The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, normally known simply as PADI, is the largest diving organisation in the world. Its philosophy is to educate divers through a combination of theory and practise and the most basic level will give you the knowledge and skills to be able to dive unassisted.

However, as with all pastimes that require some skill, the more you dive the better you get at it and the more comfortable you feel underwater. Most people progress beyond this first stage (Open Water Diver) to receive instruction and experience of diving deeper as well as specialities such as wreck diving and night diving.

 

PADI certification

Although PADI courses are designed to be modular, our recommended path through PADI certification is as follows:

Open Water Diver

The Open Water Diver certification teaches you basic diving theory, including the correct use of standard equipment, the use of PADI's recreational dive planner and practical exercises in the water. At the end of the course you will have sufficient training to dive to a depth of 18 metres and will be able to hire scuba diving equipment world-wide on production of your PADI card.

This level also teaches basic navigation and has a strong focus on how to deal with emergencies caused by equipment failure.

 

Advanced Open Water Diver

The Advanced Open Water Diver can be taken directly after the Open Water Diver, although most instructors would probably advise you to get some more diving experience before starting this level. It consists of 2 compulsory modules as well as a choice of models of which you must complete 3.

The course includes theory as well as practise, as found in all PADI courses and consists of a total of 5 dives.

One of the most useful compulsory modules is deep diving, in which you will experience diving to 40 metres. The other compulsory module is underwater navigation (always useful for finding your way back to a dive boat), and the optional modules include wreck diving, night diving and underwater photography.

 

Emergency First Response

Before you are able to start the next PADI level you must first take a first aid course. The Emergency First Response Course is not run by PADI and teaches you basic CPR and first aid care.

 

Rescue Diver

The Rescue Diver course starts to make you think about other divers while you will learn how to respond to emergency situations in the water, the focus is about accident prevention.

As well as self-rescue, you'll be instructed in dealing with panicking divers, emergency management and missing diver procedures. The course also extends your Emergency First Response knowledge by including inwater artificial respiration and first aid for pressure related accidents.

 

Divemaster

Although you can opt to take the Master Scuba Diver qualification, you should consider Divemaster instead. The first step as a diving professional, the qualification will allow you to work at dive centres if you desire, assist diving instructors and lead qualified scuba divers.

The course is intensive and involves assisting your instructor to instruct classes as well as the classroom sessions designed to refine your leadership skills. The course is much more in-depth when it comes to dive theory and you will learn much more about diving physics, physiology and diving equipment during the course.

 

Whether you wish to learn to dive, or take your diving to the next level, you can contact us for more information.

Diver education

PADI diving courses