Historical Question for Veteran Divers- NASDS Certification Levels

[boulderjohn]

I am pretty sure that the NASDS OW card is their version of AOW. I believe they were bought by SSI which is now Mares. I don't know if agencies now will accept it as AOW as it may be considered comparable to the PADI "scuba diver" and the PADI OW diver. I could be wrong though.

It would actually be more accurate to say that NASDS is now called SSI.

The two agencies merged some years ago, with the owner of NASDS (Doug McNeese) becoming part of the SSI management. He then bought out the others. So the owner of SSI, Doug McNeese, was the owner of NASDS previously, and he has brought most of the NASDS policies into SSI. Even if the NASDS records of your particular certification may be lost, SSI will be thoroughly familiar with their meaning and will be able to explain them to you.

 

[roleanother1]

I've just returned to diving after a very, very long hiatus. I have a question for the real veterans out there who have been around since the 70s, as to how NASDS used to classify certifications....

I was originally certified in (!) 1976 with NASDS as a teenager. I well remember doing both the OW as well as the AOW courses, but my original logs are long lost. Looking at my C card, which hasn't yet crumbled away to dust, the card clearly says "OPEN WATER CERTIFICATION", but says underneath "This card is to certify that the diver named has completed an Advanced Training Program under the sanction of the National Association of Skin Diving Schools". The card has my name, the LDS's name, and the Instructors name on the front. On the back is a series of specialties listed, with my Instructor having dated and signed me off as completing "Life Saving", "Air Consumption", "Navigation", "Night", "Deep", "Dirty Water" and "Emergency Ascent" specialty dives.

Was it standard at the time for NASDS to call the ADVANCED OW course "Open Water Certification", (or using the same card for both OW and AOW), conferring the AOW cert by signing off certain specialties, and not give a separate AOW card as PADI does now?

BTW, I'm now PADI certified, having started from absolute zero last winter after so much time away. I have a few specialties done, Rescue and other specialties next year, and plan to go on to at least DM, so I plan to stay very active. Next dives are in three weeks in St Thomas with Blue Island Divers - woo-hoo.

what you described above sounds exactly what i went thru back in 1973. absolutely the most exciting times i ever spent! unfortunately, due to copd and various other reasons, i no longer dive. but i really miss it! i have had the pleasure of diving in bimini, cozumel, hawaii, empire mica, but the most fun, oh sh*t!, & omg, was all the cave diving i used to do. n. fla. has the best ( or used to) . little river was my favorite, even with the planted tombstone plaque. we probably broke every rule in the book, ( no "back-up" anything, sometimes no rope- relied on the permanent ones already in caves. you havent had an oh sh*t ! moment til you discover your twin 42's wont squeeze thru peacock slough and have to back your way out. hard to believe i'm still alive, did some really dumb sh*t stuff as a teenager. i really miss it though,

 

[drbill]

Although I had dived much earlier, I was finally certified by Los Angeles County in 1969. Here in SoCal people knew and acknowledged my LAC certification. When I started traveling internationally to dive two decades ago, I found many current instructors (even some from Los Angeles) had no clue what an LAC c-card meant and required a check-out dive. You may encounter similar problems with your old card, but it sounds like you have an avenue via SSI to get something more current to show. I finally got PADI AOW and Rescue cards (both covered by my original LAC certification) so shops wouldn't continue to question me and waste time on a check-out dive.

 

[Akimbo]

A friend gave me a NASDS card in the early 1970s so I wouldn't get hassled buying an air fill. I understand that most/all of the NASDS records were lost in a fire. I contacted SSI and explained my NASDS card had cracked and was told I could scan it and E-mail it to them and they would issue an SSI card as a replacement.

 

[videofly]

My 1974 NASDS card is long gone, but getting it as a college course meant that there were many lessons and I know we did many more drills and routines than I did in my more recent PADI course, but with a lot less equipment.

 

[amtaguirre]

I was certified by NASDS in 74 and my recollection was as you described. I changed my certification to PADI in the mid 80's and was automatically converted to a Advanced Open Water Diver. I was then certified as a rescue diver and now I am a advanced Rebreather Diver. SSI will more than likely provide you with a more current card as previously mentioned. It's my opinion that certification today is so easy and that the quality of diver is not what it once was. I see it all the time, newly certified divers and they are so lost about everything. I think that the way we learned may be a bit much but the way they learn now isn't enough. Congratulations for getting back into it. A lot has changed with equipment and the ocean but for me the desire to always be in the water remains.