Universal Standards Are Applied By All Scuba Agencies

While Dive Mentor is an independent corporate body, we align our programs with Scuba Schools International (SSI). We can certify you through the SSI system up to Assistant Instructor Trainer.

To learn more about our courses, visit the Programs Page.

We were once heavily associated with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), but they are no longer a part of our core curriculum. If you require a PADI certification to meet an employment obligation, we do have Green-Status PADI certified instructors (up to IDC Staff level) available who can certify you up to Divemaster with PADI. We also maintain close relationships with several 5-star IDC programs should you wish to earn your PADI Assistant Instructor or Open Water Instructor certification. We are more than happy to advise you.

In all of the SCUBA diving programs offered by Dive Mentor, we meet or exceed industry standards. But what does that mean?

When a school or company refers to “industry standards”, really, we’re referring to standards set by larger bodies or groups of bodies such as the International Standards Organization (ISO), World Recreational Scuba Diving Council (WRSDC), their regional Recreational Scuba Training Councils (RSTC), and members or secretariats of American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which is a member body of ISO.

For over fifty years, certification agencies and publishers (such as NAUI, PADI, SSI, TDI), manufacturers (Aqua Lung, Cressi, US Divers), universities and trade schools, dive shops, and others with an interest in recreational scuba diving have banded together in a variety of ways to ensure our sport remains safe and self-regulated.

Agency Differences

It’s often said by divers and professionals that one agency (NAUI, PADI, SSI, etc) is better than another, but the fact is every agency applies the same training standards in their programs and throughout their training materials. How individual divers, divemasters, instructors, schools, or shops conduct may differ. But all of these different certification organizations meet or exceed the industry standards that they all agree to support.

In this respect, the term “better” really then only refers to personal preference based on how a diver or professional sees these agencies, or how instructors and other professionals aligned with a given agency behaves. In all cases, the standards published by each and every agency is nearly identical, but what happens in practice can often be very different. Thus, one’s views will vary based on past experience or simply on how these different agencies market themselves, and the kind of products and services they provide to end users. Most of the larger agencies have been around for similar periods of time.

For instance, the YMCA (which no longer certifies) was one of the first in the world to train divers and develop a comprehensive program. PADI and NAUI are very close in age, with SSI coming in right behind them in terms of company longevity.

It’s important to understand that they’re really nothing more than brands, not unlike other household names you may be familiar with in other industries (ie food, clothing, electronic products, airlines, etc).

Why We Choose Scuba Schools International

We choose to align ourselves with SSI for our core programs because they support us and our goals. One of the main reasons is that currently SSI is head and shoulders, in our view, above any of the other agencies when it comes to products and services. We are big fans of the digital training they’ve developed, as it’s where the world is headed. While many of us still love printed material, diving is a global sport. Thus, having access to training materials in scores of languages, at the click of a button, is far more effective and efficient than attempting to print books in that many languages—let alone having to try to ship them, which has a direct impact on an agency’s carbon footprint.

Recreational Agency Diver Equivalents

This chart provides a decent overview of the standard diver levels and how they compare between different agencies.

Recreational Agency Professional Equivalents

This chart provides a decent overview of the professional levels and how they compare between different agencies.

These are the main leadership levels within the SSI system:

• Dive Master: Can work as a dive guide.
• Assistant Instructor: Can teach classroom sections and some of confined water for scuba classes, as well as some speciality courses.
• Open Water Instructor: Can teach all levels up to Open Water Diver, the Advanced Adventurer course.
• Stress and Rescue Instructor: Can also teach Stress & Rescue Specialty.
• Specialty Instructor: Can also teach one or more Specialties.
• Advanced Open Water Instructor: Instructor with at least 4 specialty ratings. Similar to MSDT.
• Assistant Instructor Instructor: Can also teach Dive Control Specialists. Similar to Staff Instructor.
• Master Instructor: Instructor with extensive diving and teaching experience.
• Instructor Trainer: Can conduct SSI Instructor Training Courses.

Get Started Today as a Scuba Diver

If you’re wanting to learn to dive, reach out. If you’d like to become a scuba professional, why not attend our Divemaster Internship or an Instructor Development Program? We can help you reach your goals.