I'm going to be taking SCUBA lessons this summer and have found a few different places in the Minneapolis area that offer them. What is the difference between PADI and NAUI certification? Is one better than the other?

Hmmm. My brother is NAUI certified and the family and I are PADI. Never noticed any difference, except the card. I think we went our own ways based on what was offered locally. I WILL say this, if you are planning to take your certification dives in another location (it was Hawaii for me, the Caribbean for hubby and daughter, and the Great Barrier Reef for the other daughter ), I would call ahead and get your cert based on the the company you will be doing the dives with; it will be easier than the reverse. Once you are certified, I don't really think it matters, as long as you have a card (and a log with some places).

Robin

edited for clarification

There are various different certifying agencies. I'm NAUI certified, but there is also PADI, SSI, and YMCA among others. There is no real differece that I've noticed except for in the dive tables (YMCA being the most conservative I've noticed in times with longer dive intervals/shorter bottom time and PADI the most liberal with shorter intervals/more bottom time). Most excursions I've been on use PADI tables, but I've encountered a few that use NAUI tables.

The skills you acquire will be the same however. My tip, the swim test isn't a race... have fun with it. Any stroke, take your time and be consistent. I floated on my back for 10 minutes during the water treading portion, and then just kicked my feet for 200 meters for the swim test

This topic is clearly for our OMNI forum as not related to points, miles, travel or a FT get-together. I won't move to OMNI as OP is not Omni-enabled. Since members have helped the OP with some guidance, I'll simply close this here. Ocn Vw 1K, Co-Moderator, CommunityBuzz.