advanced open water with padi or naui

[Ayisha]

I did AOW with PADI. My daughter did the equivalent with NAUI, but I was able to observe what she was taught. It definitely is the instructor, and I learned more by watching her instructor than I did working with mine.

You learned more from watching your daughter's NAUI instructor than from your PADI instructor, but with 2 different agencies, how do you know if that was an agency or instructor difference?

 

[Jcp2]

The structure of the course was similar, with similar types of dives, but the NAUI instructor was very specific on what to do and worked very specially on technical things like kicks, trim, hand control, and put a lot of time into what my daughter needed specifically for her to improve. I have the manuals for both and I don’t think they are really that different in the reading.

 

[drk5036]

I can say, without a doubt, I learned significantly more in my first couple weeks reading scubaboard, than I did in my AOW course. It definitely is all about the instructor, whether you get something out of it or not. For me? It was just about getting the cert so I could do all the dives on my upcoming liveaboard with nitrox.

I'm not proud of this, but it's the truth. I've become a much better diver since that time.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

For me? It was just about getting the cert so I could do all the dives on my upcoming liveaboard with nitrox.

I'm not proud of this, but it's the truth. I've become a much better diver since that time.

Nothing wrong with honesty. That's why many people take AOW: to avoid being stuck at 60 feet with some dive ops (but obviously not all). It is sad that you didn't learn much, but not surprising.

 

[Ayisha]

The structure of the course was similar, with similar types of dives, but the NAUI instructor was very specific on what to do and worked very specially on technical things like kicks, trim, hand control, and put a lot of time into what my daughter needed specifically for her to improve. I have the manuals for both and I don’t think they are really that different in the reading.

Hmm, we should do a poll on how many divers during their PADI AOW had their instructor:

*be very specific on technique
*worked "very specially" on kicks, trim and hand control, and
*put a lot of time into specific individual improvement
as you observed with the NAUI instructor.

I have only taken 9 PADI courses with different instructors and sat in on a few others, but what you have described does not describe any of them.

OTOH, the NAUI divers that I have seen have blown me away with their skills, especially back when AG was the Training Director. Back then, I could not tell a class of divers completing their Master Diver course apart from GUE divers on the same boat. NAUI divers that I see consistently have very solid skills.

There are some PADI instructors who produce proficient, capable students, but some agencies instructors consistently produce proficient, capable divers.

 

[Jcp2]

The thing is that this instructor also will teach for outside the context of a certified course for anybody that wants to improve their diving, as a coach/tutor.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

OTOH, the NAUI divers that I have seen have blown me away with their skills

The last NAUI instructor I dealt with when I was on the boat as captain did not think it was necessary, nor did he require his divers to have a dive computer or dive tables on a Spiegel Grove dive to 80-90 feet.

Hmm, we should do a poll on how many divers during their PADI AOW had their instructor:

*be very specific on technique
*worked "very specially" on kicks, trim and hand control, and
*put a lot of time into specific individual improvement
as you observed with the NAUI instructor.

You can put up a poll like this if you like.

 

[boulderjohn]

My niece is NAUI certified. She had a 2-hour pool session and one OW dive to 10 feet. I know that NAUI investigated an instructor at a major university that does not even get in the water with his students and decided to take no action. (Information from a former NAUI BOD member). Should I judge all of NAUI by the only two instructors I know of personally?

PADI completes about 1,000,000 certifications world-wide in a year, but Ayisha knows what all of them are like from her vast experience.

OK, Ayisha, you have just declared that I am an incompetent instructor. Please explain what you have seen in my instructional practices that makes me such a POS.

 

[rhwestfall]

It is the instructor and the willingness of the student to put in the effort that produces good or bad divers, not the agency ....

 

[tursiops]

My niece is NAUI certified. She had a 2-hour pool session and one OW dive to 10 feet. I know that NAUI investigated an instructor at a major university that does not even get in the water with his students and decided to take no action. (Information from a former NAUI BOD member). Should I judge all of NAUI by the only two instructors I know of personally?

PADI completes about 1,000,000 certifications world-wide in a year, but Ayisha knows what all of them are like from her vast experience.

OK, Ayisha, you have just declared that I am an incompetent instructor. Please explain what you have seen in my instructional practices that makes me such a POS.

Of course there are incompetent instructors, just as there are incompetent students.