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I took my PADI advanced open water course, and I think its hilarious how they call it advanced. Its essentially a teaser to get you to do more. I think that some classes teach you something but so far it has been mostly experience, something I can admit I need more of.
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No Comment...!
That speaks volumes coming from a NAUI instructor.
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Yep. I used to be a dual agency certified instructor. I have since discontinued my affiliation with the other agency. There are good reasons why I choose to continue teaching under the NAUI system...
One of the reasons involved the answers to this very question.
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I agree as well. I had started my advanced class a couple of years ago and was one dive away from finishing due to ear problems. And then when you get into the specialties, it is the same thing - pay, do a few dives, then you get your specialty....lol. I still intend to finish my advanced, but PADI is saying I have to redo the entire thing...which I think is ridiculous - I could understand if I haven’t been diving for 2 years, but that is not the case.
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LOL. The new PADI courses are a joke in my opinion. Its all home study then show up for your pool sessions a beach dive or 2 and a boat, boom your certified. The only courses I really learned something in aside from open water was wreck, nitrox, and rescue.. Rescue was great. As for the boat diving cert, bouancy control cert, ect. These are things you should already know or be learning on your own after open water. To charge a course fee for them is criminal especially at PADI rates. I do want to get my Dive Master. I think that program has a lot to offer in terms of continued education if you get a good instructor.
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I really didn’t want this question to be about which agency was better or doing this or that. I really believe all the agencies are caving into commercialism to an extent. Diving is difficult and inherantly dangerous. We are not meant to breathe under water. Why would you say, "Here is the tank, stick this part in your mouth and, oh, don’t hold your breath. Have fun!"
I’m not advocating returning to the grueling, Navy inspired basic classes I took but I do believe instructors from ALL agencies owe their students a better education.
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NAUI is if fact "World Wide" National Association of Underwater Instructors. It is largely a non-profit education diving education organization although they to have a commercial component which develops and markets diving education support materials.
And yes, they have been around for a very long time.
http://www.naui.org/
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NAUI is that everywhere or only certain states - countries??? I have never heard of them just PADI..
NAUI is really the original scuba certification agency going back to 1959. I think YMCA is a bit older than that. PADI was an off-shoot of NAUI with several members leaving to form PADI.
Besides teaching philosophies, the big difference is that PADI is a "for profit" agency. They live to make money. NAUI on the otherhand is a "not for profit" agency who makes their money off member dues.
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I have NAUI OW, AOW, and PADI Rescue. I won’t make distinctions between the agencies... I believe the course’s effectiveness boils down to the instructor.
In answer to the OP’s original question... I don’t think the basic classes (OW and AOW) fully prepare new divers. It takes diving, practice, and more diving, to perfect the basics - buoyancy, trim, task loading, etc. 4 check-out dives doesn’t do it. I’ve seen instructors take OW students, certified one dive ago, down to the Spiegel... uh-uh...
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first off i am padi cert. o/w thru rescue and doing my dive master in a month. ok when i got my o/w cert i had both my instuctors do the class. during our pool classes i had one inst. who was at the time it seemed alil bit cold towards the students but none the less very noligable about diving. during my o/w class the other inst. was like a mother hen and equally as noligable. after me and my buddy got our cert cards we start diving at leasest 2 to 3 times a week for about a mont or two working on stuff our inst. taught us. also we started diving with both of them on a personally. we watch them and talked with them and other experianced divers just picking the brain so to speak to get better. after diving with them and talking with them and getting to know their personallities a lil better we learned that the 1st inst was a cop and public safty diver w 25 years in and the 2nd was third gen. diver in her family. so i would say that my education from my o/w class has really not stopped since that first day in the pool and will not stop til the day i die or i am unable to dive any more. continious education is the key to any good diver o/w is the start on this life long jorney of this great sport of ours. polarbear
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I was really curious from the perspective of the newly certified student if they felt comfortable with their training or if they felt the need for additional information or training.
AI’s, Divemasters and Instructors must take it upon themselves to give the best training possible. Students will take what is given them.
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