PADI, or the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, offers certification courses for prospective scuba divers all over the country. These courses provide you with the training required to dive safely and avoid accidents. Dive shops require you to show your certification card before you can get a tank filled, and dive sites typically require you to show your card before you can dive.
History
In 1966, PADI became the country's second national organization devoted to training and certifying scuba divers. NAUI, the National Association of Underwater Instructors, had been formed in 1960. PADI trained 3,226 divers in its first year, according to MarineBio.org. PADI eventually outgrew NAUI, and the organization has become the largest recreational diving organization in the world, according to MarineBio.org. Professional PADI instructors issue about 946,000 certifications per year.
Course Format
PADI certification courses include three phases. In the knowledge development phase, you'll learn about the basic science involved in scuba diving and the risks scuba divers face. You'll learn scuba diving terminology as well. You can take this portion of PADI courses online through PADI e-learning, or you can attend classroom sessions at your local dive shop. In the confined water dives, you'll practice important skills in a swimming pool or similar setting. You'll learn how to set up your gear, how to share a regulator with a buddy underwater, how to clear your mask and how to make a safe ascent. In the course's final open water dives, you'll have to demonstrate your mastery of these skills to the instructor.
Courses
PADI offers a wide variety of certification courses for beginning and advanced divers. Once you earn your basic open water certification, you can proceed to more advanced technical and specialty courses. PADI offers courses in rescue diving, emergency first response, Nitrox, Trimix, closed circuit and semi-closed circuit rebreathers, boat diving, cavern and cave diving, deep diving, drift diving, dry suit diving, ice diving, night diving, wreck diving, underwater photography, underwater videography and navigation. You can also train to become a PADI instructor.
Prerequisites
You must be at least 10 years old to sign up for an open-water certification course. You must also pass a basic swimming test and demonstrate physical and medical fitness with a signed doctor's note. For more advanced courses, PADI typically requires students to be at least 15 or 18 years old. You will also need to hold certain certifications and you may need to have logged a certain number of dives.
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