Another Diver Thread

[John Doe]

Anyone know if there's a difference between PADI and Naui? Is one better than the other?

[Slomo]

They are different in the sense that their teaching method are slightly different but both basically try to achieve the same thing - teach you to dive safely. As to which is better there are literally 1000's of posts in different forums arguing the advantages of one over the other - and even if you read them all you would'nt find a definite answer. I personally think it's more important how competent your instructor is than what organization he belongs to.
PADI has one advantage that it is by far the biggest certification agency which usually makes it affordable and easy (do the theory and pool stuff at home and then get final certification on your first diving holiday). So for recreational diving PADI seems to be a very popular choice - and after the first couple of certification it is also a lot easier to decide what you want from diving and what agency is more suitable for you.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

It's more about the instructor than the agency, really.

I haven't seen much difference between the two, other than if you ask the wrong instructor about the other agency you'll get a bunch of BS back denigrating them.

Case in point, the shop I work out of in Dallas (I'm a PADI Assistant Instructor) is split agency - we certify both NAUI and PADI. The guy who runs the NAUI side is pretty much a dick and thinks that PADI = crap in diving, and that NAUI is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Meanwhile, he got bent doing a deep dive at the missile silo outside of Abilene because he came up too quick :lol But it was just an 'equipment malfunction', not because he had his head up his ass and stayed down too long, ran out of air, and had to make an emergency ascent ;)

The point being, find a great instructor first, worry about the ABCs of the certifying agency second.

Now, there are some marginally tangible benefits in the fact more shops (about 80% worldwide) are PADI than anything else, and as such if you want to do any kind of continuing education, like learning nitrox or any other specialties, you are more likely to find a shop teaching any of those specialties with a PADI sticker on the front window than a NAUI one.

NAUI's been a little more cutting edge on dive research. For instance, now they recommend you do a one minute safety stop at half your max depth for the dive instead of just off-gassing at 15 feet for 3 minutes. The idea is that the nitrogen bubbles go back into solution faster at this depth, decreasing the likelihood of the bends.

PADI won't acknowledge that idea because of where it originated from, despite it being a great idea. The math is solid and you can never be too safe. I know several PADI instructors (myself included) who incorporate this idea into our teachings, despite it not being part of PADI's rules.

I do think that PADI has whored itself out more for the almighty dollar. The standards are largely a joke IMO. I mean, how many people really get all the experience they need to go out and do a 100 ft. dive in the ocean by doing a 4 hour classroom session and one pool dive on a weekend? That's just bullshit to me.

And then there's no refresher course required, it's a 'lifetime certification' (this goes for NAUI as well). So some fat ass can go, get certified, then never dive again until 15 years later and expect some divemaster, boat hand, instructor, etc., to look after him like a little kid to make sure he doesn't kill himself after not diving for all that time and forgetting everything.

Due to our litigous society, however, a lot more dive operations (the good ones anyway) are starting to ask for dive logs and # of dives before they'll take people out to dive. It's a good start, but there's still lots of folks who turn the other cheek when the wallet comes out, and then end up having to save some dumbass weekend warrior from drowning because he forgot to check his air gauges all dive [/rant].

Bottom line though, ask around, find a quality instructor, and resist the urge to cram it all in one weekend. There's no substitute for experience when it comes to diving, especially when you find yourself 40 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico tangled in fishing line 80 feet down with 700 pounds of air left in your tank ;)

That's just my .02 though....

[Vashner]

Yea I don't like PADI's new system. Designed to get more $$$ out of you. They added a couple stupid layers "discovery diver".. etc. They are also heavy on the junkmail.