Open Water Certification - NAUI, ACUC, or PADI?

[nereas]

...

It really is a different world out there now. They don't even allow half the things I had done to me in my training and certification now - but as far as I'm concerned - some of those techniques resulted in a lot more competent divers so I guess I'm still a tough old bird.

I know I will be going into the water with my kids to pull of their mask and turn them upside down before they go off diving - certification or not.

And panic is a really interesting and terrifying thing. I had been diving for 23 years when I had my first panic attack and it wasn't when my gauge read faulty and I ran out of air at 60 feet - thankfully on the anchor line.

...

I think you are going to find that pulling off someone else's mask is counter-productive. There is an agency in the cave realm (very amateurish cave level) that does this, mostly to scare their clients into submission.

A good diver can remove and replace his/her own mask without assistance and without having it pulled off by anyone else.

Surprising someone by pulling off their mask is going elicit either a panic response or else anger, neither of which is a good idea, especially in someone that you supposedly love.

So leave the instruction to the instructors, and don't emulate a flawed training agency.

 

[floridanewbe]

welcome aboard

 

[oddible]

When I got my NAUI certificate you had to have your bronze medallion in swimming first.

I just finished my Bronze Medallion course which is a pre-req to teaching sailing in Canada and I have to say that anyone with any level of certification for water sports should take this course. I'm surprised that this isn't in the PADI or NAUI reqs for basic OW.

 

[KLcelticdiver]

Well being a noob I may not have much say in this. But on my 2 check out dives I was teamed with a guy who was PADI certified. Luck of the draw, we needed one more body to make an even number. Some dive partner. I was with my group, swing a good interval.....my partner....uhm anybody seen the PADI guy? Oh yeah! there he is......15 feet above us doing lord knows what. Swimming at a whopping 1/2 mile a day maybe. Thank the lords my instructor noticed and switched me to a different partner.

Might have just been him, so hard to judge....but I'm going with NAUI.

 

[FrogManMike]

LOL I started diving when you didn't even need a cert imagine my suprise when I went to a local dive shop in florida to get my tanks filled when the dude who was running the shop told me sorry sir but I cant fill your tanks without a C card

My response was what the hell is a C card

well to get back to topic I PADI is probably the most accessable and good enough to get an open water cert. You can teach them the more advanced stuff in order for them to attain a more advanced cert but first things first.

if your instructors card is current you can certify them your self cant you?

 

[Arizona]

It is the instructor not the agency. This has been repeated many times on SB in similar threads. Good instructors adhere to standards but learn from others. The process of reflection and growth is essential in all teaching learning situations IMO. Don't be put off by the agency. I highly recommend going for a fun dive with a potential instructor if you can. At the very least, it is good reason to get you wet. This will quickly let a veteran such as yourself get a better idea of things.

I agree 100% with Walter regarding:

"What skin diving skills will I learn? While there is some disagreement on this point, many professionals believe a solid foundation in skin diving will not only make you a better SCUBA diver, it will make learning SCUBA easier."

Many skip through this which is very dangerous IMO. I can't imagine beginning an OW course without this. All Rescue courses I teach begin with this as well if students were not initially trained by me. Perhaps you can get in the pool with your kids and work through this before the course.