Short on time and long on the urge to become a certified diver? The PADI Scuba Diver certification might just be for you. This course requires less time than the PADI Open Water Diver course, covering only the first three of five sections of knowledge development, the first three of five confined open water sessions, and the first two of four open water training dives, resulting in a limited certification. Particularly if you expect to go scuba diving primarily in the company of a dive guide or if you have limited time to devote to scuba certification, consider becoming a PADI Scuba Diver.

This certification allows for ample dive experience and is a good warm-up for the Open Water Diver course, if that’s your ultimate goal. PADI Scuba Divers are qualified to:

1. Dive under the direct supervision of a PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Instructor to a maximum depth of 12 metres / 40 feet
2. Obtain air fills, rent or purchase scuba equipment and participate in other diving activities as long as they have the required supervision
3. Continue their dive training and complete PADI Open Water Diver certification and other courses such as Project AWARE and equipment specialty courses

All the basics of scuba diving through knowledge development, a set of scuba skills in confined/shallow open water that you’ll use again during open water dives, and an appreciation for the underwater world that will keep you coming back for more bottom time every chance you get!

1. Buoyancy skills including comfortable ascents and descents, and breathing underwater.
2. Staying warm underwater, streamlining your swimming skills and buddy diving techniques.
3. Diving environments and aquatic life you’re likely to encounter.
4. Preventing common problems underwater.
5. An introduction to boat diving.

To take this course, you must be:

15 years old (or 10 years old for Junior Scuba Diver certification)

Get Certified! Take a Scuba Lesson with the PADI Open Water Diver Course.

If you’ve always wanted to learn how to scuba dive, discover new adventures or simply see the wondrous world beneath the waves, this is where it starts.

The PADI Open Water Diver course is the world’s most popular scuba course, and has introduced millions of people to the adventurous diving lifestyle.

The PADI Open Water Diver course consists of three main phases:

1. Knowledge Development (self study and instructor taught) to understand basic principles of scuba diving
2. Confined / Shallow open water Dives to learn basic scuba skills
3. Open Water Dives to review your skills and explore!

If you’ve tried diving through a Discover Scuba Diving experience or resort course, the skills you learned may be credited towards a portion of the full PADI Open Water Diver course certification.

To enroll in the PADI Open Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course, you must:

Be 10 years or older.

Maintain yourself in water too deep to stand (floating, treading water) for 10 minutes.

Swim without swimming aids (goggles permitted) for 200 metres or 300 metres with mask, fins and snorkel.

Exploration, Excitement, Experiences. They’re what the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is all about. And no, you don’t have to be “advanced” to take it – it’s designed so you can go straight into it after the PADI Open Water Diver course. The Advanced Open Water Diver course helps you increase your confidence and build your scuba skills so you can become more comfortable in the water. This is a great way to get more dives under your belt while continuing to learn under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. This course builds on what you’ve learned and develops new capabilities by introducing you to new activities and new ways to have fun scuba diving.

You’ll hone your skills by completing five adventure dives that introduce you to:

1. Underwater navigation
2. Deeper water diving (typically anywhere from 18-30 metres/ 60-100 feet)
3. A sampler of three more Adventure Dives of your choice

The knowledge and skills you get in the Advanced Open Water Diver course vary with your interest and the adventures you have, but include:

1. Practical aspects of deep diving
2. Physiological effects of deeper scuba diving.
3. More ways to use your underwater compass
4. How to navigate using kick-cycles, visual landmarks and time
5. How to better use your dive computer and electronic Recreational Dive PlannerTM (eRDPTM)
6. And much, much more, depending on the Adventure Dives you choose

To take this course, you must be:

A PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

15 years old (12 for Junior Advanced Open Water Diver)

CPR and First Aid: Emergency First Response Primary and Secondary Care Scuba diving class practicing CPRFirst aid and CPR are good skills for anyone involved in adventure sports – just in case. And, you need these skills for the PADI Rescue Diver course.

Emergency First Response is a PADI affiliate that specializes in teaching these lifesaving skills – and they’re for anyone, not just divers. Most PADI Instructors are also Emergency First Response Instructors!

The Fun Part

The fun part about Emergency First Response training is learning serious medical emergency response skills in an upbeat, positive environment. You gain the confidence that you are prepared to help in an emergency.

1. BLS (Basic Life Support) CPR and rescue breathing at the layperson level
2. AED (automated external defibrillator) use (optional)
3. Preventing and caring for shock
4. Spinal injury management
5. Use of barriers to reduce disease transmission risk
6. Basic first aid and first aid kit considerations

To take this course, you must be:

Care about other people and want to be able to assist them in a medical emergency

“Challenging” and “rewarding” best describe the PADI Rescue Diver course. Building upon what you’ve already learned, this course expands on what you already know about how to prevent problems, and how to manage them if they occur.

The Fun Part

The fun part about this course is rising to challenges and mastering them. Most divers find this course both demanding and rewarding, and at the end, say it’s the best course they’ve ever taken.

1. Self rescue
2. Recognizing and managing stress in other divers
3. Emergency management and equipment
4. Rescuing panicked divers
5. Rescuing unresponsive divers

To enroll in the PADI Rescue Diver course, you must:

1. Be 12 years or older
2. Have a PADI Adventure Diver certification (or have a qualifying certification from another organization)
3. Be trained and current for first aid and CPR within the previous two years (Ask your instructor about Emergency First Response CPR and first aid courses).

Do you have a deep and abiding passion for diving? Or, do you merely love it with all of your heart? If so, you should consider doing what you love for a living: become a PADI Divemaster.

When you Join the Tribe™ by becoming a PADI Divemaster, you align yourself with the largest and most respected dive tribe in the world—that of PADI Professionals. These are PADI Divemasters and Instructors sharing a passion for diving and an active concern for the health of the world’s underwater habitats.

PADI Divemaster Course

Looking for the first step in working with scuba as a career? Your adventure into the professional levels of recreational scuba diving begins with the PADI Divemaster program. Working closely with a PADI Instructor, in this program you expand your dive knowledge and hone your skills to the professional level. PADI Divemaster training develops your leadership abilities, qualifying you to supervise dive activities and assist instructors with student divers. PADI Divemaster is the prerequisite certification for both the PADI Assistant Instructor and PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor certifications.

During the PADI Divemaster program, you learn dive leadership skills through both classroom and independent study. You complete water skills and stamina exercises, as well as training exercises that stretch your ability to organize and solve problems as well as help others improve their scuba. You put this knowledge into action through a structured internship or series of practical training exercises.

As you progress through your Divemaster course, you’ll expand your diving knowledge, hone you skills and increase your confidence. Then, as a PADI Divemaster, you’ll use these attributes to lead, mentor and motivate other divers and experience the joy of seeing them transformed by the majesty of the the acquatic realm.

To take this course, you must be:

1. Be 18 years old
2. A PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)
3. A PADI Rescue Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)
4. An Emergency First Response Primary and Secondary Care (or qualifying first aid and CPR training from another organization) course completion within the past 24 months.
5. Have at least 40 dives to begin the course and 60 for certification
6. Be fit for diving and submit a Medical Statement (PDF) signed by a physician within the last 12 months.