NAUI Instructor

A NAUI Instructor is a person dedicated to the motto of "Dive Safety Through Education"; a person to whom others look for leadership and knowledge. NAUI has always been and remains today the most prestigious agency focusing on diving instruction. You can share the adventure - and help create it! If you believe your work should be enjoyable and exciting, if you are eager to share your knowledge with others, if you believe that to train the best you must be among the best trained, join the finest. Join the adventure!

The NAUI Instructor Training Course (ITC) is designed to train and qualify NAUI Instructor members. During the course future instructors learn effective methods to teach skin and scuba diving in compliance with NAUI Diving Course Standards.

The ITC may be presented in two phases. If done so, Phase One, called an Instructor Training Program (ITP), contains all developmental training except for the final evaluations. During an ITP, candidate practice performances must be evaluated by at least two qualified evaluators, one of whom may be a STW completer and the other an IT or CD. The ITP can be conducted in many formats, ranging in length from a week to an internship over an extended period.

The second or final phase of an ITC so organized is called the IQP, during which a Course Director must be in residence and all final evaluations will be made.

The course assures the NAUI membership that candidates who receive certification as NAUI Instructors have the knowledge, skills, fitness and proper attitude to do so.

General: Meet prerequisites applying to all Leadership courses.

Dive Certification: Be a currently certified NAUI Assistant Instructor or NAUI Divemaster; or a NAUI PREP Course graduate within the past 12 months.

Equipment: Provide and be responsible for own instructor-level diving equipment suitable for teaching in open water.

Experience: Have at least 50 logged dives. Dives shall be varied in environment, depth and activities.

Materials: See current Guide to NAUI Membership. A detailed and current list of necessary materials shall be provided each candidate in a supplemental fact sheet for specific ITCs.

Age: Minimum is 18 years.

Experience: Specified for each Leadership course. Required logged dives shall be varied in environment and depth.

Rescue Certification: At a minimum, Scuba Rescue Diver certification is required except for Skin Diving Instructor, for which a lifeguarding certification is adequate.

CPR & First Aid Certification: Current certification or verified competency in CPR and First Aid is required for registration. Certification training shall include one person adult CPR, infant/child CPR, two person CPR and the use of rescue breathing barrier devices, e.g. pocket mask®, face shield.

Medical Approval: Verification of good physical condition as documented by a medical examination and unconditional approval for diving by a licensed physician within the preceding 12 months.

Administrative Requirements:
Submit a complete course application.
Provide and be responsible for dive gear suitable for open water.
Provide all required texts and materials.

• Meet all course prerequisites.
• Be currently certified or have verified competency in CPR and first aid.
• Complete all portions of the course.
• Meet all course administrative requirements.
• Pass the applicable leadership exam with a score of 75% or better.

Upon completion of all certification requirements, each Leadership graduate must complete a NAUI membership application which the instructor will process in accordance with current procedures. Applicants will be registered as Leadership members in the appropriate category and status and be sent new member information.

Leadership members of NAUI are entitled to benefits detailed in the Association Bylaws and in the NAUI standards. A NAUI Leader may renew membership annually in any one of several statuses by meeting renewal requirements.

• NAUI Standards and Policies Manual / Risk Management Handbook / Deluxe Logbook
• NAUI Scuba Diver Instructor Guide
• NAUI Student Scuba Diver Educational System (including book, tables, etc.)
• NAUI Scuba Rescue Diver Textbook
• NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver Textbook
• Leadership and Instruction Textbook
• Leadership and Instruction Workbook
• Leadership and Instruction Intructor Guide
• NAUI Nitrox Diver Textbook
• NAUI Nitrox Diver Instructor Guide
• NAUI Master Scuba Diver Textbook
• NAUI Dive Time Calculator
• NAUI Surface Air Consumption Calculator
• NAUI/ASHI First Aid & CPR Instructor Guide

• Physics, Physiology and Decompression Theory for the Technical and Commercial Diver by Wienke
• High Altitude Diving by Wienke
• Scuba Equipment Care and Maintenance by Farley and Royer
• The U.S. Navy Diving Manual Volume 1 - Air Diving
• The U.S. Navy Diving Manual Volume 2 - Mixed-gas Diving
• The NOAA Diving Manual
• Diving Medicine, 2nd Edition by Bove and Davis
• Scuba Diving in Safety and Health by Dueker
• Stress and Performance in Diving by Bachrach and Egstrom
• A Medical Guide to Hazardous Marine Life by Auerbach
• Oxygen and the Scuba Diver by Hendrick and Thomson
• The Application of Enriched Air Mixtures by Betts
• Sport Diving in Depth, 2nd Edition by Griffiths
• Deeper Into Diving by Lippman
• The Physics and Engineering of Diving by Dickens

Certified NAUI Instructor course graduates (ITC or ICC) are qualified to apply for Instructor membership in NAUI in any status provided for in the bylaws of the association.

• An active-status NAUI Instructor may independently teach NAUI sanctioned courses and authorize NAUI certifications for graduates.
• An active-status NAUI Instructor may independently conduct NAUI recognition and experience programs and authorize formal recognition for graduates.
• An active- or sustaining-status NAUI Instructor is a voting member of NAUI.