NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors)

One of the oldest scuba certification agencies, founded in the United States in 1960 and known for academic depth and instructor freedom in teaching.

NAUI, the National Association of Underwater Instructors, is one of the oldest recreational scuba training agencies. It was founded in the United States in 1960, predating PADI by several years, and it played a major role in shaping formal scuba instruction. NAUI is organized as a nonprofit association, and its motto, dive safety through education, reflects a traditionally academic approach to training.

Compared with more tightly scripted systems, NAUI gives instructors notable freedom: they can add material and raise requirements beyond the minimum standards, a philosophy NAUI calls academic freedom. Its courses often include more diving physics and physiology theory, and skills such as rescue are introduced earlier in the ladder than at some other agencies. NAUI has also trained divers for NASA and the US military at various points in its history.

A NAUI certification is fully interchangeable with equivalent cards from other mainstream agencies, so NAUI trained divers can continue their education anywhere in the world without repeating levels. The ladder runs from Scuba Diver, the entry level course, through Advanced Scuba Diver and Rescue Scuba Diver to Master Scuba Diver, then into leadership ratings, with Master Scuba Diver traditionally regarded as one of the more demanding nonprofessional certifications in recreational diving.