Yep, Another Old Diver Got the Bug Again,,,,

[Machrihanish]

I'll bet you've never heard this one before,,,
I got certed a few hundred years ago, now cruising in Mexico and I want to dive again.
The organization I got my cert under is long defunked, got to re-cert, states and south pacific, who would be the best to get the cert card from?

Mach

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I would be more concered with the instructor than the agency. Most of the big US agencies (I am not using names on purpose) have relaxed their standards for OW to open diving up to almost anyone with a very low threshold for passing. Within each agency you will find instructors that churn out students meeting the only minimum as fast as possible and instructors that love teaching diving and spend the extra time to make sure students are ready and honestly asses their skills. If you are concerned about the quality of your instruction, then interview the instructor or his/her students.

 

[mudhole]

I'll bet you've never heard this one before,,,
I got certed a few hundred years ago, now cruising in Mexico and I want to dive again.
The organization I got my cert under is long defunked, got to re-cert, states and south pacific, who would be the best to get the cert card from?
Mach

I'm a late starter compared to you. . . I've only been at this since the late sixties, I started with a two hose regulator that was better than the single hose I replaced it with, and have upgraded regulators five times in the last 30+ years. The new gear can be much better than we started with, along with that, you've got to retrain with the new gear and new techniques.

Take a class from any of the recognized alphabet of names of organizations. YMCA is still around after all these years, NASDS is part of SSI, NAUI, PADI and then the non-USA organizations. These courses are much shorter than we trained with in the past, and more people pass, then drop out than in the old days. But train with a good diver, and you're likely to become a good diver. Train with a poor diver, and you'll likely give it up. How to tell? Talk to divers you can respect. Ask how often he dives, and what he does underwater. A dive instructor that only dives with classes, won't be as good a diver, as one who dives a lot for fun.

 

[Teamcasa]

I'll bet you've never heard this one before,,,
I got certed a few hundred years ago, now cruising in Mexico and I want to dive again.
The organization I got my cert under is long defunked, got to re-cert, states and south pacific, who would be the best to get the cert card from?

Mach

This is a good place to start. Find a local forum closest to where you live. Assuming you live in the United States Ask there for a good instructor, do a little research about the recommendation and you should do fine. Visit the shop they are affiliated with and talk to the local divers. Don’t get hung up on the agency.

 

[Machrihanish]

Ok, what the question refers too is like SSI NAUI and PADI.
My concern is about getting a card that's recognized almost world wide so as too be able to fill my tanks.
I still remeber the dive times and stuff like that, we're on a sailboat taking a two year tour of the south pacific, the tanks are for diving the boat and doing cleaning and zink replacement and to clear a fouled prop.
I have a new 80cbft tank, a long hose system so the tank stays on board.
The long hose was assembled, calibbrated, and tested by Aqua-Tech in the states.
No deep dives, just service work to the hull.
Is NAUI still around?
They certed me but my card got lost when I was in the service.
Mike

 

[Teamcasa]

NAUI is still viable and their cards are accecpted worldwide.

NAUI Worldwide :: Information for Serious Divers

 

[SlowRain]

The "big three" in the US are SSI, PADI, and NAUI. All three are recognized worldwide agencies. Having said that, I have dove outside the US and while most of my certifications are SSI, I have TDI and IANTD certifications for nitrox/trimix and have never had a problem with recognition of agency.

Also, if you were certified and can remember the dates, even approximate, they should be able to find a record of your certification. If you have the instructor's name and shop name that will make it faster. As far as I know the only agency that has had a problem confirming old certifications was NASDS when they had a fire, but SSI has absorbed them, and if you have some proof of training records (training dive logs, etc) they will honor the certification. You could then take an update class which will save you some $$.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

I'd recommend PADI, they seem to be the largest so you shouldn't have to worry too much about them going under and needing to re-certify. My friend went with SSI and lost his card, it was a big production to get a new one where as PADI just has a form you fill out online.

Do you still have any proof of certification? If so you might be able to take a refresher course instead of redoing the whole o/w cert. Unless of course you don't remember anything, in that case you'll want to re-do the whole course.