PADI vs NAUI

[Teamcasa]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

...moved to Q & A ....

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[jeffrey raffa]

It all depends on your instructor. Period end/

 

[Thalassamania]

It all depends on your instructor. Period end/

That's an interesting statement, would you care to expand on it?

 

[KJackson60]

I would like to weigh in on this if I may. I am an adult leader for a youth group and I have been involved with three groups of youth and adults who have taken the PADI OW course. We have used the same dive shop for all three groups and have been very satisfied with the results which is why we keep using them. Now to the point. All three groups had different instructors. I was involved directly with the first two groups, taking the course the first time, being a chaperon for my daughter the second time, and escorting the last group on their first dive trip after they had become certified. The instructors for each class did a good job covering the basics but, they each emphasized different skills or pieces of information. It was all presented, just differently.
The other variable was the student divers. Of the 14 youth who we have gotten certified so far 7 of them in my estimation are very good and able to dive with minimal supervision (this a youth organization, they could be Richie Kohler and adult supervision would still be required ). 3 are improving to that point very quickly and 4 require a very close watch. I don't believe the problems with the last group of 4 is do to training deficiencies but is more a condition of who they are as persons at this point in time. I also believe that they will improve with practice.
Another observation. One of the adults who accompanied the second group of youth was certified through the YMCA years ago. He was very impressed with the course material and how it was presented when he went to re-certify with our group. The current PADI course and the others too I think are stressing actual skills and information needed at this level of diving (beginner) and less of the "under water combat" (his words) that was taught when he was certified as a teenager.
Thus my opinion. It is the Instructor AND the Student who make the difference. All of the training agencies present good, basic information. It is up to the Instructor to teach it in an understandable manner and to verify that the student has a grasp on that information. It is the students job to learn that information to the best of their ability and then to apply that knowledge on a consistent basis. And it is our job as a diving community to help keep the sport safe and enjoyable for all participants, Scubaboard being just one way to accomplish that.
One other note. If the certification agencies are doing such a bad job as some of the posts make you believe why isn't the accident rate higher than it is? Why aren't the ambulance chasers sueing all of them into oblivion?


Just a thought.

 

[Thalassamania]

I would like to weigh in on this if I may. I am an adult leader for a youth group and I have been involved with three groups of youth and adults who have taken the PADI OW course. We have used the same dive shop for all three groups and have been very satisfied with the results which is why we keep using them. Now to the point. All three groups had different instructors. I was involved directly with the first two groups, taking the course the first time, being a chaperon for my daughter the second time, and escorting the last group on their first dive trip after they had become certified. The instructors for each class did a good job covering the basics but, they each emphasized different skills or pieces of information. It was all presented, just differently.
The other variable was the student divers. Of the 14 youth who we have gotten certified so far 7 of them in my estimation are very good and able to dive with minimal supervision (this a youth organization, they could be Richie Kohler and adult supervision would still be required ). 3 are improving to that point very quickly and 4 require a very close watch. I don't believe the problems with the last group of 4 is do to training deficiencies but is more a condition of who they are as persons at this point in time. I also believe that they will improve with practice.
Another observation. One of the adults who accompanied the second group of youth was certified through the YMCA years ago. He was very impressed with the course material and how it was presented when he went to re-certify with our group. The current PADI course and the others too I think are stressing actual skills and information needed at this level of diving (beginner) and less of the "under water combat" (his words) that was taught when he was certified as a teenager.
Thus my opinion. It is the Instructor AND the Student who make the difference. All of the training agencies present good, basic information. It is up to the Instructor to teach it in an understandable manner and to verify that the student has a grasp on that information. It is the students job to learn that information to the best of their ability and then to apply that knowledge on a consistent basis. And it is our job as a diving community to help keep the sport safe and enjoyable for all participants, Scubaboard being just one way to accomplish that.
One other note. If the certification agencies are doing such a bad job as some of the posts make you believe why isn't the accident rate higher than it is? Why aren't the ambulance chasers sueing all of them into oblivion?


Just a thought.

Your new here and have missed the earlier discussions. At issue is not primarily the accident rate, it is the lack of comfort that new divers have and the dropout rate that is between 80 and 90 percent. For diving, as an industry, to survive in the long run that dropout rate must be reduced and there is no sign of that happening. I can tell you that using the question of, "are you still diving 5 years after training," diver who took my 100 hour course whould have a drop out rate of less than 10%, quite the opposite of those who took a shop based 20 hour course. Somewhere between those two extremes lies a level of training that will optimize the health of the industry.

 

[KJackson60]

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. I thought this was a comparison of the different training agencies curriculum. As far as diver retention I will venture a couple of guesses on that. This is a somewhat expensive (read equipment intensive) sport/hobby with limited access to easy yet interesting dive sites for the vast majority of people. I understand your point about a more involved training course and certainly someone who is motivated enough to take one is more likely to stay involved with diving. Have you asked people who have completed their training through Rescue Diver Training the same question? I think that all the courses required to get to that point would total close to 100 hours. What is the retention rate from that point? I think it would be interesting to see. Also I think there are a LOT of people who learn to dive for that one Caribbean vacation or that trip to see the Great Barrier Reef and then move on thinking that they have been there, done that.
There is also the question of how does the retention rate for Scuba Diving compare to other leisure activities such as gymn memberships, running marathons, etc. Activities like SCUBA that demand a high degree of commitment to achieve excellence.
I don't claim to have any answers. But I think these are questions that should be asked if they have not been already.
Thanks for replying to my post.

 

[Vita.Vivente]

Skills taught are almost identical.
PADI has a semi-structured order that skills have to be tested, some skills are flexible as to when. NAUI recommends, but has no requirement for when a skill is tested.
NAUI requires a skin dive, PADI does not.
Both agencies require 4 scuba dives.
PADI Instructors have to certify when all the skills have been tested and completed.
NAUI Instructors can hold back a certification if they feel that the student is not competent, even if all skills are complete.

Both cards are recognized worldwide.

Back in the old days a NAUI Instructor Program was one of the more difficult. Such was the case for my NAUI ITC vs. my PADI IDC. I don’t know if that is the case any longer or not. It literally is the Instructor you choose these days, not the agency.

I was originally certified by NAUI in 1974 when they were the only game in town. At the time, diving was still considered a very risky business and my instructor (an ex-Navy SEAL) taught our small class as if we were heading into a war zone. On many occasions over the years I have been thankful for his rigorous training as it's kept me out of trouble more than once!

However had that attitude persisted, diving would not have developed into the global sport enjoyed by so many people today. PADI was much more market oriented than NAUI and developed training programs that were/are effective, safe and every bit the technical equal of the NAUI courses, while also making them fun and not nearly as brutal.

I have NAUI and PADI certifications and enjoyed all of it and found it all useful and fun.

 

[Walter]

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. I thought this was a comparison of the different training agencies curriculum.

This is the question. OTOH, you didn't address it. You talked about how satisified you are with the PADI program you've used. You did not address the original question at all, then you tossed out a question of your own that is also totally unrelated to the original question. Thalassamania responded to the question you asked.

 

[scubadada]

This X vs. Y vs. PADI training discussion has become so tiresome. I fully believe the quality of the program is highly dependent on the instuctor and the setting (accelerated vs. relaxed). I trained in 1970 in the LA Co Underwater Unit system and had wonderful training and became a competent diver. I was recertified with my 12 year old sun in the PADI system in 1997 and had a very good course. I have subsequently gone on to further PADI training and have been satistified with the quality of the education. There you go.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Walter]

There you go.

There you go, one more opinion.

This X vs. Y vs. PADI training discussion has become so tiresome.

If it's tiresome, why do you read the thread and post in it?