Upcoming Course Schedule
- Open Water Scuba Diver Course – Begins Monday, October 16
- Divemaster Certification Course – Begins Wednesday, November 1
Recreational Scuba Diving Certification Course Descriptions
Just imagine where you will go! Begin your underwater explorations by enrolling in a NAUI Scuba Diver class. This is our entry-level certification course where you will learn the fundamental knowledge and skills to safety dive in open water.
Earning your NAUI Scuba Diver Certification card is an accomplishment for which you will rightfully feel proud and you will be ready to begin a lifetime of underwater adventures and discovering.
During your NAUI Scuba Diver class, your you will learn about modern dive equipment, diving sciences, responsible diving practices and the environment. Diving skills will be taught and practiced first in the comfort and convenience of a confined water environment and finally during your open water training dives with your NAUI Instructor.
Experienced Scuba Diver: Divers at least 15 years of age with a minimum of 25 open water scuba dives but who do not have formal certification (such as military, commercial, or scientific divers), and who wish to gain a NAUI diver certification may complete a NAUI Experienced Scuba Diver course designed just for them. This course reviews all the knowledge and skills taught in the NAUI Scuba Diver course, based on the experience and needs of the student. Graduates receive NAUI Scuba Diver certification with all privileges thereof as a NAUI certified diver.
Enroll in a NAUI Advanced Diver Course to explore new dive sites and undertake exclusive activities under the supervision of a NAUI Instructor. This course allows individuals to learn about specialties and diving activities of particular interest. Your confidence and skill as a diver will increase while you experience the excitement of learning more about the underwater world.
During training, students complete a minimum of six open-water dives, including three separate dives for navigation, night or low visibility diving, and deep diving (130 feet/40 meters of maximum depth), plus three additional dives based on your individual preferences and available options.
Possible activities include:
- Search and recovery
- Boat diving
- Light salvage
- Hunting and collecting
- Exploration and underwater mapping
- Wreck diving (non-penetration)
- Observation and data collecting
- Diving in surf or currents
- Altitude diving
- Salt Water diving (in areas where most diving is in fresh water)
- Fresh water diving (in areas where most diving is in salt water)
- Shore diving
- Diving for photos and videos
- Using dive computers
Get Started
The Advanced Scuba Diver course is for certified divers who desire additional training or orientation to a variety of diving sites and conditions. Divers must be a minimum of 10 years of age, in good health and and must be previously certified as a NAUI Scuba Diver or equivalent.
Do you want to extend your bottom time, lessen your surface interval, and maximize every dive? Become a NAUI Enriched Air Nitrox diver! This course may be taught as a stand alone program or may be combined with other NAUI training programs such as NAUI Open Water Diver or NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver
During this course, you will learn how to choose the proper blend of Nitrox for your dive profile, determine maximum depth limits for your Nitrox mixture, analyze your breathing mixture, and plan and safely execute each dive. Your instructor will teach you about the physiology of oxygen and nitrogen; advantages, disadvantages, and risks of nitrox; oxygen toxicity; hazards and precautions of handling oxygen; the concept of Equivalent Air Depth; use of EANx with standard Air Dive Tables; common gas mixing procedures; and more.
After your exam, you can qualify for the Nitrox recognition card, or go ahead and complete two dives to receive your Nitrox Diver certification card. And, your NAUI instructor can integrate your Nitrox course into your Scuba Diver course!
Get Started
Minimum age for participation is 15 years and divers must be in good physical condition to enroll in a NAUI Enriched Air Nitrox Diver course. Participants may be enrolled in a NAUI Scuba Diver Course or must be certified as a NAUI Scuba Diver or equivalent.
Once you are 15 years of age and a certified scuba diver, you can expand your diving knowledge with a NAUI Rescue Scuba Diver or NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver course. Learn how to manage risks and effectively handle limited in-water problems and diving emergencies, how to assist and transport divers, and how to perform surface rescues and rescues from depth involving both boat and shore based skin and scuba divers.
CPR and First Aid certifications are required to complete this course. Your Rescue Scuba Diver training moves you on your pathway to becoming a NAUI Leader as a Skin Diving Instructor, Assistant Instructor, Divemaster, or Instructor.
Get Started
The NAUI Rescue Scuba Diver and NAUI Advanced Rescue Scuba Diver courses are for certified divers who desire additional training or orientation to a variety of diving sites and conditions. Divers must be a minimum of 15 years of age to enroll in a NAUI Scuba Diver Rescue course or 17 years of age to enroll in the NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver Rescue course. All participants must be in good health and be previously certified as a NAUI Scuba Diver or equivalent.
Gain the in-depth knowledge and experience that will distinguish you as a leader in any diving club or group. Thrill to the adventure of open-water dives in settings that will test skills and expand your diving capabilities and experience. Your success allows you to proudly carry the most coveted and respected certification card in recreational diving – the NAUI Master Scuba Diver card.
During training, students will engage in a minimum of eight open-water dives, including the following required dives:
- Emergency procedures and rescue
- Deep/simulated decompression diving
- Limited visibility or night diving
- Underwater navigation – search and recovery – light salvage
You may also choose from many different dives for your elective dives, such as:
- Skin diving
- Environmental study or survey
- Air consumption (practical application)
- Boat diving
Individuals ages 15+ and who have a NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver certification (or its equivalent), may be enroll for the Master Scuba Diver course.
Get Started
The NAUI Master Scuba Diver course is for certified divers who desire additional training or orientation to a variety of diving sites and conditions. Divers must be a minimum of 15 years of age, in good health and and must be previously certified as a NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver or equivalent.
Technical Scuba Diving Certification Course Descriptions
Does the thought of deep diving fascinate you? If you are at least 18 and have a NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver certification or the equivalent, you can enroll in a Deep Diver course where you’ll gain the knowledge and skills to plan and make enjoyable deep dives while minimizing risks of deep diving.
Although this is not a decompression techniques course, you will learn about decompression procedures including nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness, and the use of dive computers including avoiding the need for stage decompression. Your course will also include teachings on the purpose, problems, hazards, planning, preparation, equipment, air supplies, personnel, techniques, gas management, emergency procedures, and depth limits for recreational diving. Deep diving is defined as dives made between 60 feet (18 meters) and 130 feet (40 meters).
Get Started
Minimum age for this course is 18 years plus certification as a NAUI Advanced Diver or equivalent.
This course (Intro to Tech) introduces recreational divers to the rigors and discipline of technical diving, and is a great preparatory course if you are considering specific technical diver training, such as cave or decompression diving, or are interested in streamlining your equipment configuration for maximum efficiency. Learn about dive planning, physics and physiology, decompression, decompression associated with technical diving, buoyancy control, and side-mount configuration. The NAUI Technical Equipment Configuration (NTEC) training is also part of the NAUI Intro to Tech course.
Sidemount Diver
Sidemount gear configuration offers an alternative to the traditional back mounted scuba cylinder(s) configuration. The NAUI Sidemount Diver course provides you with the skills and knowledge needed to conduct open water dives utilizing this particular gear configuration. Upon successful completion divers will be competent to use sidemount gear configuration in additional training and diving opportunities.
Get Started
Minimum age is 18 years of age to enroll in the NAUI Introduction to Technical Diving course. You must also be a certified NAUI Scuba Diver and NAUI EANx Diver (or their equivalents), and have at least 25 logged dives with at least 10 EANx dives. Prerequisites vary for each technical training program.
Technical divers use a variety of mixed gases to accomplish mission objectives. NAUI offers a variety of training programs for mixed gas and decompression diving including:
Technical Decompression Diver
This course provides you with the theory, methods, and procedures of planned staged decompression diving while using optimal breathing gas mixtures. Participants will learn how to plan and conduct a standard staged decompression dive to depths not exceeding 130 fsw (40 msw).
Helitrox Diver
The NAUI Helitrox Diver course provides the training and experience necessary to understand the hazards of utilizing helium-enriched EANx for dives to depths not exceeding 150 fsw (46 msw) that may require staged-decompression, utilizing EANx mixtures and/or oxygen during decompression. Graduates will be competent plan and execute extended range dives requiring staged-decompression utilizing Helitrox and oxygen.
Trimix Diver
The NAUI Trimix Diver course provides you with the skills and knowledge needed to minimize the risks of utilizing helium-based trimix breathing gas mixtures for dives to a maximum depth of 200 fsw (61 msw) requiring staged-decompression and utilizing EANx mixtures and/or oxygen during decompression.
Extreme Exposure Diver
The NAUI Extreme Exposure Diver course provides you with the experience and knowledge needed to minimize the risks of diving to depths beyond 200 fsw (61 msw) while utilizing helium-based trimix breathing mixtures, hypoxic trimix breathing mixtures, helium-based and EANx-based travel gases, as well as EANx and oxygen during decompression.
Technical Support Leader (TSL)
The NAUI Technical Support Leader (TSL) course trains knowledgeable NAUI Instructors, Divemasters, and Assistant Instructors who are also technical divers to act as part of a support team for technical diving, training activities, and guiding technical dives that are not in an overhead environment. An active-status NAUI TSL is qualified to assist an active-status NAUI Technical Instructor in technical diving instruction.
Get Started
Minimum age is 18 years of age and graduate from a NAUI Introduction to Technical Diving course or equivalent is required for all continuing NAUI Technical Diving courses. Additional training and experience requirements vary for each course. A qualified NAUI Instructor can evaluate your resume and answer questions about your readiness to pursue specific training.
Divers love to explore and while most divers are content to confine their diving to the open water, allowing direct access to the surface at all times, others love the thrill of discovering new places far from the surface. Undersea caves, abandoned mines, under the ice and inside shipwrecks are all popular destinations for these intrepid explorers who go beyond the bounds of recreational diving.
If this type of exploration appeals to you, then NAUI training programs for overhead environments is for you! Take a look at the list of NAUI programs and contact Pittsburgh Scuba Center for additional information.
Cavern Diver
The NAUI Cavern Diver course provides you with the fundamental skills and knowledge needed for cavern diving at depths not exceeding 100 fsw (30 msw) and at a combined depth and distance penetration not exceeding 200 feet (61 meters) from the surface. Participants will become proficient in the use of lines reels while handling a light, team and line placement, zero visibility/touch contact communications while following a line, as well as many other skills that are necessary to be a competent Cavern Diver.
Minimum age for NAUI Technical training programs is 18 years of age. Additional training and experience requirements vary for each course. A qualified NAUI Instructor can evaluate your experience and answer questions about your readiness to pursue specific training.
NAUI Leadership Certifications
The NAUI Familiarization-Instruction-Testing (FIT) program is a prerequisite for NAUI Assistant Instructor Course, NAUI Divemaster Course or a NAUI Instructor Crossover Course (ICC).
Minimum age is 18 years for this program. Certification as a NAUI Scuba Diver, NAUI Rescue Scuba Diver, NAUI Nitrox Diver, NAUI Master Scuba Diver, NAUI First Aid for the Diving Professional, NAUI Oxygen Provider (or equivalent) are required, as is a minimum of 25 logged open water scuba dives with a minimum of 12.5 hours bottom time.
- As an Assistant Instructor, you will be authorized to teach all aspects of skin and scuba diving under the supervision of a NAUI Instructor. This is the best possible way to develop your instructional skills. The rating can be a step toward full Instructor, or an end in itself. Match your time, talent and interests with the NAUI programs near you, and enjoy the adventure of personal and professional enhancement as a NAUI leader.
Overview
The NAUI Assistant Instructor rating is a NAUI leadership-level certification. The program is designed to introduce students to diving instruction basics. It also tests individuals in fundamental water skills needed to be capable assistants. Certification authorizes individuals to assist active-status NAUI Instructors in the conduct of dive training. NAUI Assistant Instructor certification is a highly recommended step in the progression to NAUI Instructor.
Qualifications of Graduates
- A current NAUI Assistant Instructor is qualified to assist active-status NAUI Instructors in teaching skin and scuba diving during sanctioned diving courses provided the activities and locale are similar to those of the training. Additional training or experience is to be obtained by the Assistant Instructor who desires to assist in highly specialized training activities, such as deep, wreck penetration, cavern or ice dives.
- A NAUI Assistant Instructor and can be counted toward student-instructor ratios.
- After assisting an active-status NAUI Instructor with at least one complete, NAUI Scuba Diver course a current NAUI Assistant Instructor is qualified, if all other prerequisites are met, to enter a NAUI Instructor Training Course (ITC). Attending a NAUI Instructor Preparatory (PREP) Program and certification as a NAUI Divemaster are recommended prior to attending an ITC.
Prerequisites
- General – Meet the requirements applying to all leadership courses.
- Materials – Materials will be provided by Pittsburgh Scuba Center.
- Diver Certification – Certification as NAUI Master Scuba Diver and NAUI Rescue Scuba Diver or their equivalent. Divers with evidence of equivalent training and experience may be enrolled provided they pass the NAUI Master Scuba Diver and Rescue Scuba Diver written examinations with a minimum score of 75% on each.
- Experience – Have at least 20 logged open water scuba dives. Dives shall be varied in environment, depth and activities.
Would you like to lead dives and dive trips; take certified divers on vacations to the world’s best dive sites? Many Divemasters are employed full-time or work independently supervising certified divers during club, store, resort or charter tour and travel activities. As a NAUI Divemaster you enjoy again and again adventures to which you introduce your clients. Another option leading to NAUI Instructor qualification
Overview
The NAUI Divemaster rating is the highest NAUI leadership-level certification with the exception of Instructor. The program is designed to train experienced and knowledgeable divers to organize and conduct enjoyable open water dives for certified divers.
Qualifications of Graduates
- An active-status NAUI Divemaster is qualified to organize and conduct dives for certified divers if the diving activities and locale approximate those in which the Divemaster is trained. Additional training, knowledge or experience is necessary for the Divemaster who desires to organize highly specialized activities, such as wreck penetration, cavern or ice dives or enter a new locale.
- An active-status NAUI Divemaster is qualified to organize and conduct NAUI Recognition (such as International Diver) and Experience Programs (such as Stingray Experience) and award appropriate recognition materials to participants.
- An active-status NAUI Divemaster is qualified to assist an active-status NAUI Instructor in diving courses.
- If all other prerequisites are met, a current NAUI Divemaster is qualified to enter a NAUI Instructor Training Course (ITC). Attending a NAUI Instructor Preparatory Program (PREP) and NAUI Assistant Instructor certification are recommended prior to attending an ITC.
Prerequisites
- General – Meet the requirements applying to all leadership courses.
- Materials – Materials will be provided by Pittsburgh Scuba Center.
- Diver Certification – Certification as a NAUI Assistant Instructor is required. Individuals not possessing the preferred certification may be accepted for training only if they meet the following criteria:
- Certification as NAUI Master Scuba Diver and NAUI Rescue Scuba Diver or their equivalent. Divers with evidence of equivalent training and experience may be enrolled provided they pass the NAUI Master Scuba Diver and Rescue Scuba Diver written examinations with a minimum score of 75% on each.
- Documentation of diving experience with a minimum of 60 logged open water dives. Dives shall be varied in environment, depth and activities.
- Waterskills – Ability equivalent to that of a NAUI Assistant Instructor. Skills from the Assistant Instructor standards shall be evaluated if the candidate is not already certified as a NAUI Assistant Instructor
The NAUI Instructor Training Course (ITC) is designed to train and qualify NAUI Instructor member applicants. During the course candidate 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 Staff Training Workshop (STW) completer and the other a NAUI Instructor Trainer (IT) or Course Director (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 Instructor Qualification Program (IQP), during which a NAUI 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.
Prerequisites For Entering The Course
- General – Meet the requirements applying to all leadership courses.
- Materials – Contact Pittsburgh Scuba Center for more information.
- Diver Certification – Graduation from a NAUI PREP Program within the past 12 months or certification as a scuba certified NAUI Skin Diving Instructor or NAUI Assistant Instructor or NAUI Divemaster; or certified instructor from another agency who is also a NAUI PREP Program graduate is required.
- Equipment – Provide and be responsible for own diving equipment.
- Experience – Have at least 50 logged dives. Dives shall be varied in environment, depth and activities.