National Dive League (NDL) certification, widely recognized?

[Jonathan Barlow]

My girlfriend and I are on travel and want to try scuba diving. One shop offers a 1 day "discover" course which includes 2 open water dives. If we like it we can continue 2 more days to receive open water certification by NDL.

The other option is a padi shop which offers a similar discover course which transitions into certification as well, but it's more expensive and gives less time in open water, using a pool instead.

I like the first option much better but my only concern is that we might end up with a limited certification if we did choose to complete the full course. We will continue to travel many places and if I'm going to put the time and money into it, I prefer to have a certification that will allow us to dive unescorted anywhere we go.

What do you think?

National Dive League

 

[BabyDuck]

i've never heard of them. they look like they may be based in russia from the little i could gather on the website. does this matter? probably not, since i'm not a dive boat or dive resort or in any way connected with the dive police.

my advice might be to use them for the discover experience but padi for the actual cert unless you'll continue diving in the far east. maybe they're a big name there, and that's lovely, but places recognizing your card and not having to explain it every single time if you're here would be a bonus to me.

guys in the east - are they a big name there?

 

[toddthecat]

Definitely out of Russia. I like the link that shows an example of what their certification cards look like since no one knows who they are. I've never heard of them either. PADI is known worldwide. This NDL seems to be known by very few unless you're in Russia. I'd go with the one people know. If someone walked into my shop and said they were certified by "NDL", I'd chalk that up with the guy who sells classes online that no one recognizes...

---------- Post added July 21st, 2013 at 01:21 PM ----------

I especially love this:

"The Rating of Diveleader means that diver has complete fife NDL courses and get at fife cards (NDL Diver + NDL Universal Diver + NDL Professional Buoyancy Diver + NDL Rescue Diver + NDL MFA and CPR Specialist first level and has at least 40 logged open water dives)."

Nothing like reading "...that diver has complete fife NDL courses and get at fife cards". Classy.

 

[knotical]

NDL is one of about fifty independent scuba certifying agencies worldwide who provide initial training for recreational scuba.
See my list at: SCUBA Agency Websites (Part 1A) - Independent Agencies - Blogs - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network

Certification is a voluntary practice within the scuba industry without the force of law, (in most parts of the world). Therefore, primary concerns should be whether you will get acceptable training, and whether you will be able to dive using the certification.

I believe NDL’s training to be similar to most other agencies. They are apparently EUF certified.

But being able to dive with their certification could be a problem. If you were planning to dive mostly in those parts of the world where NDL is recognized, no problem – but it sounds like that might not be the case in your circumstance.

If I were you, I’d probably go with PADI, which is the biggest and most widely recognized of all the certifying agencies.

Another, more fun option, would be to get the NDL certification; and if you like scuba and run into difficulty, continue your training with another agency, perhaps getting your Advanced Diver cert with someone else. You’d always have a conversation piece with your unusual initial certification card.

 

[Quero]

I'm in Asia, and I can tell you that I've never heard of NDL agency. We get a lot of Russians here in Thailand, and it's actually possible that a number of them are certified through NDL, but I wouldn't know since the Russians all go to Russian-language ops and boats for their diving. I would say that unless you're Russian, you might want to pick a more mainstream agency to train with. Nha Trang has PADI and SSI shops, and these would definitely be recognized elsewhere.

 

[Jonathan Barlow]

Wow great info!

I am American but my girlfriend is Vietnamese and most likely I am going to stay permanently in Vietnam after our travel. Our desired travel locations include Southeast Asia and South America, possibly Africa. I also might end up working in Australia later (Perth probably). A trip to Hawaii is a possibility if we can ever get her a visa, but that's highly unlikely.

I will chat more with the shops today. Maybe we will just pick the best value discover dive and worry about the certification once we decide if we like it or not. The NDL shop is also capable to certify SSI, PADI, and a bunch of other agencies. I also like the people there. They seemed more professional and gave me a better feel than the strict PADI place.

Cheers!

Here's the shops if your interested:

Scubadive Vietnam

Dive Vietnam - Scuba Diving, Rainbow Divers PADI Diving, Underwater Photos - Dive Vietnam with the best!

 

[suzxiushan]

My Hubby and I had taken a leap of faith to take up our rescue course under NDL in Nha Trang. (my OWD & AOW are under PADI). Initially, like any newbie whom never heard of NDL before, i was skeptical. However, after knowing NDL is recognized under EUF which also certifies PADI and many more, we were convinced.

The instructor was very detailed and he answered every questions we had. He was very willing to share on his experiences. The training we underwent were strict and he ensured that we mastered the skills required before moving on. Was reminded as a rescue diver, we have a role to play when emergency arises thus it was no joking matter.

Personally, I felt that the teaching standards are similar or even more. It bows down to the instructor whom is conducting the lessons and the diver's passion about diving. My point is, It doesn't matter even if im PADI/SSI/SDI/NDL certified, as long as I respect safety rules and be a responsible diver, no matter where I go, im positive that every diving trip will be an experience for me.

Yes, I did encountered initial reactions in regards to my NDL certification in Malaysia. However I took the DM's comments with a pinch of salt as I was there for the underwater experience and NOT for the DM nor that dive centre. Of course, after the first day, the DM never said anything about my NDL certification and I had an amazing dive experience.

I would hope that all newly certified divers under any newly recognized certifying bodies to be confident of your own certifications. It doesn't matter which school you are from, what matters most is we get to see the beauty of the underwater world and enjoying it.

 

[drbill]

I'd go with PADI just for better name recognition. I was certified by Los Angeles County back in the 1960s, one of the finest cert courses anywhere, and I've had problems with people not recognizing the LAC cert. Fortunately when I showed my c-card to an instructor on the Great Barrier Reef not only did he recognize it, he called it a museum piece. I got a PADI AOW card from him to eliminate future recognition problems.

 

[ams511]

I am not sure why a dive op is giving you grief over the agency that gave you rescue training, usually all that is looked for is an AOL from a recognized agency. I have to agree with Bill that things will be easier if you are certified by an agency like PADI, NAUI, TDU, etc that has name recognition. There was a funny thread on the Cave Diving BBS about dive boats giving tech divers (full cave certs, trimix, deco procedures, etc.) grief because they did not have their AOL cards with them.

 

[Phil_C]

I have dived and taken certifications with a Russian diving club over a couple of years, but everything was done through CRASSA which is the main Russian umbrella diving organisation, who issue CMAS cards. During this time I have dived with a lot of Russian divers and have never seen a NDL one, all the Russian divers I've partnered either had CRASSA CMAS cards or PADI ones so I don't think NDL is very common there either.

Phil.