PADI

Overview

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is the world's largest recreational diving membership and diver training organization, having over 136,000 PADI professionals and 6,200 dive shops and resorts in more than 180 countries worldwide.

John Cronin, originally a NAUI instructor, and Ralph Erickson formed PADI in 1966, when they decided to form their own organization to break diver training down into different courses instead of a single universal course. In the late 1970s and early 80s, PADI had created its own multimedia student and instructor educational materials for each course, distinguishing it from other organizations. In the late 1980s, PADI was a worldwide leading scuba diving training organization.

PADI’s system, made up of over 25 specialty diver courses, allows you to continue your dive education for a lifetime, reaching PADI Divemaster or even PADI Master Scuba Diver. PADI has standardized learning objectives, with its theory mainly conveyed through self-study, using books, computer based training using CD-ROM or online learning, supplemented with video to help the student diver visualize what he/she has learned. Practical learning happens in confined water, while performance evaluations take place in open water.

In addition to the mainstream specialty courses, individual PADI instructors can prepare and teach (with PADI's approval) their own distinctive specialty courses, and dozens of such courses abound. Some of these courses include the less-frequently-used mainstream skills like the "Twin-set diver", "Full face-mask diver", "Surface Marker Buoy", and "Advanced wreck diver" specialties. Other courses are abstract, either with reference to skills or locale; for example, specialties in "Golf ball diver", "Zen/Yoga diver", "Underwater wedding", or site-specific specialties such as “Wreck of the Rhone diver” and “Spiegel Grove Diver”.

Similarly, PADI's sister company, Emergency First Response Corp provides a range of first aid and CPR programs for lay people, including workplace specific programs in Australia, Canada and the UK.

In 1995, PADI founded Project AWARE out of its strong commitment to preserving the aquatic environment. Project AWARE information has been integrated in most courses and divers are offered can offer a donation to the program, and in return, exchange their normal certificate for an AWARE-certificate.

You can even earn college credit with PADI. Various institutions for college credit or funding throughout world recommend PADI courses for college credit equivalency.

PADI courses comply with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for Recreational Diving Services (RDS) by the European Underwater Federation and the Austrian Standards Institute.

PADI Instructor Development Courses have received vocational training recognition by the Vocational Education Training and Accreditation Board (VETAB) in Australia, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and in the England, Wales, and Northern Ireland on the National Qualification Framework.

PADI is a member of the following member councils of the World Recreational Scuba Training Council- the United States RSTC, the RSTC Canada, the RSTC Europe, and the C-Card Council (Japan).