Training Ground: Choosing the Right Agency for Your Dive Pro Certification

You've envisioned the journey, understood the transformation from Divemaster to Instructor, and the call of the deep resonates stronger than ever. Now, as you stand on the brink of professional dive training, a crucial question arises: Which training agency will you choose for your professional certification?

This decision can shape your learning experience, influence your curriculum, and potentially impact your career trajectory within the global dive industry. Dive Rutland is proud to offer choice, especially since a number of our team members undertook a professional crossover to SSI, ensuring we can continue to provide you with the best training options.

We will cover the following areas in this guide:

• What is a Diving Training Agency?
• PADI and SSI: Global Recognition, Diverging Paths
• PADI vs. SSI: Subtle Differences, Big Choices
• How Do I Choose Who to Certify or Train With?
• Why Did Dive Rutland Change from PADI TO SSI For Professional Training?

What is a Diving Training Agency?

A diving training agency, such as SSI, PADI, or RAID, provides the essential framework for dive professionals (Divemasters and above) to teach and assist with diver training. They define what each course should contain, along with detailed performance requirements – essentially, how each skill is to be demonstrated and "signed off" as complete.

Crucially, all agencies adhere to the World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) training standards. The WRSTC's mission is dedicated to the worldwide safety of the recreational diving public by establishing globally recognised minimum training standards, ensuring consistency and credibility across the industry. This is further supported by various ISO standards that apply to recreational diver training, including:

• Introductory training programs to scuba diving – ISO 11121
• Diver Level 1 – Supervised Diver ISO 24801-1
• Diver Level 2 – Autonomous Diver ISO 24801-2
• Diver Level 3 – Dive Leader ISO 24801-3

PADI and SSI: Global Recognition, Diverging Paths

Both PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and SSI (Scuba Schools International) hold global recognition as premier diving qualifications, offering a structured path for divers. The beauty is, regardless of whether you opt for PADI or SSI for your recreational certifications, your qualification is your ticket to explore dive centres and amazing sites worldwide. As a recreational diver, the playing field remains level.

The real nuances, however, emerge when you contemplate taking the plunge into the realm of professional diving. That's when the SSI and PADI pathways start to diverge, and understanding these differences becomes key to making your choice. At Dive Rutland, we assure you, our commitment to high-quality training, our wonderful professional team, and our great high-quality dive equipment remains constant, regardless of the agency you choose to qualify under.

PADI vs. SSI: Subtle Differences, Big Choices

Essentially, there is no fundamental difference between PADI and SSI in terms of their core purpose; both are "brands" of dive learning and certification developed to provide a "standard" of learning and professionalism. The closest analogy? Think of it like Coke and Pepsi – both are cola soft drinks, with a slightly different "taste" or approach, and so it is with PADI and SSI training agencies.

Training Frameworks & Methodology While the core course content for PADI and SSI is more or less identical at a fundamental level, one key area of difference lies in the teaching methodology.

• PADI insists on skills being completed in a set order to meet their standards. If a student struggles, the instructor must persist with that skill until it's mastered before moving on.
• SSI allows for slightly more flexibility. If a student is having an issue with a particular skill, the dive professional can move on to other skills and revisit the challenging one later. This often allows the student to build confidence and muscle memory before returning to the area they were struggling with.

Online eLearning & Apps Both agencies have embraced online eLearning, but our experience suggests a clear leader in this area:

• PADI was later to the online eLearning game, and their online app can feel less intuitive compared to other agencies. All PADI materials are purchased upfront, meaning you cannot view a course you might be interested in unless you've already committed to purchasing the materials.
• SSI, in our opinion, offers a superior online platform for both divers and professionals. Their app is user-friendly and, a significant advantage, allows you to browse materials for all courses before you commit to a purchase. This allows you to truly investigate options before handing over any money. Both apps allow for electronic dive logging and professional counter-signing, but SSI’s is often easier to use "out in the field."

Dive Centres & Affiliation Models

Training agencies also have different models for how dive centres and professionals affiliate with them:

• PADI has a tiered categorisation system for dive centres (e.g., PADI Dive Centre, Five Star Dive Centre, Instructor Development Centre, Career Development Centre). While higher tiers involve higher fees for the centre, this doesn't always directly translate to a higher level of service or quality for the consumer; rather, it often signifies the ability to offer additional training like instructor courses. A key difference is that PADI Professionals can operate a "freelance" model, meaning they do not necessarily have to work under a specific PADI-affiliated dive centre.
• SSI automatically awards categorisation to dive centres (e.g., Blue Ocean Centre, Diamond Dive Centre, Instructor Development Centre, Career Development Centre) as they meet the required standards, without additional fees for the recognition itself. Notably, an SSI professional can ONLY work via an accredited SSI Dive Centre. This rigorous affiliation model is for quality control purposes, ensuring the dive centre fully represents SSI's standards and is accountable for all SSI training delivered.

It's vital to remember that dive centres like Dive Rutland are independent businesses, not franchises. We choose which training agency (or agencies) to affiliate with and pay yearly membership fees to utilise their framework. The agencies do not dictate our business policies or operational procedures, nor do they enforce country-specific working regulations – that is down to us as the dive centre management.

Dive Professionals & Rewards

Dive professionals are affiliated with a training agency and pay a yearly membership fee, similar to other professions.

• As mentioned, PADI professionals can freelance.
• With SSI, professionals are allocated "pro points" for every SSI training course they deliver. These "pro points" directly credit towards the professional's annual renewal fees, essentially rewarding busier instructors by reducing their annual costs. While some might see this as a tiered incentive, SSI genuinely rewards professionals by reducing their ongoing fees.

It's important to acknowledge that the UK dive industry, unfortunately, still heavily relies on dive professionals who often give up their time free of charge. This is not the Dive Rutland way, but it is common for the majority of UK dive centres – something to consider when you look at unusually cheap courses!

How Do I Choose Who to Certify or Train With?

In our opinion, what is paramount, even more than the training agency, is the Dive Centre and Instructor you will be training with. We strongly advocate you choose the instructor and/or dive centre first, and the agency second.

When it comes to scuba diving, selecting the right instructor is crucial for a safe and enjoyable experience. If you find yourself unable to choose your instructor directly, it becomes even more vital to have confidence in the dive centre's ability to assign you a fitting guide. These instructors and guides play a pivotal role in ensuring your well-being underwater, making them the face of the diving experience.

Trust in Your Dive Centre: Even if you don't have the liberty to choose your instructor directly, a reputable dive centre will match you with a qualified professional based on your skill level and needs. Their commitment to your safety and satisfaction sets the tone for a memorable diving experience. While recommendations are valuable, always trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, don't hesitate to explore other options.

Why Did Dive Rutland Change from PADI TO SSI For Professional Training?

Here at Dive Rutland, we were proud to be a PADI 5* Instructor Development Centre. However, to truly empower you with choice between agencies, we made the decision to let go of our 5* Instructor Development Centre rating in January 2024. Why? Because PADI does not allow a 5* Instructor Development Centre to deliver another agency's training, even if those courses (like classified diver training for less-abled divers) are not offered by PADI themselves.

In late 2023, with PADI dictating that Dive Centres could no longer be dual-agency at this top tier, we opted not to renew our specific 5* IDC status. However, because PADI allows its professionals to "freelance," we are still able to offer PADI courses through our retained PADI professionals who remain in status. This means we are still providing that customer choice we deeply believe in.

We have invested heavily in our PADI training and our dive professionals over the years, but as a business, we must continue to grow. Our mantra has always been inclusivity (our Dive Club welcomes any qualified diver regardless of agency). Expanding our offering to include SSI courses means that divers who prefer to stay within the SSI framework can now train with us and take advantage of our great training and the Dive Rutland family. It’s not about pushing divers from one agency to another, but about allowing more divers to experience the quality we offer, and opening up additional courses (like those for our less-abled diver community) that PADI does not provide.

In Summary

Here at Dive Rutland, our motto is about producing better, safe, more confident, and able divers who go out into the underwater world and have great and safe adventures.

It is important to us that Dive Professionals gain a similar ethos as without standards in the industry (and not just those set by the training agencies) but the others - great equipment, having a servicing schedule, good health and well being, great on going suport and mentoring. This we can help you with and guide you through your professional journey. A journey that is important to us.

We encourage you to choose the instructor and dive centre that inspires confidence.

You've considered the path, and you're ready to train. But what does life truly look like once you're certified? Explore 'Life Underwater, Redefined: Career Paths & Realities of a Dive Instructor' to get the full picture.