Agency Affiliation

Question
Hi Mike,

I am considering taking on scuba as a career, either as an instructor or possibly in conjunction with owning a dive shop.  I am currently an Advanced Open Water Diver with SSI, but am considering pursuing my training with PADI.  Can you tell me what the considerations are in selecting an agency, both as an instructor and as a potential dive shop owner?  Do some offer better support/financial arrangements than others or is it simply marketing power?  Also, is it relatively easy to offer certifications from multiple agencies?

Thanks,

Paul

Answer
Hi Paul

You pose some excellent questions.  I'll try to give you some unbiased advice (although I am a PADI facility).  There are a growing number of training agencies throughout the world.  Many of these are specific to certain types of diving and are of much more value if you're planning to offer diving requiring specialized skills.  I'll stick to "general" scuba since that's the main focus of most divers.  SSI is a fine training agency and I've had some terrific experiences with SSI trained divers.  Having said that, I'll offer the following observation:  The quality of diver training is more a function of the skill of the instructor than the structure of the training program.  In other words, I think it's the integrity and skill of the instructor that really makes the difference.  I think many of the different training agencies were started by instructors who thought there must be a better way to train divers.  Some of it is profit driven, I'm sure, and there is tremendous competition for market share.  PADI is the largest dive training organization in the world although they're not the oldest. I think the YMCA has that distinction.  You will get much more name recognition with PADI due to their size and marketing strategies.  You will get a lot of dealer support from PADI but it's not cheap.  Their prices are market driven and, since they can get more for their materials, they'll charge more than many other agencies.  We can discuss the pros and cons of the different agencies all day long  but let's just cut to the bottom line.  As an instructor, you want all the name recognition you can get.  PADI has the edge there.  Training materials, however, will be less expensive with SSI so you can charge less for your courses.  Keep in mind that more divers will have PADI C-cards and they'll probably recommend to their friends that they use the same agency.  That may make acquiring students a little easier with PADI.  If you open a PADI dive shop, you'll need to pay additional dues to retain the PADI designation on your shop.  I don't think SSI has this requirement.  Again, the final measure of the skill of a diver is the quality of his training.  Training depends on the skill and dedication of the instructor and not the glossy coating on the training materials.

A personal note:  I taught my first scuba class in 1962.  PADI didn't even come into existence for another three years and it was an unknown at the time.  PADI advanced to where it is today through the marketing skills of it's corporate officers and the skill of it's first instructors.  You can accomplish the same thing, regardless of which agency you chose to associate with.  Word of mouth is your best advertising and it's free if you do a good job with your students.  Give them everything they need...and more...and you'll do fine, regardless of which agency you use.

Teaching through multiple agencies is fairly common and not difficult to do.  Many agencies will accept the training credentials from a competing agency so "crossing over" isn't usually a problem. It can be awkward for the instructor since you'll have to maintain multiple professional memberships (one for each training agency) and also stock diffent training packages for each agency.  Unless there is a compelling reason to the contrary, I'd suggest sticking with one agency...it's a lot simpler(and cheaper).

Paul, in closing, you've probably noticed that I didn't make your choice for you.  That's something you'll need to do after weighing your options.  Hopefully, I've provided some food for thought.  If I can help you further, please write back and I'll be happy to go into further detail on specific issues.

Happy Diving

Mike Giles
Mike's Dive Center
mikescuba.com