The old can of worms ...

[CompuDude]

Thanks, this is really the type of info I was looking for. Anyone else with any stories about being turned away?

The debate aboute the differences between PADI and NAUI seems ... extensive.

Never heard of a NAUI card being refused. That shop in Maui will not be in business long, if that story is true and that is their actual policy. I suspect it was just some idiot clerk behind the counter who was new and didn't know any better.

Many feel NAUI's standards are more rigourous than PADI's. Most here, regardless of their stance on an individual agency, will agree that the instructor matters far more than the agency. You can get poor instruction from both, or you can get great instruction from both. It all depends on how good the teacher is.

 

[Walter]

Most here, regardless of their stance on an individual agency, will agree that the instructor matters far more than the agency.

That can be the case, but it rarely is.

 

[Bubble Junky]

I believe the skin dive portion of the PADI OW class is optional. I haven't checked the standards lately, but it was an optional component last year.

It's an optional open water 'dive', but is required in confined water.

I'm glad you go the extra mile with your students even though you are not so required.

It is required, check a PADI Instructor Manual before posting incorrect info. See below taken from PADI Instructor Manual 2006.

Performance Requirements:
As part of either Confined Water
Dive Two, Three, Four or Five, the
student diver will be able to:
1. Demonstrate proper hyperventilation
when skin diving.
2. Make a vertical dive from the
surface in water too deep to
stand up in (without excessive
splashing or arm movement).
3. Clear and breathe from a
snorkel upon ascent.

 

[Zeeman]

NAUI is one of the bigger players and even the small guys are accepted worldwide.



The skin diving in PADI's OW class is so minimal as to be, for all practical purposes, non-existent. Your statement is misleading. While some instructors may include it, it's not part of the PADI program.

No skin diving in my open water (PADI)
Z...

 

[Bubble Junky]

No skin diving in my open water (PADI)
Z...

Then your instructor broke standards !

 

[kent_1848]

That can be the case, but it rarely is.

Sadly enough I would have to agree. I have helped out instructors from NAUI, PADI, & SSI, in OW, AOW & Rescue. I have taken classes in all 3 as well. I've found that the NAUI classes are better in the sense of preparing OW students (actually AOW & rescue as well), even though I think that the best instructor was probably with SSI.

As far as my card not being accepted, I haven't had any trouble. Most places have been more interested in seeing my dive log than seeing my C-card.

 

[waterpirate]

The great debate rages on.
Anyone out there who certified Naui in 1980? With a demented former navy seal? Of the 15 or so people in my OW class more than half failed basic skills in the pool, myself included. The other half got tripped up on dive 1 or 2.

However when that class was over I feel that I was properly prepared for open water diving in the ocean to 130fsw without a computer, using tables.

Right or wrong, the ditch and don blood and guts aproach is about training competant divers. Is this still the Naui approach?

Earlier this month I was along on a dive boat with a group of divers for their, first open water dive, I was witness to quite a show and in my opinion they all should have been remanded straight back to the pool for remedial.

Todays training focuses on the warm fuzzy feeling that anyone can dive, regardless of their comfort in water or level of fitness.

Theese people the agency's are cranking out are just walking statistics, and they dont even know it.

Eric

 

[andydiver06]

Here's a quote from PADI OWSI Manual 2006

The goals of Optional Skin Dive are:
1. To develop student skin diving skills.
2. To permit students to have fun and develop confidence in their
ability to skin dive.
This dive is entirely optional for certification and may be included and sequenced
entirely at your discretion. A certified assistant may conduct this dive at your discretion.
I could never make out why you require a BCD for Skin Dive.

 

[Bubble Junky]

Here's a quote from PADI OWSI Manual 2006

The goals of Optional Skin Dive are:
1. To develop student skin diving skills.
2. To permit students to have fun and develop confidence in their
ability to skin dive.
This dive is entirely optional for certification and may be included and sequenced
entirely at your discretion. A certified assistant may conduct this dive at your discretion.
I could never make out why you require a BCD for Skin Dive.

That's from the Open Water section, where, as I already stated it is optional, however, if you look at the confined water section of the OW course guide, you will see that it is required.

 

[Walter]

It is required, check a PADI Instructor Manual before posting incorrect info. See below taken from PADI Instructor Manual 2006.

Performance Requirements:
As part of either Confined Water
Dive Two, Three, Four or Five, the
student diver will be able to:
1. Demonstrate proper hyperventilation
when skin diving.
2. Make a vertical dive from the
surface in water too deep to
stand up in (without excessive
splashing or arm movement).
3. Clear and breathe from a
snorkel upon ascent.

I didn't post incorrect info.

The skin diving in PADI's OW class is so minimal as to be, for all practical purposes, non-existent.

Yes, there are "skin diving skills" in the PADI class, but that's far from actually teaching someone to skin dive.