So you want to get certified But Which Agency -PADI - NAUI - LA COUNTY?

What ? there is more than one scuba certifying agency?

Yep . . .

Which one to go with ?

La County is the oldest -

Padi is the Biggest and for profit -

Naui started from La County and is non profit -


To me they are all good but it will really depend on where you live and what shop you choose to patronize.

I knew after my first dive on scuba I wanted to be an instructor -

Some points on each from my experience :

PADI

I am certified through PADI - Assistant instructor rating, I took the IDC  ( instructor development course) but never to the test - I ran out of cash, it is not free to take the test. My course instructor was Tom Warnack, he was excellent, hard ass by the book , but an excellent instructor. At the time, it was a grind , he was so much about the standards, kept us in class until class was over, never an early dismissal. I wouldn't change a thing, Mr. Warnack prepared us way better than most, my fellow class mates breezed through their tests. In fact they laughed about how easy they were compared to his class! I think PADI might get a bad rap sometimes because of the fact they are so big , which in some circumstances I agree with.

Don't be afraid to get certified with them.

NAUI

My classmate in the IDC , Tim Leatherman ( he too thought Tom Warnack was an excellent instructor)  was a certified NAUI instructor doing a cross over to become a PADI instructor.  According to Tim Naui is similar but different ,  similar they teach you to breath underwater , different in some of the teaching methodology.  The Naui instructor has a bit more leeway when teaching a class meaning he sets the curriculum to fit in the Naui standards - where the PADI instructor is bound by the PADI curriculum to fit the standards. The same but different. Tim liked the NAUI method better. He thought it was better for the student. To this I don't know since I'm not NAUI certified.  As an outsider looking in they are both good.


LA COUNTY

The oldest certification agency in the world, they were the first. I have had the pleasure of knowing several LA COUNTY instructors and it has been a goal of mine to become a LA COUNTY instructor. My father is certified through LA - His instructor was a guy named Ron Merker, who used to own the dive shop by my house, the Aquatic Center. Ron was an old school hard ass instructor. He and another guy , besides my dad, named Don Richards are the reason I started diving and underwater hunting. Those guys had some cool stories and some big fish they had shot! I have a Samson gun mounted in my office. That said I would not hesitate to get certified through La County, all of the other agencies have modeled their courses on them.But the instructors are few and far between.

Hope that clears up which to pick :)

They are all good -

I have dove with people certified with each and every one of the above mentioned agencies- Have returned safely every time!

One thing I think is important - The instructor - I she or she personable? Good waterman? gets the message across in a clear manner? Fun?? Does not think he or she is a scuba god - some things to keep in mind!

Look forward to sharing some of my hunting spots!

Cheers

Dave