NAUI

Overview

• NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) is a non-profit instructor training organization founded under the leadership of Albert Tillman and Neal Hess. [verified — NAUI official/Wikipedia]
• The mixed reports of a 1959 vs. 1960 founding stem from differences in the stages of its history — in 1959 the predecessor "National Diving Patrol" was renamed NAUI (the name first appeared), in August 1960 the first Instructor Certification Course (ICC) was held in Houston, Texas, and in October 1961 it was formally established as a non-profit educational corporation in California (corporate charter). [verified — naui.org heritage/Wikipedia]
• It is regarded as allowing instructors wide discretion (to customize training), and it has a reputation for training quality thanks to a history of collaboration with the U.S. Navy, NASA, and others. [verified — general industry knowledge]

In Korea

• In this knowledge base's dive-shop data, it is confirmed at 7 shops, with many concentrated in Jeju (5 shops). [verified from dataset]
• For shops that teach this agency, refer to this note's backlinks (dive-shop notes that include agency-naui in their agencies).

For Foreign Divers

• The NAUI C-card is mutually recognized alongside PADI and others at fun-diving operations in Korea. [verified — WRSTC/agency sources]

Sources

• url: https://www.naui.org/naui-worldwide/our-heritage/ | publisher: NAUI Worldwide (official) | level: primary | accessed: 2026-06-27
• url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Underwater_Instructors | publisher: Wikipedia | level: secondary | accessed: 2026-06-27
• domains/09-certification-agencies (divein.com/diving/padi-ssi-naui)
• Internal data: certification_agencies aggregated from data/dive-shops/*.yaml