PADI, SSI, SDI, NAUI, YMCA, and RSTC explained.

Looks like the alphabet soup of SCUBA diving. By the way, SCUBA stands for “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”.

The well known, internationally accepted scuba certification agencies:

SSI = Scuba Schools International PADI = Professional Association of Dive Instructors SDI = Scuba Diving International NAUI = National Association of Underwater Instructors YMCA = Young Men's Christian Association TDI – Technical Diving International

Force-E features SSI, PADI and SDI because we like their training materials, and teaching philosophy. We only offer recreational scuba training from organizations belonging to and adhering to the teaching standards of the RSTC.

The Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) was incorporated in the United States in 1986. RSTC’s mission is to establish minimum training standards at all levels of recreational scuba diving in order to promote public safety. The RSTC is also the Secretariat for ANSI Committee. (American National Standards Institute).

Of the above list of agencies, only NAUI is not a member of RSTC. NAUI is a fine organization and one of the pioneers of SCUBA certification. We do except student referrals trained by NAUI Instructors in academics and pool exercises for open ocean training dives.

The main mission of certification agencies is the Marketing of Scuba Diving. Some do a better job than others. The organizations you have heard of have done a better job of selling their brand.

The dive course you take is going to be no better than the instructor who teaches it. So how do you choose? Go to a reputable Dive Operator or University. Meet the people who represent the shop or school. How long has the scuba instructional program been in existence? Does the store or school monitor their instructors?

The Good News:
Finding an experienced, highly qualified instructor is not that hard in Florida.

The Bad News:
The course will probably be a little more expensive. Good people don’t have to work cheap.

More Good News:
Force-E instructors are great and we’ve been teaching since 1976.