The quality of the tuition is not specific to the course as much as the
individual instructor.

Before committing your wife to a course, it's worthwhile interviewing
several and deciding on:

1. Your criteria for a good tutor, such as, how well he / she conducts
themselves and their attitude (are they clear, concise, accurate, friendly,
patient, unflappable etc.).
2. The experience of the instructor (including their own level of diving).
I have often dived with instructors with many more badges then me, who, once
in the water, prove to be crap divers, with very limited experience both in
terms of number of dives and diving locations / conditions.
3. Quality of equipment used for training (age, condition & service
history).
4. Recommendations / testimonials from other local divers on the instructor,
especially those who have taken courses with the instructor.
5. Quality of the course materials.

The SSI courses are as good as any other courses IMHO, and all should
provide a similar level of basic instruction at similar levels.   There is
also another training agency, called SDI, who are a part of TDI (Technical
Diving International).

Personally I don't think that until a diver has achieved at least the
equivalent of Advanced Open Water, with some rescue skills  they should be
diving with a dive leader or DM.

(BTW, I have never taken a PADI, SSI, NAUI, SDI or YMCA course.  My training
is from the BSAC, SAA, TDI & IANTD, the first two of which are club based
training not using professional instructors), however I have friends who are
PADI, SSI, SDI & NAUI instructors.

Nope.

Not really.

SSI is a fine place to get certed, the instructor is more important than
the org.

You can usually locate an appropriate certifying org near you using
their websites:
http://www.ssiusa.com/
http://www.naui.org/index-side.html
http://www.ymcascuba.org
http://padi.com/

FWIW, I carry a NASDS card (which merged with SSI some years back) and
have no problems at all getting gear, trips, or air either here in the
states or elsewhere as long as I present my VISA card, which seems to be
the more important card to hold.

SSI is recognized all over the world.

Lee

NAUI is still around.  My instructor in Canada is both PADI and NAUI
certified and he chose to teach the NAUI program more since he claims that
it is more in depth.  I ended up getting NAUI Master and Rescue Diver cards
and have been diving at lots of resorts around the world that are primarily
PADI shops without any problems at all.

Clint

Free Spirit Gallery
http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca
Exquisite Inuit (Eskimo) & Native American Art

Is