carey@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (10/11/85)
Here is a question that has been asked many times here, I'm sure, but
I have only recently begun to read this notesfile so I will ask
anyway:
what are the basic differences, advantages and disadvantages, between
the different certification courses?
The ones I have heard of are NAUI, PADI. Are there others?
--John Carey
carey@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU
{ihnp4,convex,pur-ee}!uiucdcs!carey carey%uiuc@csnet-relay.arparjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (10/16/85)
> what are the basic differences, advantages and disadvantages, between > the different certification courses? > The ones I have heard of are NAUI, PADI. Are there others? > --John Carey There are indeed others. There are five organizations I know of which certify divers on at least a national scale in the United States. The material taught really varies little from one organization to another. The chief difference between certifying organizations is their degree of involvement with dive shop operators (retailers). But the individual instructor has much more ability to affect the nature of the certification course than does the certifying organi- zation. In chronological order, these five organizations are: YMCA (Young Mens' Christian Association) - began certifying divers and instructors in 1959. The organization itself has no involvement with retailers although individual instructors may (often do) have preferences and recommendations. Many locations have the basic course and quite a few others have more advanced courses, including instructor training. There are also a number of specialty courses. YMCA is particularly known for its SLAM (SCUBA Lifesaving Accident Management) course. YMCA is active in something like 100 countries worldwide, has about 2000 SCUBA instructors and trains at least 30000 divers each year. NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) - formed in 1960. Somewhere in the middle in its support of retailers (read on to see what I mean). Has courses at all levels from basic to instructor plus a number of specialty courses. I think NAUI is really only active in the United States, but this certification is recognized all over. NASDS (National Association of SCUBA Diving Schools) - when it was formed in 1962, the letters stood for "National Association of Skin Diving Stores". This is perhaps the most retailing-oriented organization there is. They offer only basic and "advanced" courses, do not cross-certify, and they restrict their instructors to teaching only at NASDS store-schools. PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) - originated in the midwest in 1966, PADI is now in over 50 countries worldwide and certifies in excess of 100000 divers every year. They have only slightly more in- volvement with retailers than does NAUI (in my opinion) which is due to the introduction of the PADIcard. They have several levels of courses plus something like 40 specialty courses, I think. SSI (SCUBA Schools International) - formed in 1970. While they were never called "SCUBA Stores International" they might as well be called that. Like NASDS, they operate on the school-store principle. Unlike NASDS, they do not place restrictions on their instructors in terms of where they may teach. They have no basic course, which means open water is their first level of certification. It also means that students will probably buy lots of equipment from their school-store by the time they finally get certified. There is also an international organization known as CMAS (headquartered in France) which is gaining recognition as some sort of "standard" certifying organization around the world. I think YMCA, NAUI, and PADI offer cross- certification with CMAS. PADI and NAUI are like the VHS and Beta of the SCUBA certifying organizations in that they are ubiquitous and redundant. If you have one certification, you don't need the other, although it's like having one VCR: you can only make use of that one format and not the other. YMCA is like the university of these organizations in that their approach is more "academic" and they've been at it a bit longer. As long as you don't get a drill sergeant, the quality of teaching tends to be the same across these three organizations. I have no positive comments on SSI or NASDS. If you're trying to choose between PADI and NAUI, I'd say, "flip a coin." Or check out the relative popularity of these two in your local area, if that's what you want to do. I think being cross-certified at least once can come in very handy. I like YMCA for that purpose. Also, YMCA may be somewhat less expensive than PADI or NAUI. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe
hogg@utcsri.UUCP (John Hogg) (10/18/85)
In article <563@riccb.UUCP> rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) writes: >I think NAUI is really only active in the United States, >but this certification is recognized all over. As a matter of fact, an autonomous organization, NAUI Canada, exists north of the border; there may be others in other countries. (It's been a while.) The U of T course associated with the university club (the Hart House Underwater Club) is NAUI Basic Certification, and runs 68 hours, about half theory and half practical. This is more than is really needed, even for northern diving, but produces graduates who are quite comfortable in the water. I second Roger's comments about certification agencies, except that I question his suggestion that multiple certifications ("cross-certification") are useful. My NAUI card has been accepted with never a blink in Ontario, the US and the Bahamas. Do they get twitchy somewhere else? -- John Hogg Computer Systems Research Institute, UofT {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsri!hogg