PADI -> NAUI question

[Fetch]

About to get my PADI OW (4 OW dives over the weekend, of
course the max depth in the river being use is 16' *ponders*) cert, and as I'm interested in NAUI/GUE/DIR (I've become something of a cyber-diver the past few days of class, since my job lets me sit in front of a browser for hours on end) I was wondering if there's any set procedure for getting a NAUI AOW cert after a PADI OW (if I had it to do all over, yes I would have just gone NAUI, and if the only cross-cert procedure is to start with NAUI OW, I'll cry, drop the money, and do it)?

Thanks

 

[The Chairman]

the quick answer is... NO you don't have to recertify as NAUI OW to pursue a NAUI AOW cert. Hey, I am crossing over to NAUI now that I am a DM! Hope to do my ITC this May (depending on how the tanks drop). It's never too late to change agencies.

 

[Rick Murchison]

With a few specific exceptions, one agency's "C" card is fine as the same "C" card for another agency. For example, if you hold a NAUI OW card and you want an SSI card, you can get it with paperwork and either one skills verification dive or a series of dives where your general diving skills have been observed by an SSI instructor - send in the money and the paperwork and they'll send you a card - and therefore, a NAUI or YMCA or PADI OW "C" card will meet the "OW" prerequisite for an SSI course - and vice-versa.
There are exceptions. For example, if you get your NAUI AOW card right on the heels of your OW cert, then you'll still have to log 24 dives before you can get an SSI Advanced card even though you have a PADI or NAUI advanced card.
Rick

 

[Fetch]

Excellent, many thanks for the answers