Rescue Class Bad Experience Because Of Agency

[Steve_C]

When I did my PADI DM I read the materials for SDI also since I find sometimes one has better materials and sometimes the other. Both under the professional ethics stressed being positive about what you do well and not to criticize the other agencies.

 

[wbatten1]

You must be 15 years of age and hold a NAUI Scuba Diver (or equivalent) certification in order to take the NAUI Rescue Diver course. Some places will also require CPR and First Aid certifications while others will teach it as part of the class. A shop can mandate that you must first take their Master Diver course, but it is not required by NAUI.


NAUI, PADI, SSI, SDI/TDI, ..., are just acronyms. Every organization is tasked with the same mission: Teach people how to safely dive. Some organizations have a better reputation than others, but every organization has quality instruction. The key is finding an instructor that is knowledgeable, cares about students, and fits your personality.


I chose to become a NAUI instructor because of their philosophy on diving and teaching. I like having the teaching flexibility provided through NAUI, and I believe in their "loved one" concept. That being said, I've taken (and continue to take) classes from all of the agencies I've listed. Learning from other organizations provides me with tools to improve my own diving and teaching abilities.


The scuba industry is no different than any other industry; they all have a few bad apples that slip through the system. I've met some incredible instructors from every agency, and I've met some instructors I wouldn't trust near a puddle of water. I hope your encounter with one of the few bad NAUI instructors does not turn you away from the agency. NAUI is about diving safety through education, not promotion through negativity.

 

[Garth]

From my perspective I would just like to get the skills, philosophy of safe diving, and the supervision of a professional when taking a course. I could give a rats butt what agency it is.

PADI gets somewhat of a bad rap at times and that can translate into a little bashing at times. I don't tend to bash any agency because I can respect the fact that they are present and providing instruction.

I think it's a little ridiculous to pay for a gazillion dollars worth of "slates" to teach students how to dive but if that's how they sustain their business have at it.

I'm not an instructor.

My question to you would be... When he was describing what you would have learned if you were in NAUI, did you find yourself not knowing something? Did you learn something new? Did it feel like it was more thorough?

(I don't know much about NAUI)


Thanks
Garth


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[Diver0001]

I think it's a little ridiculous to pay for a gazillion dollars worth of "slates" to teach students how to dive but if that's how they sustain their business have at it.

When I first became an OW instructor I checked the slates before every module. I don't remember if I bought them or if they came in the crew pack, but it took me quite a few iterations of teaching OW before I had completely automated which skills go in which module and I was sure I wasn't forgetting any details.

I still have it all written down on a wetnotes. My memory is good, but the written word never forgets

R..

 

[Jim Lapenta]

One of the benefits of teaching for an agency where the instructor decides the order of skills is not needing a pile of slates. One page in the wetnotes to check off that it's done. Order is not as important as what is best for the student in the instructors judgment. His/her name is on the card. The student is a reflection of them. Not the agency.

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[They call me Tater]

Sounds like you got the good kind.

I did, and I'm sure not everyone does, but the real point is that I don't accept all of the generalizations. I knew that like a college degree or drivers license, getting certified only means you can practice without an instructor present. I view that as personal responsibility not an agency issue.


BTW hope to dive with you some day!

 

[drbill]

I don't think your bad experience was due to the agency itself. As many have said, it is often not the agency but the instructor. Based on the OP's description, this instructor was acting inappropriately. While I do think PADI courses are too watered down (I was LAC certified back in the 60s), I have had two excellent PADI instructorts from whom I got two PADI certs (AOW and Rescue) so the young PADI whippersnappers who made me do checkout dives before I could dive for real would lighten up. Heck, I'd been diving longer than they'd been alive.

 

[Oldbear]

My diving education has taken me all over the world with three difference agencies, PADI, GUI and BSAC (some don't consider BSAC an agency, but for this topic they offered training). Some courses lasted a single day, a few days or even others multiple months. While I never really focused on the training agency, I always judged my courses on the criteria of how well the course was taught to the advertised curriculum, how well the instructors did teaching the curriculum and how well I, the student, absorbed the curriculum. I have had bad courses, good courses, great courses and even one dud of a course, but I have always learned something new and that is why I keep taking courses.

Back to the OPs experience, I would not hold NAUI responsible for the unprofessional actions of an instructor. To me this is a direct reflection upon the instructor, not NAUI. I don't know how much, if NAUI will suffer or how much, if any, any other agency will gain by this instructor's negative comments. Who I feel are at a loss are the OP (student) and the shop owner (if they truly had no idea that this was going on).

 

[Phil_C]

I agree this seems to have been an instructor issue, and could have been experienced from any of the agencies. NAUI was just the unfortunate recipient this time.

I have also done courses through different agencies, CMAS, PADI and BSAC - and am currently looking at a local TDI instructor for another course. For me what matters is how good the instructor is, whether they can teach what I want to learn, and more importantly how close and convenient are their courses and availability. That's what makes the choices for me.

P

 

[iluvtheocean]

After taking all PADI classes, I decided to take the Rescue class at a shop where I buy most of my stuff. They are affiliated with NAUI. What I got instead of my first nights class was every negative acronym for PADI, the corporate history of PADI and the ways PADI is inferior to NAUI. Pretty much every sentence started with "if you had taken a NAUI class you would have learned". Then he went on to give me his diatribe on how I would need to go back and take the NAUI Master Diver class. He pointed out that even though the NAUI poster in his room showed Master Diver coming after Rescue that was not the order they are actually taught.

I contacted the shop owner who was most apologetic and refunded my money. In 9 classes I have taken a PADI instructor has never said a negative thing about any other agency. I realize this guy was just being a jerk. Has anyone experienced any of this crossing agencies? I have already signed up for PADI Rescue class next month.

There isn't a need to contact NAUI on this --- the O/P did the correct thing and contacted the shop owner directly who handled the customer side of it it properly... especially since he's a regular customer.... I suspect that the owner has given the instructor a proper talking to about his/her attitude/professionalism and/or let them go...

repeat business is how you stay in business