I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

[CanadianTrout]

I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

..... about 25 yrs ago. I still have the large certificates (you know, the ones you can frame and hang on the wall) but have over the years misplaced the actual cards.

Due to a drastic life style change (recently seperated after 12yrs of marriage - another story) I am fully planning on getting my @rse down to beautiful FLA for some wreck diving. To much going on right now, I'll miss this summer, but next dive season for sure. I hope the 2 offers to join a treasure boat offered here in 'Shipwrecks" will still stand....

My question is how to re-aquire my actual licences? I don't supoose my large papers ones that are framed are good enough eh? I had heard somewhere many years ago that NAUI had folded or went out of business or something. But a quick Google shows current websites....

Reading LSMorgans thread entitled "Hoorah. First Dive class" got me thinking and reliving some of the training I went through. I remember putting tin foil inside my mask, throwing all my equipment to the bottom of a huge pool and jumping in. Had to swim down and get geared up without seeing. Another time we had to swim the length of the pool under water. One time on an open water dive in a lake my more experianced partner reached around me and pulled my mask off. He held my arm so I knew he was there and shoved my mask back into my hands. I guess he wanted to see what I would do. Well I put the mask back on, help the top and cleared it. When we surfaced I let him know how p!ssed off I was too!

I've also done a couple ice dives in a wetsuit all tethered up to guides standing on the surface at the edge of the hole. Different time, different stories...

 

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[Digger54]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I just got my new card from NAUI.

https://www.naui.org/SignIn.aspx

 

[Diver_Down]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

Get in touch with a NAUI shop. They should be able to track down your information with headquarters and re-issue new c-cards. You should schedule a refresher course, a lot has changed in 25 years.

 

[Reef Dawg]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

Great questions.

Send me an IM and I can answer them for you and
put you in touch with a Shop and/or Instructor in
your area.

Just for the record, I'm a NAUI Instructor #48319.

Sean (Reef Dawg)

 

[Digger54]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I remember putting tin foil inside my mask, throwing all my equipment to the bottom of a huge pool and jumping in.

In our advanced training our pool was the Pacific ocean. We had to swim down to the bottom where our tank, reg and mask were; get our air on, reg in and put the mask on and clear it. Our instructor liked to do things like put sea cucumbers in out masks to see if we were really looking under water for our gear or just feeling around.

When we took turns doing rescues I guess it looked a little too realistic when my dive buddy was dragging me up on the beach as some folks enjoying the beach came running up ready to help with CPR. They were both happy it was a drill but PO'd cuz we didn't warn anyone out there that a class was going on.

 

[FISHEYE]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I still have my naui card.dated 1973.I got a new one too and got to keep the old one thats almost broke in half.And i still have my first US divers double hose reg that i bought at the pearl harbor navy exchange for $25.00.I rebuilt it a few years ago.Just need to get new hoses for it.I have a big collection of antique dive gear,mostly all US divers stuff from all the way back to the early 50's.Most of it is still works.

 

[Au_Dreamers]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

You should schedule a refresher course, a lot has changed in 25 years.

Spoken like a true PADI "make the money" instructor working for a shop!

 

[wrecker]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

Of course you need a refresher. It's not the c-card that makes a diver. This has nothing to do with being a PADI Instructor (actually the prices for PADI- products are not different from the other agencie's - the diveshop makes the prices, no matter if NAUI, SSI, PADI...). No diveguide with the slightest bit of experience and sense of resposibility would take you on a dive together with other paying customers if you haven't been diving for 25 years. Even an experienced diver behaves like a complete novice after 5 years out of the water. Neither would you enjoy the dive nor would the other divers. You want to know how much lead you really need and be familiar with the equipment you're using on a wreckdive out at sea. Your dive buddies would want their money back if they have to abort a dive after 18 minutes because you run low on air. etc. ...
Many diveshops even do the refresher for free if you book a dive package and they should be able to put you in contact with NAUI for a replacement c-card. They might ask for copies of your wall certificates or at least for the original certification date and the # of the certifying instructor, but it shouldn't be much of a problem. Take a refresher and enjoy the wreckdiving. Good luck.

 

[Au_Dreamers]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

of course he needs a refresher, but he doesn't need a refresher course and that is why the "money driven comment" applies. I said PADI because DD is a PADI instructor and anyone that knows anything about the industry knows that PADI orchestrated a well laid out plan to market as much sales to the dive community as possible. Just read his prior post about succumbing to the demand of the shop owner.

The OP also didn't state he hasn't dove in 25 years just that he got certified about 25 years ago and he obtained advance certs so he's not some basic reef tourist.

Like Fisheye said there is no regulation to scuba diving and as DD replied it's self-governed. Which means as they indoctrinated dive shop owners in how to “make the money” they monopolized the "proper way" divers would be corralled into air fills and dive certs.

There is no government regulation nor requirement (law) for a person to be scuba certified to have a tank filled with air. Nor is there any requirement (law) to have certification to use dive gear.

And that's where PADI has monopolized diving “regulation” so they can squeeze as much money from people who want to enjoy being underwater with SCUBA gear.

We do agree on “It's not the c-card that makes a diver” because a competent diver is a competent diver and an incompetent diver is an incompetent diver no matter what certs they hold. But PADI doesn’t agree... I know divers who aren’t certified but have years of bottom time and I trust them with my life.


I also know a “diver” that after getting certified by PADI we were talking about making a dive trip and when I told them how deep it was they replied, “I can’t do that dive, I’m not certified for it.” I was like, “What? What do you mean you’re not certified? (as I had been there for all of their pool and open water training) They replied, “ I’m only basic open water certified, I can’t dive past 60 feet.” I looked at them dumbfounded for about a minute and then said, “You’re right, you can’t do the dive!”

And so is the world of PADI indoctrination!

 

[Diver_Down]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

To AU_Dreamers: I'm not bother going to quote your assumptions on me or the industry, but I will address them.

First and foremost, you took a shot at my character. I expect an apology, and if one isn't forthcoming, it says more about you than I. I recommended a refresher course - Not in an effort to make money, but for the diver's safety. Because someone strapped on a tank 25 years ago, doesn't mean they are competent in their skills, today. I don't work for a shop and have no financial motivation.

Second, you mentioned an arbitrary depth limit that diver's are certified for. No where does the open water certification restrict a diver from diving beyond 60 feet. What it does is certify the diver up to a depth of 60 feet. You and others know that there are inherent risks that are compounded the deeper you dive. If a diver who has completed 5 open water dives, 30' and shallower, was to suddenly decide on their 6th dive that they would like to dive deep, do you think they are properly prepared? The certified depth limits are standardized for the protection of the industry. Due to the litigious nature of our society, the courts are looked to provide remediation in the event of an accident/death. If an OW certified diver suffered an accident beyond the scope of their training, then the certifying agency/instructor/shop would not be liable.

 

[CanadianTrout]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

Hey guys, thanks for your info and comments. Good stuff. Didn't mean to start a bickering match though, hope you two can sort it out.

Reefdawg, I'm at work but will shoot ya a PM asap.

Yes gentlemen, I would need/want a refresher course. I like a little adventure but I'm not suicidal lol. The deepest I've ever dove was 78' several times. Most dives 40' - 60' about 20yrs ago. And yes i've only been on 3 more dives scattered across the last 20yrs. I'm hoping to keep it simple. Some of the gentlemen here are anchored off shore and using hookas. That would be ideal for an "experianced" "novice" like me. I'm not looking to go out into the middle of the Atlantic or anything.

 

[Salvor6]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

Diver_Down I am also a PADI Instructor since 1985. I don't work for any dive shop and I don't sell equipment so squeezing money out of students is not my motivation. I just love the sport and have my own school. I teach the refresher course for free! AU Dreamer is way out of line and obviously doesn't understand why we do it.

 

[Au_Dreamers]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

Firstly Salvor6 I do apologize to you if you read me as taking a shot at you. If you read my statements about PADI as to include all PADI instructors it is not. It is about the undeniable PADI marketing, money making machine. There are many decent PADI “people” and I have many friends, dive buddies and acquaintances that are instructors, dive masters, shop owners etc… As a matter of fact my disdain of PADI has come from them relating details of the PADI machine as it was growing. It’s a shared opinion…

See this is how I see the two sides of this, you wrote “I just love the sport and have my own school. I teach the refresher course for free!”

DD wrote “You should schedule a refresher course” and this was after his other post in another thread of:

““I had some reservations on selling him gear that he didn't necessarily need, but he was adamant on the latest and greatest. My owner pulled me aside, and expressed in no certain terms that if I didn't sell anything and everything that the customer wanted than he would find someone who would. Needless to say, the guy from Lebanon paid close to 10k before leaving.”

And that is mostly the two sides of the coins I see in Instructors/PADI.

So DD if you believe “First and foremost, you took a shot at my character. I expect an apology”

I will apologize in that my smart ass comment of “Spoken like a true PADI "make the money" instructor working for a shop! ” wasn’t completely malicious.

It was based on two forum posts that I know of you that I have previously quoted. IMHO it was you who took a shot at their own character in that revealing story and drove me to write the quip about it.

So I will leave this with that we obviously see things very differently if you want to propose semantics and circular arguments with things like

“No where does the open water certification restrict a diver from diving beyond 60 feet. What it does is certify the diver up to a depth of 60 feet.”

And

“. If a diver who has completed 5 open water dives, 30' and shallower, was to suddenly decide on their 6th dive that they would like to dive deep, do you think they are properly prepared? The certified depth limits are standardized for the protection of the industry.”

We are just so polar in that you believe the PADI doctrine and I don’t that my answers do not matter much. An open water certified diver is certified to dive to the recommended recreational sport diving depth of 120’. Again like Fisheye said there is no law for this but until PADI rolled out the marketing money machine it WAS INDUSTRY STANDARD. So yes they are restricted into falsely believing they need more certification to dive below 60 ft and Yes a diver who has been properly trained as an open water diver is properly prepared to dive “deep” on his first dive after certification.

Because they way I was trained- you dive in 60 feet of water the exact same way you dive in 120 feet of water and in 10 feet of water. Following all the safety guidelines and training procedures you were taught, depth is irrelevant!

I do understand why you do it Salvor6 and those are the attitudes of people I learned from and how I apply it to my teachings. It is because of the love for the sport that I am so passionate with my posts in these two threads.

So to anyone offended if the shoe fits….
If the shoe doesn’t fit then obviously I’m not addressing you and if you read it that way I apologize.

 

[CanadianTrout]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I just got my new card from NAUI.

https://www.naui.org/SignIn.aspx

Thank you. I just registered on the web site. Let's hope they can find me! LOL

 

[FISHEYE]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I lost my PADi and NASDS cards years ago and inquired about getting new ones with no luck since when i got certified there was no computers.

 

[CanadianTrout]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I lost my PADi and NASDS cards years ago and inquired about getting new ones with no luck since when i got certified there was no computers.

Oh joy. Thanks for that uplifting news FISHEYE.

I signed up on NAUI site and did a search for my records. "0" results found. I suspect for the same reason FISHEYE mentioned above. When I was certified basic computers were the size of a school room.

NAUI did say however if I had some other type of proof like a wall mount cert. (like i have - both Open Water & Diver Rescue) I could scan that and send it in. hope my scanner at home works... don't think I've ever used it... sheesh.

At least I got time I don't plan on coming to FLA till next season...

 

[Au_Dreamers]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I lost my PADi and NASDS cards years ago and inquired about getting new ones with no luck since when i got certified there was no computers.

Oh joy. Thanks for that uplifting news FISHEYE.

I signed up on NAUI site and did a search for my records. "0" results found. I suspect for the same reason FISHEYE mentioned above. When I was certified basic computers were the size of a school room.

NAUI did say however if I had some other type of proof like a wall mount cert. (like i have - both Open Water & Diver Rescue) I could scan that and send it in. hope my scanner at home works... don't think I've ever used it... sheesh.

At least I got time I don't plan on coming to FLA till next season...

Same here for me and SSI. But I did find my card, so problem solved. Too many boxes in too many storage sheds- lol

An idea I have is make a copy of your wall cert(s) then laminate them and stick em in your dive bag. I can't (well I could) imagine a shop/boat not accepting that...

 

[Digger54]

Re: I got my NAUI Lvl 3 open water & Diver Rescue

I lost my PADi and NASDS cards years ago and inquired about getting new ones with no luck since when i got certified there was no computers.

I got certified in 86, so I did not show up in NAUI's electronic system either. I was lucky and happened to have my card that I sent a copy of, so now I have a new card and I am in their electronic files. I'm pretty sure NAUI and PADI electronic records were likely started from the point of computer record start up and not archived. I would assume the organizations have to do a paper file search for us dinosaurs. I am under the impression that the biggie would be to have the instructor's name and file number since records were possibly kept of the instructor's rosters.