does anyone know if the YMCA has a good program for padi certification

Lord! Better go see - on this site:

http://www.diversdiscount.com/frameset.asp?src=/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

PS YMCA offers YMCA certification and is NOT a PADI, NAUI, SSI agency. Certification from YMCA is their own YMCA certification.

It depends, the most important thing is the instructor and not so much and agency. I'm Naui but i've heard great things about the YMCA program. Of course not everyone will agree with that. You best bet is to interview your instructor, Find out how long they have been trianing, are they still diving (not intructional dives) talk to others that have taken the coruse from the same person.

Though i am not a fan of Padi, i would never say that Padi doesnt have fine Instructor.

Its your life so look into it a bit, and remember to enjoy yourself.

Dive Safe,
BadFish

I'm currently getting certified for scuba with the YMCA. I live in NJ and the instructor I have is top notch. From what I see he's putting me thru the paces and teaching me well. I have no complaints.

Oh, the YMCA course was great - it was just the place for our check outs that was a poor choice for beginners..

I agree - the MOST important thing is the INSTRUCTOR - meet them, talk with them, ask questions - get a feel for their level of experience, knowledge, personality, etc and you won't go wrong...do a little homework!

My Open Water course was a YMCA and PADI dual certification course. Both were OK (the teacher was the biggest jerk I've ever encountered!). But, while I've seen PADI signs posted at resorts, (and also have read that the only certification offered by dive shops in Grand Caymen is PADI), I've NEVER seen a YMCA recognition. It's supposed to be true that the Y C-card is accepted anywhere, why take chances? PADI is accepted at probably over 99.9% of the dive boats and resorts in the world so why would you get anything else? I took my Y card and threw it in the drawer never to be seen again.

I was Open Water Certified by YMCA, and the Instuctor was the best. The instructor gave me a lot of confidence. Also the course took a life time to complete, if I recall it took six weekends. One weekend was just dedicated to Skin Diving.

On one of the first dives after getting my open water cert. I had a equipment failure after a few minutes into the dive, instead of aborting the dive I was able to resolve the problem at the bottom (60 ft), doft and don my BC, fixed the BC strap that broke, and continued my dive.

Note the BC was a rental, and the plastic buckle broke. I had to tie the strap on the BC to fix the problem. Since I just started my dive I knew I had plenty of air, the vis was great, and the water was still.

After that problem, i've never rented another piece of equipment except for tanks.