PADI vs SSI
PADI and SSI are certifications that are provided to individuals when they learn professional diving. Both these certifications are popular in different parts of the world and accepted while looking for jobs as a professional trainer of scuba diving. Apart from being certifications, these two also happen to be organizations that are involved with the business of imparting skills of diving to people around the world. If you have been bitten by scuba bug and want to learn the skill in a professional manner, you can choose either of the two certifications. This article attempts to take a closer look at PADI and SSI to find out the differences between them.
PADI
PADI is an acronym that stands for Professional Association of Diving Instructors. It was started in 1956 by John Cronin who wanted to break diving instructions to be broken into different courses, to suit the requirements of the students. While there are entry level courses such as Open Water Diver and Scuba Diver, there is also a vast course called Master Scuba Diver. In addition to these courses, there are many more certifications provided by PADI that are accepted at resorts the world over.
In most of the courses, there is both theory as well as practical classes. There are books and CD’s that are provided to students and most of the lessons are explained with the help of videos, to let students visualize and give performance accordingly. Practical training is given in shallow waters. Most courses are performance oriented, and the skills of the students are evaluated after the duration of the course.
SSI
Founded in 1970 by Robert Clark in the state of Colorado in US, SSI is a premier scuba diving instruction organization running schools in many countries of the world. Scuba Schools International provides skills and certifications to successful students that are recognized all over the world. The courses are divided into beginners and advanced, and while there are easy courses like Open Water Diver, there are also long duration and advance level courses such as Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation. SSI is a recipient of ISO certification and also a member of WRSTC.
PADI vs SSI
• Both PADI and SSI offer certifications that are accepted at par by employers around the world.
• PADI and SSI are two different brands of scuba diving training.
• PADI was founded in 1956 while SSI was founded in 1970.
• SSI is more flexible than PADI as a student has to master the skill A before moving on to another skill B.
• SSI is cheaper than PADI as you can borrow books for SSI course, whereas you have to purchase all books as far as PADI course is concerned.
• Online learning with SSI is free while you need to pay for PADI online learning.