ketralis
New
The main difference that I've seen is in their teaching styles. I've been helping out providing some underwater and surface support for an OW class at the shop where I got my cert. They are primarily NAUI, but we have a few PADI instructors as well. The main difference that I have seen is in teaching styles. NAUI instructors, mind you, this is only from personal experience, tend to do a little more lecturing in the classroom setting, whereas our PADI instructors seem to have more of an open forum style of teaching. It's all about personal preference though, like everyone else has said, and no two instructors will have exactly the same teaching style. There are minor differences in the curriculum's as well, but I think the meat of the instruction is the same. The most important thing is this, find an instructor that will teach you to be a SAFE diver, as well as encouraging you to take your time and have fun. If you are military, like me, then flexibility in class scheduling is a must, I.E. 'I'm not going to be able to make it to Tuesday's class, can I make it up on Wed, etc." Find someone you are comfortable with, and if you get a bad vibe from them, go somewhere else.
Be careful, I had a bad experience with my first instructor, when it comes to diving instruction, cheap can often equal dangerous, in more sense than just one. When I first got into diving it was on vacation with my wife in Hawaii, and I became "Certified" there. I went for cheap and quick, and I got screwed. The guy who gave me my first training was not a certified instructor through any dive organization, and I didn't even know it until I stopped into Sound Dive to rent some gear for my, oh I don't know, like 20th dive. I recertified through NAUI, but all in all, I ultimately ended up paying somewhere around 650-700 dollars for a certification that should not have cost more than 300. Not only that, but I got lucky in that the guy who initially trained me, while a scam artist, still had about 30 years of diving experience and taught me skills that were useful, current, and valid, however, who knows what he may have left out. Nothing about maintenance or dive planning, nothing about Tables or gas management. Had I faced a real dive emergency... I don't even want to think about it.
Think about these things when you are choosing who you want to get certified through, if you are going to do private lessons or you know someone who is willing to teach you to dive at a lower rate than you can find at the local shops, then do your research first, make sure you know what they will cover in their course, and make sure that they are a certified instructor through a legitimate entity, the most recognized worldwide are NAUI and PADI, though there are some smaller organizations as well.
I don't want to scare you away from diving with my horror story, I simply want to share my experience so that I can prevent it from happening to someone else. In fact I strongly encourage you to get into the sport. It can be expensive to begin with, but once you have you're own gear, you can dive whenever and wherever (Tides and Weather permitting) you choose for little more than the cost of an air fill (around 7 dollars). It is one of the most relaxing and rewarding experiences I have ever had, and it never gets old as you see new things every, and I do mean EVERY time you dive.
Be careful, I had a bad experience with my first instructor, when it comes to diving instruction, cheap can often equal dangerous, in more sense than just one. When I first got into diving it was on vacation with my wife in Hawaii, and I became "Certified" there. I went for cheap and quick, and I got screwed. The guy who gave me my first training was not a certified instructor through any dive organization, and I didn't even know it until I stopped into Sound Dive to rent some gear for my, oh I don't know, like 20th dive. I recertified through NAUI, but all in all, I ultimately ended up paying somewhere around 650-700 dollars for a certification that should not have cost more than 300. Not only that, but I got lucky in that the guy who initially trained me, while a scam artist, still had about 30 years of diving experience and taught me skills that were useful, current, and valid, however, who knows what he may have left out. Nothing about maintenance or dive planning, nothing about Tables or gas management. Had I faced a real dive emergency... I don't even want to think about it.
Think about these things when you are choosing who you want to get certified through, if you are going to do private lessons or you know someone who is willing to teach you to dive at a lower rate than you can find at the local shops, then do your research first, make sure you know what they will cover in their course, and make sure that they are a certified instructor through a legitimate entity, the most recognized worldwide are NAUI and PADI, though there are some smaller organizations as well.
I don't want to scare you away from diving with my horror story, I simply want to share my experience so that I can prevent it from happening to someone else. In fact I strongly encourage you to get into the sport. It can be expensive to begin with, but once you have you're own gear, you can dive whenever and wherever (Tides and Weather permitting) you choose for little more than the cost of an air fill (around 7 dollars). It is one of the most relaxing and rewarding experiences I have ever had, and it never gets old as you see new things every, and I do mean EVERY time you dive.
