Professional Association of Diving Instructors

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is the world's largest recreational diving membership and diver training organization.

PADI members, including dive centers, resorts, educational facilities, instructors, and divemasters, teach the majority of the world's recreational divers, issuing nearly 946,000 certifications each year. PADI operates offices in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. The corporate headquarters, PADI Worldwide, is located in California, United States. PADI Offices serve more than 130,000 individual professional members and more than 4,300 dive centers and resorts in more than 175 countries and territories. Translations of PADI materials are available in more than 20 languages. PADI's market share worldwide is approximately fifty percent.

PADI courses range from entry levels (such as Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver) to master scuba diver and a full range of instructor certificates. The system is composed of standardized "modules" divided into theory and practice. Theory is mainly conveyed by way of self-study and confirmation of the student's level of knowledge in discussions with a diving instructor, while practice is obtained through training in pools and in open water. Upon completion of each course, a certificate is issued which is widely accepted as proof of proficiency throughout the world.

PADI courses are known for being shorter than other dive programs, and at the introductory level emphasize practical safety issues instead of theoretical concepts such as the physics and chemistry of diving. Other dive instruction programs have adopted similar techniques. Criticism of PADI programs has focused on their alleged high prices and less-rigorous standards for training. Another criticism, popular in the UK, is that the PADI approach encourages the belief that diving in warm clear waters is the same as diving in cold murky waters. However, this is contrary to PADI training and PADI promotes the use of speciality courses and local orientation sessions, which teach divers required new skills and provide ongoing revenue to its members.

PADI Non Certification programs

PADI Discover Scuba Diving
PADI Discover Snorkeling

PADI Kids programs

PADI Seal Team
PADI Bubble Maker

PADI Recreational Diving Certifications

PADI Skin Diver (Snorkeling)
PADI Junior Scuba Diver
PADI Scuba Diver
PADI Junior Open Water Diver
PADI Open Water Diver
PADI National Geographic Diver
PADI Adventure Diver
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
PADI Rescue Diver
PADI Speciality Courses
PADI Master Scuba Diver

PADI Speciality Courses

PADI provide a range of speciality courses, examples of which include:

PADI Altitude Diver Speciality Course
PADI Boat Diver Speciality Course
PADI Cavern Diver Speciality Course
PADI Deep Diver Speciality Courses
PADI Dry Suit Diver Speciality Course
PADI Night Diver Speciality Course
PADI Underwater Photographer Speciality Course
PADI Wreck Diver Speciality Course
PADI Underwater Naturalist Speciality Course
PADI Drift Diver Speciality Course
PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Speciality Course
PADI Underwater Photographer Speciality Course
PADI Project AWARE Fish Identification Speciality Course
PADI AWARE - Coral Reef Conservation Speciality Course
PADI Diver Propulsion Vehicle Speciality Course
PADI Enriched Air Diver Speciality Course
PADI Equipment Specialist Speciality Course
PADI Ice Diver Speciality Course
PADI Multilevel Diver Speciality Course
PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Speciality Course
PADI Project AWARE Specialty Course Speciality Course
PADI Search and Recovery Speciality Course
PADI Semiclosed Rebreather Course Speciality Course
PADI Underwater Naturalist Speciality Course
PADI Underwater Navigator Speciality Course
PADI Underwater Videographer Speciality Course

PADI Professional Certifications

PADI Divemaster
PADI Assistant Instructor
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
PADI Specialty Instructor
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
PADI IDC Staff Instructor
PADI Master Instructor
PADI Course Director

External links

http://www.padi.com

Diver training agency

Professional Association of Diving Instructors | Professional Association of Diving Instructors | Professional Association of Diving Instructors | PADI