After
Jacques-Yves Cousteau introduced the
Aqua-Lung to the market, there followed a growing interest in scuba diving by the public and a subsequent need to codify the training. In 1951, Jim Auxie Jr and Chuck Blakeslee started a magazine called
The Skin Diver (later renamed
Skin Diver Magazine). Two-year dive teacher Neal Earl Hess contributed to its "The Instructors Corner" column to inform readers about scuba. It was the world's first civilian training program to certify recreational divers and soon began granting Provisional Certification to instructors across the country. In the May 1960 issue of
Skin Diver Magazine, the creation of The National Diving Patrol was announced as an official, national organization. Its purpose and function was "to insure competent underwater instruction and to reduce diving accidents through education." In 1959, the name was changed to the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). It was held at the Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas on August 22–26. A year later, the second NAUI ICC was held in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, under the direction of Ben Davis. was held in 1969 at
Santa Ana College, where it served as a venue for NAUI members from all over could meet and exchange ideas. It was also used as a forum to present information on diving skills and safety, teaching, diving physiology, physics, and other diving and marine sciences. Soon, NAUI membership began to expand internationally, with an ICC being held in
Japan in 1970 and NAUI Canada being organized as a separate corporation in 1972. NAUI instructors certified more than 40,000 entry-level scuba divers in 1970 alone; 1979 was a year with over 5,000 newly certified NAUI scuba instructors. By the time 1989 came around, over 12,000 NAUI instructors were certified. NAUI Worldwide had established a network of 20 service centers in 1998. and included Board of Directors members from
Europe and
Asia for the first time. On January 20, 2015, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy amended Code 4729-21-06: Sales of
medical oxygen to scuba divers. The code authorized individuals who completed courses from NAUI to purchase and possess medical oxygen for the purpose of emergency care or treatment at the scene of a diving emergency. In November 2015, NAUI released a series of announcements during the 2015 DEMA Show in
Orlando, Florida. Its first
podcast series, the "Dive Team Report", released once per week. The podcast was designed to inform the general public and divers on trends and issues affecting the sport of diving. The first full episode aired on November 12, 2015. A series of other announcements included its new marketing campaign "The Definition of Diving", its demo version of its new website interface (version 1.0), and its alliance with the
Divers Alert Network and
Performance Freediving International. For the first time, NAUI and DAN came together to offer DAN's first-aid programs to NAUI divers and members. NAUI established and incorporated the co-branded DAN-NAUI first-aid courses into their curricula.
NAUI Green Diver Initiative In 2010, NAUI Worldwide formed the NAUI Green Diver Initiative (GDI). GDI was implemented to "empower individuals to preserve and conserve the ocean planet with the common goal of taking action to protect the environment." With stagnant progress, it was not until July 2015 that NAUI renewed its commitment to the Initiative, unveiling its first manager, Sam Richardson, who entered the full-time position with over 10 years of non-profit experience. GDI remained a U.S. registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit that relied on the support of donors to fulfill its mission. == Honorary NAUI members recognitions ==