National Association of Underwater Instructors

National Association of Underwater Instructors
Abbreviation NAUI
Motto Dive safety through education
Formation 1959
Type NGO
Legal status 501(c)(6) association
Purpose diver training and certification
Headquarters Florida, USA
Location
  • 9030 Camden Field Parkway Riverview, FL. 33578 USA
Region served
 World
Main organ
 Board Of Directors
Website www.naui.org//

The National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) is a non-profit 501(c)(6) association of SCUBA instructors.[1] It was officially CE and ISO certified in May 2007 in all three diver levels and both instructor levels.

History

NAUI was founded by Albert Tillman and Neal Hess in 1959. In August 1960, NAUI's first Instructor Certification Course was held at the Houston’s Shamrock Hilton Hotel with 72 candidates. The following year, in October 1961, NAUI was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit educational organization. Al Tillman was the first President and Neal Hess, the Executive Secretary. Other original board members included John C. Jones of the Red Cross and Garry Howland of the United States Air Force. NAUI Worldwide is an international non-profit training agency.[2]

Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the inventor of the aqualung, was on the board of advisors of NAUI, as was Albert R. Behnke, a pioneer of diving medicine.[2] Actor Lloyd Bridges was the first honorary NAUI instructor member. He played frogman "Mike Nelson" in the American television series Sea Hunt, which popularized scuba diving. Buster Crabbe, the famous olympic swimmer and movie star, was a NAUI instructor. Other celebrities who are certified NAUI divers include Kevin Costner, Lou Gossett Jr., and Cameron Diaz; Tiger Woods is a NAUI Divemaster member.

In 1974, NAUI began offering certifications in cave diving.[3]

Many of the first generation of diving safety officers of the top universities, colleges and institutes of technology in the United States were NAUI members and made significant contributions to NAUI's programs, including: Lee Somers University of Michigan, James Stewart Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Richard Bell University of California, Davis, Henry Viex United States Military Academy, Lloyd Austin University of California, Berkeley, Mark Flahan California State University, San Diego, Phillip Sharkey University of Rhode Island, Ronnie D'Amico California State University, Long Beach, Walt Hendricks, Sr. University of Puerto Rico, Glen Egstrom University of California, Los Angeles, and John Heine Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. These institutions, and others, belong to the American Academy of Underwater Sciences and, while their training programs greatly exceed minimum NAUI requirements, for the convenience of the participants in their scientific diving training programs, certifications are often arranged through NAUI. Many governmental agencies in the United States do the same, including the US Navy, SEALs, Army Special Forces, and NASA.[4]

Courses

NAUI was the first recreational training agency to sanction Nitrox training in 1992. It published standards for teaching technical diving in 1997, a practice that had been growing among NAUI members for several years. Training is provided ranging from Skin Diver through Instructor Course Director, with dozens of specialty courses. Thousands of member instructors, affiliated stores, resorts, and service centers are located in countries around the world.[5]

Recreational courses

Specialty courses

Leadership courses

  • Assistant Instructor[15]
  • Skin Diving Instructor[15]
  • Divemaster[15]
  • Instructor Prep Course[15]
  • Instructor[16]
  • Instructor Trainer
  • Course Director

Technical courses

References

  1. ↑ "GuideStar:NetWorkForGood-Organization Report". GuideStar. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tillman, Tom. "The history of NAUI". Scuba America Historical Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  3. ↑ Kendrick, DF (2009). "Science of the National Association for Cave Diving (NACD): Water Quality, Hydrogeology, Biology and Psychology". In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
  4. ↑ http://www.naui.org/corp_alliances.aspx
  5. ↑ "NAUI Training Progression". NAUI Worldwide. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  6. ↑ "NAUI Junior Skindiver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  7. ↑ "NAUI Junior Scuba Diver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  8. ↑ "NAUI Junior Advanced Scuba Diver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  9. ↑ "NAUI Skindiver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  10. ↑ "NAUI Scuba Diver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  11. ↑ "NAUI Experienced Diver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  12. ↑ "NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  13. ↑ "NAUI Master Scuba Diver Course". Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.9 14.10 14.11 "NAUI Specialty Courses". NAUI Worldwide. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "NAUI Leadership Courses". NAUI Worldwide. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  16. ↑ "NAUI Instructor Courses". NAUI Worldwide. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 17.15 "NAUI Technical Courses". NAUI Worldwide. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-08.

External links