mrepi2000
Diver
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 7:57 pm
First Name: LB
Location: Fairborn OH

PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:36 pm

I was certified by the YMCA in 1970 and have not been diving since 1990. I am looking at getting certified again and see that my local options are PADI and SSI. Curious about opinions on which way to go. Any thoughts?

User avatar
antique diver
Master Diver
Posts: 2210
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:50 pm
First Name: Bill
Location: North-Central Texas

Re: PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:17 pm

mrepi2000 wrote:
Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:36 pm
I was certified by the YMCA in 1970 and have not been diving since 1990. I am looking at getting certified again and see that my local options are PADI and SSI. Curious about opinions on which way to go. Any thoughts?
Assuming these are available at competing dive shops, I suggest spending some time getting to know the people at each one. The individuals are more important than the agency!

Credentials from either agency will be recognized most anywhere. Figure out who you like and trust the most and go with that.

Good luck, and happy divin'
:D
The older I get the better I was.

User avatar
Ron
Site Admin
Posts: 1748
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:51 pm
First Name: Ron
Location: Puget Sound, Washington
Contact: Website

Re: PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:45 pm

I concur with Bill. The WRSTC (https://wrstc.com/) makes sure that all scuba courses meet the same minimum standard. Find someone you like, and take it from them. If we do a meetup this year anywhere near Ohio, I'd happily a refresher for you, and you can even do it in vintage gear.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

User avatar
luis
VDH Moderator
Posts: 1747
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:28 pm
First Name: Luis
Location: Maine

Re: PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:17 pm

Did you lose your card or are you just looking for a refresher course?

If you are looking for a refresher course then I totally agree with Bill above. If all you want is a refresher course, it is normally a lot less expensive than a full course. And the material you covered in you 1970 YMCA course is probably more extensive than what they will cover in a basic Open Water Course (it was probably more extensive than what they cover in most Advance Open Water courses). There are a few new pieces of gear, but if you dove in the 90's, you are familiar with an octo and some of the modern BC's (dive computers are easy to figure out).

Your 1970 YMCA card is still good, if you still have it. You do not need to replace it. I would make copies of it for safe keep, but I would continue to use it.

If you lost your card or it is in bad shape and you want to replace it, take a look at these web sites. You cannot get a replacement card from YMCA anymore, but SEI in the links below may be able to help you.
https://www.signup4.net/public/ap.aspx?EID=20071257E&

http://www.seidiving.org/news/2014/08/2 ... ard-needs/

There is also this link, but I am not sure how they can help you. They seem to offer a generic replacement card, but I don't know.
https://copper.he.net/~bwana/orderrepca ... gKfpPD_BwE
Luis

Buceador con escafandra autónoma clásica.

User avatar
kgehring
Master Diver
Posts: 563
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 7:44 pm
Location: Indianapolis
Contact: Website

Re: PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 02, 2018 10:33 pm

If you choose to go thru a class, I would lean towards SSI. The material is a bit more in depth than PADI. I would also talk to the shops and see how much time you get in the pool. The shop I work at dumped PADI and now is SSI. PADI is loosing market share and is cutting corners just to open new dealers. 1 local dealer does not meet the requirements to be a 5 star IDC center. They were opened as such with no compressor on site and just opened. People have taken the online course and spent less than 4 hours in the pool and off to the worst Quarry around for checkouts during any time of the year. Quarry has less than 5 ft. vis. Just a matter of time before an accident will happen!
http://www.scubamuseum.com
Over 400 vintage regulators in my collection

User avatar
ScubaLawyer
Master Diver
Posts: 1649
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:25 am
First Name: Mark
Location: Laguna Beach, CA

Re: PADI or SSI

Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:07 am

Agree with Bill, Ron, Luis, kgehring..... Unless there is some reason you want to start from scratch, a refresher course should readily bring back the concepts and skills learned in your YMCA course. Being a NAUI Instructor for over 30 years i'm biased, but for a refresher course either PADI or SSI should be fine. (We were indoctrinated with the mantra, "NAUI-good, PADI-bad." :lol: ) If you are looking at competing dive shops teaching through different certifying agencys, ask each for a copy of their course syllabus. Compare and contrast. But, most importantly, as mentioned, talk to each and see where you get the best vibe. Go with your gut. :D
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

mrepi2000
Diver
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 7:57 pm
First Name: LB
Location: Fairborn OH

Re: PADI or SSI

Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:39 pm

Thanks for all of the input! I do have my old YMCA C-Card. The reason I asked about this is because I stopped in one of the dive shops the other day just to chat about diving and the owner said I would have to get re-certified. Is it up to individual shop owners to decided if someone's credentials are acceptable? I do like the idea of a refresher and vintage diving really appeals to me.

User avatar
ScubaLawyer
Master Diver
Posts: 1649
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:25 am
First Name: Mark
Location: Laguna Beach, CA

Re: PADI or SSI

Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:29 am

mrepi2000 wrote:
Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:39 pm
... the owner said I would have to get re-certified.
My opinion: That owner is a money-grubbing jerk. Go with the other one. Once certified, always certified, but not necessarily qualified if there has been a significant time period of no diving. Ergo, a refresher course. My 2psi.

P.S. Shop owners have free reign to make whatever rules they want as long as it doesn't run afoul of any local, state or federal regulations.
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

User avatar
Ron
Site Admin
Posts: 1748
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:51 pm
First Name: Ron
Location: Puget Sound, Washington
Contact: Website

Re: PADI or SSI

Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:09 pm

I agree with Mark. I'm a PADI, SDI, and TDI instructor and I would never make a more senior diver re-take open water. I'd offer you a refresher, coupled with some dives and some beer time at dinner in order for you to ask me whatever questions you had. I treat senior divers with the respect that their original scuba course affords them.

Sample size of 1.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

User avatar
couv
Master Diver
Posts: 453
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:26 pm

Re: PADI or SSI

Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:02 pm

Agree with the above. Dig out your old manual and possibly an updated one, write down the skills on a slate. Find a pool and a friend and practice the skills-it will all come back to you.

Find another dive shop.
A sincere THANK YOU to all at VDH who make this wonderful resource available and to all the thoughtful contributors.

User avatar
USdiver
Master Diver
Posts: 352
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:14 pm
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

Re: PADI or SSI

Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:55 pm

The people doing the instruction are more important than the agency lending its name to the C-card. Spend some time with the different shops and choose the one which has the better instructors/assistants/divemasters.

As you have 20 years of experience, I would do an upgrade from your current certification level to the next level, plus a refresher as you have been out of circulation for a number of years.
Too DAAM Many double hoses, It's not a hobby, it's an addiction.

User avatar
SurfLung
Master Diver
Posts: 1763
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Re: PADI or SSI

Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:04 pm

1969 NAUI Diver
- I thought about renting some dive gear in 2009 while vacationing in Maui and hoped the dive shop could check my certification by phone to NAUI's computer data base. But, I was not in the computer. When I got home, I called up NAUI directly and they had to locate my certification in the old paper files... Which they still had thankfully. All I had to do was pay a fee and they issued me a new card.
- When I got interested in Vintage Double Hose diving, I got a Phoenix and set it all up for modern BCD diving. Then, scheduled a trip to Florida Keys. I figured I needed to refresher on BCD technique so I signed up for an Introductory Scuba class with our local dive shop. But that's all it took... Since then I've re-experienced or re-read most of the Scuba I already knew and learned a bunch more that I didn't know. So, you CAN pick it back up where you left off. :D
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

User avatar
georgeaustin
Master Diver
Posts: 274
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:41 am
First Name: george
Location: Los Angeles CA

Re: PADI or SSI

Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:33 pm

I’m not surprised the owner told you that you’d need to get certified again. Right, do some online study “at your own pace” go for a few dives over the weekend and presto! As if that would be somehow equivalent to your 1970 YMCA Open Water course.

Do some pool time. Do some baby confined ocean dives - I think it will all come back to you.

User avatar
captain
Plank Owner
Posts: 1440
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:32 am
Location: LaPlace, LA

Re: PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:50 am

I too was certified by the Y in 1970. One and only card I have ever had or needed. I agree with Couv, find a place and practice skills.
Captain

User avatar
Ron
Site Admin
Posts: 1748
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:51 pm
First Name: Ron
Location: Puget Sound, Washington
Contact: Website

Re: PADI or SSI

Tue Jan 09, 2018 4:15 pm

Now, I am going to play devil's advocate here for a moment. I have met plenty of people who have been diving for 30 years and they are horrifyingly bad divers. It's not just me either. Ask Rob, Mr. Tom, Bryan, Henry, Herman, Bill, and any number of other guys on the forum. Just like anything in life, you can dive for a long time and still be crap at it.

I rowed at the gym yesterday next to a person who had been rowing "for 30 years" and their form would have gotten them laughed at by any amateur crew team, and possibly savagely beaten. :lol:

If you want to make sure that there is no Dunning-Kruger in action, then at least have someone whom you trust and know is good at diving go with and give you honest feedback on your abilities. A lot of people, including a small minority of people on this forum, think scuba instructors are in it for the money. I promise you, the money is shit. I make more billing .5 hours of IT work than I do teaching an entire advanced class with 8 people in it. Sometimes, regular divers think diving is a scam. It is, but it's a scam that's not making any instructors any money. It's making whatever venture capital firm that owns that diving agency money, so they can sell them to another venture capital firm. There is, generally speaking, no money in diving unless you find it on a wreck.

Dive shops don't really make any money either. That's why there are always a crap ton of them for sale:

http://www.divecenterforsale.com/


Now consulting...THAT's a real scam.

The short answer is if you haven't been diving in a long time, then have an adult, in some form, check you out and make sure that you are not terrible at it. I say this sincerely.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

Return to “General Discussions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 31 guests