have no experience with NAUI. I havent been for a while now but am really jonesing to go just to busy at work. I was within an inch of going to Mexico last month to dive and ended up not going the last minute. So glad I didnt go as that was when the hurricane hit right where I was going to go.

 

[AfterBurner]

My lil' woman and I did padi here a couple years back. So where's the good open water diving now that the gulf is all churned up? I'm looking for heading that way in Feb. for a week.

Forget the Gulf! go to the Carribean! with fuel prices how they are, it's probably cheaper to just fly to Belize, Honduras, or wherever then driving to the coast

 

[Alan Reagan]

NAUI is good. When I took the Advanced Open Water, after the classroom it was two days on the water for the practical demonstration that you knew what you were doing before the instructor signed off. I liked that and afterwards felt pretty confident that I knew what I was doing.

 

[rbattelle]

NAUI is good. When I took the Advanced Open Water, after the classroom it was two days on the water for the practical demonstration that you knew what you were doing before the instructor signed off. I liked that and afterwards felt pretty confident that I knew what I was doing.

My SSI was 2 nights per week for 12 weeks. One night was 1 hour of classroom time, the other night was 2 hours pool time. Then the certification test was 2 days in open water.



I also got dry suit certified while I was at it. Total cost was at least $3k plus equipment.



-Ryan

 

[CCBrady]

I went with PADI the second time, the first was with a long gone group called the Southwest Divers Assocation. PADI stands for Pay As Diving Increases.

Chris

 

[nauidvr1]

I obviously am NAUI - I am an instructor, nitrox instructor, and instructor trainer with NAUI and also hold a few other certifications with other agencies (IANTD) because NAUI did not offer technical diving and gas blending specialities back when I needed them.



I did my first "open water" certification with PADI when I was in Cuba (military), then when I came back to the states I chose to go thru NAUI to where I am now.



Any of the agencies can be great, as long as the instructor teachs the course properly. All agencies have course material - but real live experience from an instuctor helps instill a trust and calmness in the students.

 

[TPCDrafting]

Forget the Gulf! go to the Carribean! with fuel prices how they are, it's probably cheaper to just fly to Belize, Honduras, or wherever then driving to the coast

We did Cozumel nearly 2 years ago. The resorts there are in bad shape after Wilma. I was thinking DR, Cayman's or Jamaica. Anyone know the status of these places? I'd like to hold out till late Feb. , but with the wife's school schedule we might have to make it early Jan. I read about some good sunken ship dives off of DR, is there any other highly recommended spots I should consider?

 

[BigGunZ]

I'm a NAUI Instructor and Course Director so I'm a bit biased. It goes without saying that there are some fantastic instructors in all training agencies as well as some crappy ones. All other things being equal, I feel that NAUI has better programs and better trained instructors, and there ARE some differences between the agencies.

NAUI is a non-profit training agency and was the first (and oldest) recognized national training agency. They're the only agency that teaches basic rescue at the entry level and they place a stronger emphasis on watermanship. I had the luxury of getting dual certified at the Divemaster level, and took both a PADI and NAUI DM course. The PADI course was a joke by comparison. I literally learned more in my NAUI Advanced class than I did during my PADI DM class. (thankfully the PADI DM class was free)

When I went on to become an Instructor, I was the only NAUI trained Divemaster out of our group of eight... the PADI and SSI trained group had a very difficult time making it through the ITC (instructor training course) and actually caused the course to take 4 weeks longer than necessary. I graduated at the top of my class, and when it came to water skills, I blew everyone out of the water except for an X-Navy diver who I'd swear had freakin gills. That said, I'd still agree that it's the Instructor rather than the agency that makes the difference but I choose to teach NAUI for more reasons than I can list here.

PADI was actaully formed by a group of folks that broke away from NAUI... early in SCUBA's (and NAUI's ) history, most divers were military trained or from the scientific community, as were most that went on to teach. Early dive courses were tough. There were some folks within NAUI that felt SCUBA could be marketed to the masses. They felt that everyone should be able to dive, from early teens to grandmothers. It was PADI that is largely responsible for taking SCUBA from the shadows to the mainstream. Some (including myself) would argue that this occured at a cost... in order to offer it to the masses, the courses had to become easier, and certain standards needed to be lowered. I have witnessed first hand the practice of "selling certification cards" instead of teaching people how to dive properly. While PADI certifies more divers, many of them never dive again after their initial certification and/or first solo dives. The diver dropout rate is very close to 90%. Many industry leaders attribute this to poor training... in other words... they may be certified, but are not comfortable and confident in the water. They were given just enough information to get them by. Again, the instructor plays a larger role in this but the different agencies philosophies play a major role as well.

NASA Astronauts are trained at the Neutral Bouyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. NAUI is the training agency of choice at this facility where the astronauts in the United States space program train for Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs) – space walks – in the world’s largest pool that contains a replica of the International Space Station and an Orbiter cargo bay. It is, and has always been,staffed by NAUI Instructors.

You can find out more info at http://naui.org

 

[BigGunZ]

I did my first "open water" certification with PADI when I was in Cuba (military),

When were you in GTMO? I was there from 79-82.

 

[BigGunZ]

We did Cozumel nearly 2 years ago. The resorts there are in bad shape after Wilma. I was thinking DR, Cayman's or Jamaica. Anyone know the status of these places? I'd like to hold out till late Feb. , but with the wife's school schedule we might have to make it early Jan. I read about some good sunken ship dives off of DR, is there any other highly recommended spots I should consider?

I dove Cayman in May. The diving was good but the Island was in bad shape from the previous years storms.

 

[JLEONARD]

I got SSI certified because I knew the instructor and it was close therefore convenient.



Try Roatan for a nice diving experience... . Anthony's Key resort.

Also Bonaire is awsum. Really easy diving. Cpt Don's.



I liked both those better than Cozumel... but Cozumel is cheap.



Have fun.

Jay

 

[AfterBurner]

I got SSI certified because I knew the instructor and it was close therefore convenient.



Try Roatan for a nice diving experience... . Anthony's Key resort.

Also Bonaire is awsum. Really easy diving. Cpt Don's.



I liked both those better than Cozumel... but Cozumel is cheap.



Have fun.

Jay

that's where i went. enjoyed the heck out of AKR. nice to know they have a pressure chamber and clinic right there. Had some awesome dives. the shipwreck being the coolest of course.

 

[sid325]

PADI,



Just got back from Maui, diving was great. I went to Roatan last year, CoCo View resort, great diving, I would go back in a minute. If you start going to remote/semi-remote locations think about joining DAN, cheap insurance if you get hurt.



Jacob

 

[nauidvr1]

When were you in GTMO? I was there from 79-82.

BigGunZ,

I was re-reading thru this thread, and you asked when I was in GTMO. Sorry I never got back to read it until now (I don't subscribe to threads automatically - to much e-mail).



The answer to your question is, I was in GTMO in 1990-91 for the Hatian refugee effort. Sorry it took me so long to get back to the thread.



Hey, where are you located? - I saw that you are a NAUI Instrustor and CD.