A month after earning OW, I had taken and passed the PADI Dive Theory course which is a prerequisite for Dive Master. I didn't want to be a dive master, I just wanted to learn as much as possible. Less than a year after Open Water, I had met the criteria to be awarded PADI Master Diver. However at that time I personally didn't feel right calling myself a Master Diver with only 50 dives and I was still working on my buoyancy. I felt that my skills should be better and that I needed more experience, so I made the decision to get 100 dives under my belt and revisit it. As I hit the 100 mark, I read about NAUI Master Diver and was intrigued.
Under PADI you just need Rescue Diver and FIVE specialties, once you have that you pay a fee and you're a Master Diver.
NAUI actually has a course for Master Diver, you have to take an e-Learning module, followed up by 4 weeks of classroom time. The coursework has an emphasis on physics as it relates to diving. Yes we have dive computers but the NAUI way is that a diver should understand how the different gas and pressure laws of physics work. The other reason is that a Master Diver should be able to explain those principles to new divers. As I mentioned earlier, I have taken PADI Dive Theory after OW, while it is very detailed it does not go into as much depth and detail as NAUI does.
Courses with PADI are set and instructors must teach what is on the curriculum. With NAUI the instructor has the option to introduce additional material or tasks that would benefit the diver. PADI doesn't teach charts/tables, I learned because I asked my instructor and she took the time and showed me, with NAUI not only was chart/table reading taught, the instructor gave us extra scenarios to work out. During the Rescue pool session, we were required to do the tow but our instructor decided to have us do the ENTIRE rescue from finding the diver to getting them out the pool. So NAUI takes that extra step and makes sure a diver is well equipped with knowledge and skill ABOVE what is required. Part of becoming a NAUI Master Diver is being Rescue certified. My instructor waived me having to take NAUI Rescue since I was PADI Rescue trained BUT I still had to go through the Rescue sessions and I'm glad of that. With PADI Rescue if you find a submerged diver you bring them to the top by slightly inflating their BCD. NAUI doesn't teach that because there's a possibility of putting too much air in the BCD and having a run a way ascent. (Speaking of ascents, PADI is 60ft/sec while NAUI is 30ft/sec.) Also NAUI taught something very important during the first aid portion, you have to dry off the victim and ensure there are no puddles of water while using an AED because of shock hazards to everyone involved.
So after the e-Learning, class and pool sessions it's time to head to the lake for OW dives. There are a total of 8 dives, 4 are required and 4 are electives, they are spread out over a 2 day weekend period. I had taken full certs for those dives previously with PADI (Deep, Nav, Night, Rescue, Search and Recovery, Wreck) so it helped me out. That being said those dives with NAUI were more detailed, for instance for the Deep/Deco dive we practiced deco stops at 30, 20 and 10 feet, while using a DSMB. PADI Deep we only did the 3 min safety stop at 15ft and no DSMB. I loved the Nav course because we had to find the starting point and then from there, there was a placard with a heading to our next point, all together we had 5 stations to navigate to.
Once again my intent is NOT to bash PADI, I'm just recording my experiences with BOTH organizations. As mentioned before, part of the issue with PADI is that they let the diver pick the dives they want to do, whereas NAUI says this is what you will do.
And the last comparison, NAUI Divemaster candidates must take the Master Diver course before they start the Divemaster program.
I am happy to say that after challenging and pushing myself, I am now a Master Diver with Both PADI and NAUI agencies. I have enjoyed my time learning, diving and meeting new divers. I can say that regardless of organization, good instructors will help you out and that divers in general are good people. Even though I have those ratings I am still working my craft and am trying to continue to get better and more proficient, in spite of the title I still see room for improvement and will strive to do so! Also, this experience has taught me that it is good to dive with different organizations to experience how they do things.
