NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver
4 Introduction
LEARNING GOALS
In this chapter you will:
1. Learn what to expect in your Advanced Scuba
Diver course.
2. Learn what your advanced training will prepare
you to do.
3. Understand the value of continuing your
education.
4. Discover how to best utilize this textbook.
BECOMING A BETTER DIVER
Welcome to the NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver course.
In your entry-level course, you gained access to the
underwater world. You acquired a basic knowledge of
this other world and how it affects you. You learned
about the equipment that you use, and you mastered the
skills necessary to manage diving’s risks and be a competent,
comfortable diver. There was a lot to learn just to
get started, and you have every right to be proud of being
a certified diver.
As you finished the entry-level course, your instructor
probably congratulated you and also advised you
with words of caution such as: “You are now certified to
continue learning how to dive.” A newly certified diver is
considered competent to dive without supervision provided
the activities, the diving area, and the diving conditions
approximate those in which the diver was trained. Your
instructor also told you that there were courses available to
help you learn much more about underwater activities and
to become a safer, more experienced diver (figure 1-1).
You have chosen the correct route by seeking training
to increase your qualifications and, thereby, your
opportunities. You will be able to do more, to dive in
areas other than those associated with entry-level training,
and you will have fun as you are accomplishing
these objectives. This is what the NAUI Advanced Scuba
Diver course is all about.
FIGURE 1-1. Your naui diver certifications are more
than evidence of achievement, they are “licenses to
learn.”
HOW TO HAVE MORE FUN
You may have discovered by now that diving is not
really an end in itself after the initial learning experience.
Diving is really just a means to allow you to pursue
endeavors in the world beneath the water. You know of
many of them: photography, studying aquatic life and the
environment, exploring, wreck diving, etc. (figure 1-2).
Some of these may be appealing to you, and others may
seem far beyond anything you think you’ll ever attempt.
The important point, however, is that diving is most
enjoyable when you have a dive objective. You may just
want to explore a new area, learn how fish and other
creatures live, search for a wreck, or seek some trophy;
but you have a motivating reason to dive and can experience
exhilaration when you succeed. This can make
diving even more fun. What you want to do is to discover
an underwater pursuit and become proficient enough in
it to ensure a reasonable degree of success.