Got C - Card - but...

[Divedoggie]

I've never seen anyone argue that point.

Perhaps a more accurate statement would be that some people on this board would argue that the Instructor is inadequate, due to the low standards and minimal training afforded by the agency. The Instructor is ignorant due to his blind following of said doctrine.
Therefor, the statement that the 'Instructor makes the difference', cannot be accurate until all other possibilities are explored by said Instructor.

This "blind following" could be interpreted as "being a slave to the inadequate standards of the agency."

Ignorance is bliss, but it lurks like the leopard, ready to pounce at the most opportune time.

Assuming that the student is motivated...
The argument of my previous post is that when all things are equal, the individual teaching, communicating, and people skills of the Instructor, and his or her willingness to go the extra mile, will make the difference.

All of this still doesn't change the fact that dive ops all over the world will equally recognize the NAUI card and the YMCA card for open water recreational diving.
But, if the original poster expected a NAUI card, he probably should get a NAUI card.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Take an Advanced Course with a NAUI instructor and you'll get a NAUI card. The fact that your Open Water instructor signed you off with a different agency than which you expected is troublesome. Though, the Y-card is fine for any recreational diving that you'd normally encounter.

As as to which Open Water card is better - each is no better than another for real world needs. The knowledge gained and dives made with your instructor makes the difference.; but, there are differences in the Open Water standards of each agency.

 

[porsche060]

Basically what the person said is that I needed extra work (which I did as I joined late) and the person who did the extra work was a YMCA certified scuba instructor. Hence I got certified under him instead of via NAUI. To be fair the guy who was the YMCA instructor was much better than the NAUI certified instructor. He made sure we did every skill perfectly. He was a great instructor. The other guy was lax(not showing up how to clear our mask,air signs etc), hence my slow start.

I'm still a little upset. When I signed up they showed me a NAUI card that I would get at the end of the course. I was planning to go on one of their trips but not sure now. I will take someone suggestion and go for NAUI advanced. Someone on this recommended a NAUI instructor a little bit out but near me. I want to go for Naui Advanced anyway, but after shelling out so much ($600) for training & dives I did expect to get the card I wanted. As I said, I had cheaper options if I wasn't going to go NAUI.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Man, I was thinking about the whole "they issued the wrong card" thing today while cleaning out some extra stuff in my wallet.....when something caught my eye.

So...I guess I'm now a Universtiy of Central Florida student. I'm kind of upset, because I was paying to go to the University of Central Florida.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I'm still a little upset. When I signed up they showed me a NAUI card that I would get at the end of the course. I was planning to go on one of their trips but not sure now. I will take someone suggestion and go for NAUI advanced. Someone on this recommended a NAUI instructor a little bit out but near me. I want to go for Naui Advanced anyway, but after shelling out so much ($600) for training & dives I did expect to get the card I wanted. As I said, I had cheaper options if I wasn't going to go NAUI.

Not sure how much the dives cost but $600 they should have done an advanced course and nitrox also for that much.
My courses where
OW $300 +$15 for first 2 dives +$20 for second 2 = $335
AOW $150 +20 for first 2 dives +$20 for last 3 dives = $190
Nitrox $100
Total $625
Getting away from the surface world = Priceless (Ok couldn't resist sorry)

 

[gangrel441]

Porsche -

As others here have said, the Y certification is recognized just as widely, if not more so, than the NAUI cert. Considering what you mentioned about the instructor giving you extra attention (and conforming to the higher standards set by YMCA), I would say you got a bargain, paying for a NAUI cert and getting a Y cert instead. You didn't get less than you paid for, you got more! I would have been concerned that they gave you the Y cert without making you earn it, but it sounds like that is not the case.

Just so you know, I have no training personally through Y, but I have had a mentor recommend highly that I seek continuing training through them because of the standards they maintain. Just my $0.02...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Now that is funny dude! Will you invite me to the ceremony when they grajitute you. I'd like to see the diplomat they persents you with!

But for the original poster, as others have said there is nothing wrong with the YMCA card. If you had a YMCA instructor as you said he could not have issued a NAUI card regardless of what the shop said. Unless he was also a NAUI instructor. I'm a PADI DM who is doing the crossover to NAUI AND YMCA. At the end of this crossover course I'll be a NAUI DM and YMCA Assistant Instructor. My NAUI Tech diving instructor is also a YMCA instructor trainer. In May I'll be doing the YMCA instructor course. Why? Because out of the three agencies I'm now familiar with YMCA has the highest standards for their instructors and students. The nice thing is along with the YMCA standards he is also throwing in some NAUI as well. Last week I had to prepare and write a lecture on dive first aid and oxygen use. This week it's diving physiology based on the YMCA physiology summary. Though there is a book my instructor is testing our knowledge of diving and all it's associated topics by assigning us topics and having us prepare the lesson for it. My PADI DM course was way less intense and did not require nearly as much. In fact though I've not done it I don't believe the PADI AI course is nearly as hard. Result is from this course and from other Y instructors who have said or written things on the board(Walter for one) it is my belief that Y instructors as a whole are better prepared, more knowledgeable, and are held to higher standards as instructors. Not that there are not others just as good with every agency but with YMCA you can't just swipe a card to get a card. And NAUI seems to be of the same mind. It's why I'll be doing a NAUI OWSI crossover after getting some experience and I want to teach NAUI tech eventually.

 

[porsche060]

Not sure how much the dives cost but $600 they should have done an advanced course and nitrox also for that much.
My courses where
OW $300 +$15 for first 2 dives +$20 for second 2 = $335
AOW $150 +20 for first 2 dives +$20 for last 3 dives = $190
Nitrox $100
Total $625
Getting away from the surface world = Priceless (Ok couldn't resist sorry)

Where do you do you AOW & Nitrox?

NYC might be a bit more expensive.
My ow dives were $100 per day plus wetsuite rental. And paying for the course, etc.

But they did have to rent a pool at the Y, whatever that costs

 

[Walter]

Basically what the person said is that I needed extra work (which I did as I joined late) and the person who did the extra work was a YMCA certified scuba instructor. Hence I got certified under him instead of via NAUI. To be fair the guy who was the YMCA instructor was much better than the NAUI certified instructor. He made sure we did every skill perfectly. He was a great instructor. The other guy was lax(not showing up how to clear our mask,air signs etc), hence my slow start.

I'm still a little upset. When I signed up they showed me a NAUI card that I would get at the end of the course. I was planning to go on one of their trips but not sure now. I will take someone suggestion and go for NAUI advanced. Someone on this recommended a NAUI instructor a little bit out but near me. I want to go for Naui Advanced anyway, but after shelling out so much ($600) for training & dives I did expect to get the card I wanted. As I said, I had cheaper options if I wasn't going to go NAUI.

That's a totally different situation than what we were originally led to believe. You switched instructors and took a trotally different class with an instructor you describe as being substantially better than the original instructor. Sounds to me like you got a better deal than you were expecting.

Why do you want NAUI Advanced? NAUI standards for AOW are higher than for eith PADI or YMCA AOW, but YMCA has another option available that has standards much higher than NAUI's AOW, that is the YMCA Silver Advanced. If you are interested in getting the best class available, you should take the YMCA Silver Advanced course with its higher standards and the instructor you described as "He was a great instructor."

 

[cgvmer]

To the OP if you think the Y instructor was better I would stay with the Y instructor for Advanced classes.

I know it was said here before, the instructor is more important than the agency