NAUI is the world's most respected and largest non-profit diver certifying organization in the world. Established in 1959 and organized solely to support and promote Dive Safety Through Education, NAUI continues as the recognized leader in innovative education.Several divers have asked why our shop dropped the PADI Five Star IDC Center and accepted NAUI. I want to explain in brief with a couple of reasons. First, let me say that we are still a PADI center, only now as a Retail Center. PADI requires that a shop maintain only PADI training in order to maintain a Five Star Center.
Second, I discovered that the State of California Parks and Recreation trains only NAUI; law enforcement officers are trained NAUI; NASA prefers NAUI above all others; California State University Davis and other upper educational systems prefer NAUI. So it made great business sense to offer our customers, both individuals and organizations alike the best training possible with the least amount of difficulty.
Further, NAUI open water training materials include not just a book or just a CD, but both with highlighted sections in the book for students to pay particular attention to. Instructors are given great leeway in how to present the material to their students. NAUI allows instructors to teach specialties right from the start if they are qualified in the particular specialty–no additional fees are required.
Teaching scuba is an art. It takes a special breed of person. Any agency will make you an instructor if you meet their minimum requirements. However, it takes heart, drive, ambition, attitude, and a will to succeed and push harder than just minimum standards in order to be proficient as a scuba instructor or dive facility.
With these reasons we have decided to accept NAUI as our primary training agency and not put another dollar in to something that has little return or interest in our success or the success of our customers. We are still the same people, with the same training concerns, and with your safety in mind.
For more information about NAUI, please visit http://www.nauiww.org
