Scuba Schools International


Scuba Schools International is an organization that teaches the skills involved in scuba diving and freediving, and supports dive businesses and resorts. SSI has over 2,500 authorized dealers, 35 regional centers, and offices all over the world.

History

SSI was founded by Robert Clark in 1970. SSI headquarters are in Fort Collins, Colorado, and it is owned by Concept Systems International, Inc. In 2008, it was acquired by Doug McNeese and Robert Stoss. On January 1, 2014, SSI was acquired by MARES, a diving equipment brand in turn owned by HEAD NV, for €4.9m.

Training

SSI offers internationally recognized recreational diver training programs - starting with snorkeling and entry level scuba diving courses up to instructor certifications. The most common programs are: SSI Open Water Diver and Advanced Open Water Diver. There are more than 30 different specialty courses. Dive leader training programs start with the Dive Control Specialist followed by Open Water Instructor and above. SSI's training program for children aged 8–12 years is called Scuba Rangers. The training program for technical divers is called TechXR and includes decompression diving, trimix and other courses that exceed the limit for recreational divers.
SSI scuba certifications are recognized throughout the world.
The main difference to other dive training organizations is that SSI instructors are only allowed to teach at SSI Dive Centers or SSI accredited dive clubs that adopt a franchise-like concept.
SSI is a member of the following councils of the World Recreational Scuba Training Council - the United States RSTC, the RSTC Europe and C-Card Council. It is also a member of the European Underwater Federation. SSI obtained CEN certification from the EUF certification body in 2005. It received ISO certification on June 1, 2010.

Programs, certification and progression

The SSI Training Standards outline the offered programs, their prerequisites and certification progression.

Non-certification programs

In addition to the industry standard Open Water Diver qualification, SSI offers the following.
The Open Water Diver complies with Autonomous diver, ISO 24801-2. The Autonomous diver level is variously described as the best, and most popular, introductory scuba qualification.

Progression beyond Open Water

After Open Water certification, progression mainly depends on completing Scuba Specialty Programs and logging certain numbers of dives.
Below are some of the speciality courses that can be completed as part of the above certifications.
The SSI Training Standards outline the professional qualifications and progression.

Extended Range certifications