On 10/30/2018 6:07 PM,
chillier1960@gmail.com wrote:
On Friday, 25 September 1998 03:00:00 UTC-4, jujitsu wrote:
Maybe this is a dumb question. I've been out of the loop a while. I was
an active scuba diver until about the mid-80's. I used to meet as many
who were NAUI cert'ed as PADI, but not anymore. Anyone know why?
Like many have said, NAUI is a non-profit organization and as such it's harder for them to compete with PADI. Having said that I was certified by NAUI in 1986. The instructor was a former Navy dive instructor and the course was HARD - physically. We
really knew our stuff when we were finally done. I'm proud to be a NAUI diver. If NAUI is good enough for Jacques Cousteau, NASA and the Navy Seals, it's definitely good enough for me.
NAUI is most certainly alive and well. After several decades of not
diving, I returned to the sport to discover that EANX was everywhere and
to enjoy it's fantastic benefits, I would need to take a course on the
topic. The instructor for the course was was NAUI certified and the
card I received was from NAUI. That was maybe 4 - 5 years ago.
Having worked for years (way back in the '70s) as a PADI instructor, I
rubbed elbows with instructors from all persuasions, including NAUI,
NASDS, SSI and YMCA. All had strong opinions and the stronger those
opinions, the more likely they were to hold that PADI was the "whore" of
the entire certification industry. I know that NAUI folks were very
keen on their tougher regimes - I guess they felt that diving belonged
to the real men and the rest of the world should stick to snorkeling.
As I continue to dive in my 60's, I see a dwindling population of young
people taking up the sport. Since divers are among the loudest voices
for conservation and protecting the oceans, this is not a good trend.
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