PADI vs NAUI

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jalder

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I know both of these organizations are first class. My question is this. I have a 25 year old son who wants to pursue a carrer in diving. He has already passed Advanced, and his next stop is Dive Master then Instructor. He wants to do what all of would like to do- go to a perfect resort in the perfect locaton and get a job. Is there an advantage of one organization over another as far as job availability. It seems to me I see PADI mentioned more often than NAUI. His advanced was through NAUI, and he has a good relationship with his mentor. I just don't want him to spend all the time required and then find out it wasn't the best choice. If anyone knows or has first hand knowledge about htis it would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
PADI offers more in the line of bulk jobs in the dive industry. Astronauts are NAUI.
 
I take it you are NAUI. Is it worth being an astronaut?
 
Either will get your son work.
But PADI is the bigger agency, you can get a job anywhere in the world as a PADI Instructor, I have.
But if your son really wants to teach the best idea is to do both, a crossover then you can teach both PADI and NAUI

I work with instructors that have the big three PADI, NAUI and SSI. That way no matter where they find themselves they can always put that hat on and teach.

I would strongly recommend doing a hotel or resort Management course, a Commercial Boat driving course, At least two First Aid courses and keep them current, a Compressor service course and Outboard Repair course.
 
I have both PADI and NAUI certifications and they are both fine, I am cruently a PADI and NAUI master diver and will begin my assistant instructor soon through NAUI, I think that they are both good and can be used anywhere
-A.J.
:blfish:
 
Divesherpa once bubbled...
PADI offers more in the line of bulk jobs in the dive industry. Astronauts are NAUI.

This is an interesting peice of trivia.
is this a fact, a requirement, or just that the instructor that certifies them all happens to be NAUI.

I have always heard a lot of good stuff about NAUI, espectialy in the advanced diving end of things.

for Jalder I would follow exactly the advice given by Sydney_Diver

get his training from his mentor, a true mentor is hard to find. and then cross over to other agencies, and do the other courses that he described.
 
I think the idea of finding a mentor is excellent advice. In addition, educate yourself in all aspects of diving, dive education and general dive knowledge. Read other agencies' manuals. Question everything. Learn to think for yourself.

As for NAUI: I think the military uses NAUI because the course can be flexible enough to accomodate any style of diving. If local conditions require that students be able to disassemble and reassemble an M16 without a mask, then you are allowed to teach that. :)

Neil
 
Most resorts are looking for an instructor period. They don't care what your agency affiliation might be. There are a few exceptions to that. A PADI Star facility will be looking for PADI Instructors because they are required to only teach PADI courses (if PADI offers the course) to keep the 5 star status. Being a 5 Star facility is pure marketing. An SSI shop requires you to be an SSI Instructor and as an SSI Instructor you must be on staff at an SSI shop. Some facilities pride themselves in offering many different courses from many different agencies. These shops might favor a smaller agency that they cannot currently offer.

Finding work is not usually a problem. Finding work that pays a living salary is more difficult.

A more important issue is finding a home philosophically. If you teach for an agency with which you agree philosophically, you'll be much happier than if you don't. The best agency is the best agency for you. That may or may not be the best agency for me.
 
Gotta agree with what most have said and add that it would be a great idea to take a close look at the industry make-up in your son's top three choices of places to work.

Some places have an abundance of NAUI shops. Other places have multiple SSI shops. YMCA is a good choice in some locales, but poorly represented elsewhere. PADI is almost everywhere though it is not the majority agency everywhere.

The best agency (for purposes of getting a job) is whatever agency a prospective employer wants him to have.

To get an idea of where a specific agency is highly represented, go to the agencies' websites and search for a shop in a specific area. To find out what agency(s) a particular shop or resort is affiliated with, call them and ask.
Code:
Examples: 
               PADI shops   NAUI shops   SSI shops    YMCA instru
Malta             27          0             2             0
Cyprus            29          8             0             0
Cayman Is         32          4             6             3
Bonaire           11          0             2             0
Bahamas           23          5             7             2
Australia         216         47            72            0
Florida           181         110           46            65
Hawaii            87          14            11            4
Palau             5           5             2             0
Kuwait            2           8             0             0
Malawi            2           0             0             0
Israel            9           14            11            0
Zimbabwe          0           0             1             0

Disclaimer! This is not intended to be an all-inclusive comparison. Many shops are listed as being affiliated with multiple agencies and were thus counted under each agency. Only the website of the given agencies were consulted. If it wasn't listed, it wasn't counted. YMCA listed individual instructors with contact details rather than affiliated shops. Your milage may vary.
 
it would be interesting to add GUE to that list
 

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