Just to clear up some misinformation here:
1. It does not cost over $1,000 to get 'diving license', it
costs about half of that to be certified as an open water diver,
unless you intend to travel to expensive locations to do your 5
qualifying dives. If you want to do more advanced training later on
it will of course cost more.
2. Even as an NDUdiver you will need to do the full divemaster
or dive control specialist course before you can be trained
as an instructor.
3. Recreational diving is different from the kind of diving NDU
does, and there is a slight variation in the gear as well. hence
the need to be re-trained under the recreational diving agencies
such as PADI, SSI etc.
4. I know this because there were a bunch of guys who did their
NS as Navy divers doing their dive control specialist training
together with me.
My uncle is a diving instructor himself. The gears are different
but they clock diving experience and they are supposed to handle
stress better.
They look all the same to me, except the mouth piece and tanks
are different. The diving principle is the same.
One thing that I am not sure is really do the NDU go for deep
sea diving?
