There are many courses and brands available for open water diving certification. There are many options for this course. You can either become certified with SSI (or PADI). You should wait until you're more experienced in scuba diving before you purchase scuba gear. After all, you will need it to dive.
PADI
PADI open water diving certification will allow you to have many options for your diving vacation. You can choose either to dive in your home city or to explore the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Blue Hole. This certification costs anywhere from $350-$500, depending on where it is learned. You can, for example, take private lessons lasting about three hours. Then join a PADI instructor-led dive tour for the rest of the trip.
SSI
SSI, the largest and most well-respected scuba certification organisation in the world, is SSI. Through hard training and ongoing education, its philosophy is to make competent divers. There are many SSI certification options. The SSI Autonomous Diver Program offers the best introductory training. This course can also be offered digitally. You can sign up for a lifetime "diamond", or a student pack, to get started.
SSI eLearning
It's important that you consider what you want from your course when choosing between a PADI or SSI open water scuba diving certification. PADI courses are rigid and make it difficult for you to alter the pace of your learning. SSI courses are flexible enough to allow you to adjust the course to fit your schedule and to make the certification happen while you're away.
SSI courses
PADI and SSI are very similar, but what is the difference? Both companies require that you order course materials in advance. PADI courses come in a paper book format, while SSI courses are online. The difference lies within the materials. PADI courses often have a longer curriculum, and may require more adventure divers than SSI. PADI courses also require more adventure dives than SSI courses, so you need to make sure that you're comfortable with the different options before choosing a training center.
SSI classes
SSI has a strong reputation for producing high-quality training materials. SSI's open water scuba classes can help you get a certification, or simply learn more about diving. The SSI Digital Training System offers apps that enable you to log dives, track progress, and view your qualification from your phone.
Additional certifications for divers
You might wonder if any other open water scuba certifications match yours. There are many training bodies and bodies that issue diving certifications. However, the table below can be a starting point for anyone looking to earn a similar certification. These guides are based at maximum air depth. However, some grades may be deeper with more training. Please note that these maximum depth guides are only estimates and not final.