Crossing Agencies

[SNS-Mike]

My brother has been PADI OW certified since 1992 and I am a newly NAUI OW certified diver. We'd like to take AOW together. Is it possible to take AOW from an agency other than the one where you received OW?

Asked another way (for clarity) - Can my PADI OW certified brother take NAUI's AOW course?

 

[jebernot]

Absolutely. As long as the original class was quality there should be no problem.

 

[Patoux01]

"Divers must be a minimum of 10 years of age, in good health and must be previously certified as a NAUI Scuba Diver or equivalent." (bold by me)
From Advanced Scuba Diver | NAUI Worldwide. Dive Safety Through Education

So it should be quite safe to say that yes it's not a problem.

You can always look at the website of the agency you want to do new training with, and if that's not sufficient you can ask the instructor / dive shop you had in mind.

 

[Scuba Scott]

There is no issue switching between agencies unless or until you decide to go pro. No reason to even use the same one twice.
Now if you are working toward something lIke dive master or instructor you will need to understand the perquisites. Also some things like PADI Master Diver require all PADI specialties.

 

[BoltSnap]

A PADI OW can certainly take the NAUI "Advanced Scuba Diver" course (it is called ASD and not AOW in NAUI) no issue. I normally do a couple of extra dives with a PADI OW student who is going to take my ASD since we teach more buddy rescue and various other skills in our NAUI "Scuba Diver" course than what PADI does in their OW course.

 

[BoltSnap]

PADI Master Diver require all PADI specialties.

The PADI Master Diver rating means absolutely nothing and there is no reason on earth to be bound to take the five PADI specialties just to get a card that says "PADI Master Diver" without additional training. NAUI's "Master Diver" rating is an actual course and doesn't require the five specialties, only Advanced rating and some experience. The NAUI Master Diver course is a challenging course to teach for the instructor and same for the student.

 

[SNS-Mike]

Thanks, all!

 

[Steve_C]

If you do decide to do a "Master Diver" perhaps just as a goal or motivator, the SDI master diver equivalent allows certs from other agencies. The PADI Diver Master does allow certs from other agencies but as pointed out the PADI Master Diver does not. You can do the certs with another agency just that they will not count toward the PADI MD.

 

[Steve_C]

The PADI Master Diver rating means absolutely nothing

It means that you have done a certain number of dives and taken a certain number of PADI certs. To a beginning diver it can be a motivation to take an extra course or two and do some more diving. Some people like to set a goal as self motivation.

 

[pepperbelly]

I was originally certified by PADI in '76.
After a long layoff from diving I got back into it a few years ago and took a refresher. A couple of years ago I decided to get my AOW so some of the dive ops wouldn't balk at me doing some of their dives. I took it through a LDS that is a NAUI shop- mjostly because the owner/head instructor and his staff of instructors and DMs are very good. The certifying agency didn't matter to me.
My original OW course was more involved and longer than the standard OW courses offered at that time. My AOW instructor agreed after I finished the course that the AOW was also just a refresher for me. I was surprised an advanced course covered less than I did in '76.

But to give a short answer- crossing agencies isn't an issue until you enter the pro levels.