#144
Padidiver88 - 11/16/2009 3:24 AM


I agree that the Instructor is the most important thing and they are both good agencies but my advice would be to go with Padi, especially if you think that she will want to continue her level of certifiation beyond Jr Open Water Diver or even Open Water Diver. I am an SSI DiveCon ( assistant instructor) and also a Padi Open Water Instructor so I am familiar with both programs. Although they both offer good initial programs that don’t differ much beyond some bouyancy control techniques that the Padi program teaches ( the fin pivot and the hover) which really does help a novice diver learn good bouyancy control and most kids think that it’s really fun. Padi has many more options for training beyond the basic open water program such as the Adventure Diver program. Also you can order any Padi educational materials you may need yourself if you would like as apposed to SSI who will only let you purchase through a dive shop.


So to make a long story short as far as teaching kids the instructor and the amount of time that he is willing to spend is the most important thing not the agency but I really do believe that Padi has the best overall program by far, especially for continuing education.