PADI vs GUE: An Updated Comparison of SCUBA Certs for 2019

Posted in Recommendations

Summary

The instructor matters most
PADI: It’s quicker, and it’s cheaper. But the standards are lower.
GUE: More thorough. More of an emphasis on safety. You’ll become a competent and comfortable diver. But it’s harder to pass and more expensive.
PADI vs GUE: PADI is faster and easier, but GUE will make you a better and safer diver than PADI will. Neither choice is wrong, it depends on what you’re looking for.
The basic PADI class is PADI Open Water. The basic GUE class is GUE Rec 1. GUE Rec 1 is the equivalent of being certified as PADI Open Water, PADI Advanced Water, PADI Nitrox, and some of PADI Rescue Diver. GUE Rec 1 is much more thorough than PADI OW.
You’ll be able to dive wherever you want with GUE. But, PADI does have more recognition, so with GUE it can sometimes be useful to call ahead to make it easiest. That said, you’ll still be able to dive wherever you want with a GUE cert.

Instructor matters most

“Dive the instructor, not the agency. Pick a great instructor rather than a specific agency. They all get you to the same place.”¹

“The most important factor is your instructor, keep this in mind when making your choice.”²

PADI

“PADI’s job is NOT to make great divers, it is to make as many people competent at diving to the most basic level possible. This is not a criticism this is just their business model.”³

“As for the PADI classes I took….the emphasis on individual diver skills was non-existent. Performing skills while being neutrally buoyant was not a requirement for any of the PADI courses I took.”⁴

“You will pay less and get your C-Card quicker, but the quality of the course almost completely depends on the instructor, as the overall agency standards are pretty low.”⁵

“PADI has become more and more about issuing as many diplomas as possible. If you’re just looking to get your “diver’s license”, PADI is the place to go. You pay your invoice, you’ll get your c-card. You won’t necessarily learn how to dive well or safe, though.”²

GUE

“Good instructors can be found in any agency, but gue has the most consistent quality.”⁶

“I discovered right away that GUE training is all about team diving. Not just lip service paid to the usual advice to always stay with your buddy…..but a true emphasis on real team diving and planning. It was centered on this team mindset, a complete team attitude. This was the foundation the training was built on. All skills were performed as a team. Every drill, skills demonstration, the simulated failures while holding the minimum deco stops……everything was performed while in a team formation. The emphasis was always on focusing on the team. It was much different than any of the other recreational courses I previously took. I am of the opinion, based on my experience in my course, and in seeing the local divers that later completed the Fundamentals course; GUE training produces the best dive buddies. Since my Fundamentals dive training, I have organized other classes. There have been 19 GUE trained divers in Iwakuni, Japan to date. I have seen the consistent result produced by the fundamentals course. It is very refreshing to dive with people that don’t swim off on their own and get separated. With the GUE trained divers I have been diving with, my dive buddy is always there. From the new divers that took GUE Fundamentals right after open water class, to the more experienced divers; they all stay with their dive buddies. They actually pay attention to each other.“⁴

“GUE quality is pretty universal. There aren’t any low quality instructors.”⁵

“GUE is, as the name indicates, more aimed at the explorer’s type of diving. I.e. a bit more advanced tech diving. That being said, they train you very well in terms of skills, but their focus on team diving might not be everyone’s cup of tea. They’re also very rigid about DIR (Doing It Right) setup gear configurations, which tends to be fairly expensive and occasionally overkill depending on what you’re going to do. If you’re looking at reefs at 15 ft, you really don’t need twin tanks, bailout gas, SMB and double set of knives and lamps.”²

“Was it hard? Yes. Was it frustrating? Yes. I even shed tears at one point. HOWEVER, I will also chalk it up as one of the best experiences in my life. Why? Personal challenge is rewarding. The focus on safety and process appeals to me.”⁵

“Great fundamentals. They concentrate on doing every skill perfectly. Not just demonstrate so you can pass, keep doing it so it’s second nature. Think of all the OW students you’ve seen struggle through mask removal. The goal is to be comfortable in the water without your mask, not quickly remove and replace to prove you can. A fundamental skill for GUE is remaining horizontal at all times. Think of the number of divers that have to kick into a feet down position as soon as they get task loaded, or have to remain still. GUE teaches perfect trim and weighing as a basic skill, not an “advanced” skill. There is logic and reasoning behind everything they do. You might not agree with it, but it’s all laid out for you. You cannot deviate though. It’s an all or nothing approach to diving. What gear you dive, how your gear is setup, what gear goes where, how you deploy and stow gear. It’s all planned and all the same for every dive and every diver. Extreme concentration on safety. Redundancy for everything. I’ve never dove with a group that was so well organized.”³

“GUE is worth every single penny you’ll be a better diver. You’ll learn all your skills in a neutral buoyancy position instead of kneeling on the ground. That’s worth its weight in gold right there.”⁵

GUE vs PADI

“GUE is heads above when it comes to skill and instruction, whereas PADI is much more accessible and userfriendly.”⁵

“I think you will be both a better diver and a safer buddy after a GUE Fundamentals course than you would be from a PADI OWD. However, if the only thing you’re going to do is swim around at 25 ft looking at fish, OWD is plenty good enough. Is GUE worth the extra time and money? Only you can answer that.”⁵

“I have training and certification with both. GUE has much higher quality standards and training. I learned more from GUE class than I did from all the PADI classes combined.”⁵

“From my view, as i’ve collected certificates from CMAS, PDA, SSI and PADI, tried different Gear, and so on over the years.. i’d definitely go the GUE route.”⁵

“If you are going through open water with someone you plan on diving with like a relative or spouse I would strongly recommend GUE. It will make you into a solid buddy team which PADI will not.”⁵

“If you just want to start quickly and have fun go PADI. It will be a lot faster and easier.”⁵

“I have cards from PADI, ANDI, and GUE. My experience with ANDI is better than my experience PADI, but my classes with GUE have been far and away the best ones I’ve ever taken.”⁵

“I did GUE Rec 1 immediately after PADI Open Water. Fantastic instruction, comprehensive academics more in keeping with adult education, and skills, skills, skills. I learned far more in Rec 1 than I ever did in the PADI OW course. I went the Rec 1 route because I wanted nitrox and a formal drysuit endorsement, but was also curious about GUE. By the time I priced out the AOW course, the drysuit course, and the nitrox course, plus fundamentals, it made more sense to just do Rec 1. By the time I was finished, I had a whole lot more capacity in the water than I had ever had in my open water course. It was a tremendous learning experience. Is the GUE recreational curriculum for every diver out there? No, it isn’t. It asks a lot, takes a lot more time, and requires you to really work on your skills in order to get good.”³

“If PADI is the boyscouts, GUE is the Marines…”²

“PADI has a different agenda as an organization - they’re trying to get vacation divers in the water quickly and safely. GUE takes it up a notch and is more orthodox approach to make you an exceptionally good and safe diver.”²

“GUE is on a whole other level. It’s the closest you’ll get to commercial diving instruction without having to go to a commercial diving school. Emphasis is on professionalism and attention to detail from start to finish. GUE courses are much more expensive, time consuming, and technically challenging. Boils down to what kind of diver you want to be, and how fast you want to get there. A PADI cert and a whole lot of dives will build a good diver, but a GUE course produces good divers right out of the gate.”²

“If you look at the average GUE Fundies graduate and the average PADI OWD (or even AOWD) graduates, the GUE people will be hands down better divers, no way around that.”²

“I pretty much agree with the statements here. I would say you should be guided by where you think you will be diving in two years. You can develop some habits that will challenge your future diving if you go PADI, even with a good instructor. If this is to dive on vacation once a year, to shallow depths, perhaps PADI is the way to go, although then to, what are your personal standards? Do you want “just fine” or do you want “harder and more expensive but top of the heap”?”⁵

“Let me put it this way. When I got my GUE training back in 2008, I had already been diving for 12 years. I had a lot of PADI bullshit to unlearn, and it was a struggle. I finally passed my fundies, and that is the only card in my many that I am actually proud of. My dive buddy’s daughter went for her open water at the age of 15 or so, and did it with one of our GUE instructors. The girl dove better on her 5th open water dive than was doing on my 300th. It is MUCH easier to learn to dive correctly from the get-go. Please to the GUE training, you will be forever greatful, and you will be one bad-ass diver.”⁵

PADI Open Water equivalent for GUE

The main PADI course is PADI Open Water, which certifies you for open water diving to 18 meters.

The basic GUE class is GUE Rec 1. GUE Rec 1 is the equivalent of being certified as PADI Open Water, PADI Advanced Water, PADI Nitrox, and some of PADI Rescue Diver.

GUE Rec 1 is much more thorough than PADI’s Open Water.

Can I dive wherever I want with GUE? Is a GUE cert accepted everywhere?

It’s true that PADI is more widely known. But anywhere you want to dive, you’ll be able to dive with GUE, too.

With PADI, you often won’t need to bring your card, they can just lookup your member number. But with GUE you’ll need to bring your card so that they can see the details of your certification. Not a big deal at all, just bring your card.

“If you call ahead and ask, explain who GUE is, that they’re ISO whatever certified, etc., it shouldn’t be an issue. If it is, find another shop, you probably don’t want to dive with them anyways if no one at the shop has heard of GUE. There’s going to be more than one decent shop in any diving spot in the US. You might have an issue if you try to show up for a fun dive the day of or the day before, with a card from an agency they might not be familiar with. In this sort of high-pressure decision scenario, they might just play it safe (from a liability perspective) and say “sorry, we’re not familiar with them”."⁷

“I can’t imagine a place not accepting a GUE Rec 1 card - considering the limits are clearly printed on the card (PS I was never ever asked for a card anyways)."⁸

“If you’re worried it’ll be an issue, call ahead to the shop before your trip. Explain your concern and who GUE is, give them a chance to research the agency for a bit and it will very likely satisfy any concerns they might have. This way you’re not trying to convince them while a boat full of other divers is waiting."⁸

Summary

The instructor matters most
PADI: It’s quicker, and it’s cheaper. But the standards are lower.
GUE: More thorough. More of an emphasis on safety. You’ll become a competent and comfortable diver. But it’s harder to pass and more expensive.
PADI vs GUE: PADI is faster and easier, but GUE will make you a better and safer diver than PADI will. Neither choice is wrong, it depends on what you’re looking for.
The basic PADI class is PADI Open Water. The basic GUE class is GUE Rec 1. GUE Rec 1 is the equivalent of being certified as PADI Open Water, PADI Advanced Water, PADI Nitrox, and some of PADI Rescue Diver. GUE Rec 1 is much more thorough than PADI OW.
You’ll be able to dive wherever you want with GUE. But, PADI does have more recognition, so with GUE it can sometimes be useful to call ahead to make it easiest. That said, you’ll still be able to dive wherever you want with a GUE cert.