PADI Scuba Diver Certification

The first step in exploring the underwater world and embarking on National Geographic-style adventure is signing up for and then completing a scuba diver certification course. Around the world, the most common program for dive training is offered by PADI. PADI-certified divers have sufficient skill mastery to participate in dive excursions of the type often encountered in dive travel destinations such as Florida or Thailand.

  1. Identification

    • The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is an organization that standardizes and certifies diving instructors and diving schools. While it is the largest dive instruction organization in the world, it is not the only one. The National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) is another such organization in the United States, while other countries have organizations of their own.

      The basic dive certification offered by PADI is called Open Water (OW) Diver. A PADI OW certification card is recognized worldwide, regardless of who a given dive shop or school is affiliated with.

    Requirements

    • The minimum age for OW training is 10. That is raised to 13 if the diver uses PADI's e-learning program due to Internet laws. Divers should be in good health and free of cardio-pulmonary ailments. There is also a basic swimming skills test, where students must tread water for 10 minutes and complete a 200 yard swim without fins.

    Training

    • OW training is organized into three stages. First is knowledge development, or classroom training designed to introduce key concepts, like what different articles of scuba gear do or what decompression sickness is. The second stage consists of five confined water dives, conducted in a swimming pool or a sheltered cove or harbor. This is where a diver learns how to use the equipment and handle basic problems, like clearing a dive mask of water. The final stage is to confirm the skills learned in the confined water dive, which is done through four open-water dives. These dives are essentially easy recreational dives conducted under close supervision.

      PADI operates an e-learning program, which enables divers to take their knowledge development stage online. This means such a diver needs to only appear at the dive shop for practical, in-the-water dive training.

    Benefits

    • OW certification is sufficient to competently handle scuba equipment and solve basic, minor problems of the type that might be encountered on recreational dives. The customary depth limit for divers with OW training is 60 feet, and OW divers are skilled enough to join the type of underwater guided tours conducted by dive shops around the world and look after themselves.

    Warning

    • Divers with OW certification and no further training or dive experience are not skilled enough to be planning and conducting independent dive operations. PADI's OW course does not include enough training in underwater navigation to prevent a diver from becoming lost underwater under any but the most simple of circumstances, and it also does not clear divers to engage in more demanding tasks, such as penetrating a shipwreck. OW certification is merely the first step in learning how to dive and should be treated as such.