Become a Certified Diver
Knowledge Development
The knowledge development portion of the course is designed so you can learn at your own pace and when it's convenient for you. Complete the academics online or at a PADI Dive Shop.
Confined Water Dives
Develop and practice scuba skills in a pool or water with pool-like conditions under direct instructor supervision. As you learn new skills, you’ll build the abilities and confidence needed for diving in open water, such as in a lake or the ocean.
Open Water Dives
Get ready to experience everything you've learned with the freedom of open water. As soon as your open water training dives are approved by your instructor you will be certified as a PADI Open Water Diver, enabling you to embark on unforgettable adventures.
What You Need to Know
Time Commitment
PADI courses are performance-based, enabling you to progress at your own pace. This type of learning ensures competent and prepared divers. Course completion varies by individual and normally takes between 4 and 7 days.
Cost
Learning to scuba dive is comparable to other popular adventure sports and outdoor activities. You can expect to pay about the same as you would for a full day of surf lessons, a weekend of rock climbing lessons or about three hours of private golf lessons.
Essential Gear
The fit and comfort of your personal equipment are keys to having an enjoyable diving experience. At a minimum, you'll want your own mask, snorkel and fins when you begin your first course. Your PADI Dive Shop can help you select gear that's right for you when you're ready to buy.
Get started with these popular
diving courses.
Learning to dive is one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. Earning your PADI certification will forever change the way you see the world, both above and below the surface.
Discover Scuba Diving
The PADI Scuba Diver course is a subset of the PADI Open Water Diver course and an intermediate step for earning an Open Water Diver certification. If you’re short on time but really want to become a diver, the PADI Scuba Diver rating might be right for you—particularly if you expect to go scuba diving primarily with a dive guide.
Open Water Diver
If you’ve always wanted to take scuba diving lessons, experience unparalleled adventure and see the world beneath the waves, this is where it starts. Get your scuba diving certification with the PADI Open Water Diver.
Advance Your Diving Skills
Build Expertise
Continuing your dive education increases opportunities for exploration and introduces you to new and exciting ways to experience the underwater world. You can sign up for a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course immediately after earning your Open Water Diver certification.
Dive Deeper
Being more confident in the water is what every diver desires and the PADI Rescue Diver course will help you get there. During the course, you become a better buddy by learning the skills and awareness to prevent problems.
Become a Better Buddy
With more than 26 courses to choose from, PADI Specialty Courses like Digital Underwater Photography, Wreck Diver or Night Diver, teach you new techniques and give you the tools to enhance your exploration and passion for diving.
Explore PADI Specialties
Enriched Air
The PADI Enriched Air Diver? course is PADI’s most popular specialty scuba course. Why? Because scuba diving with enriched air nitrox gives you more no decompression time, especially on repetitive scuba dives. If staying down longer and getting back in the water sooner sounds appealing, then don’t hesitate to become an enriched air diver.
Deep Diver
There’s something exciting and mysterious about exploring deeper dive sites. Whether it’s a wreck or a wall dive that lures you deeper, the Deep Diver course enables you to dive with confidence at depths down to 40 metres/130 feet.
Night Diver
The thought of dipping below the surface at night seems mysterious, yet so alluring. While diving at night you drop into a whole new world and watch it come to life under the glow of your dive light. The scene changes as day creatures retire and nocturnal organisms emerge. Sign up for the PADI Night Diver Specialty course.
Continue your dive adventure
As a certified scuba diver you’ve witnessed firsthand the wonders that lie within our planet's waters. Your Open Water Diver Certification introduced you to a world of adventure and discovery, and made you keenly aware that you've only just scratched the surface of the underwater world. PADI continuing education courses are designed to advance your scuba skills and give you the added confidence to keep doing what you love.
PADI Divemaster
The PADI Divemaster course teaches you to be a leader and take charge of dive activities. Through knowledge development sessions, waterskills exercises and workshops, and hands-on practical assessment, you develop the skills to organize and direct a variety of scuba diving activities.
Rescue Diver
Scuba divers describe the PADI Rescue Diver course as the most challenging, yet most rewarding course they’ve ever taken. Learn to prevent and manage problems in the water and become more confident in your skills as a diver, knowing that you can help others if needed.
Advanced Open Water Diver
You can begin your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course right after earning your Open Water diver certification. This course will take your diving to new depths by enhancing your dive skills and giving you the confidence to explore more of the underwater world.
Become a PADI Instructor
PADI Divemaster
As a PADI Divemaster you'll lead dives, mentor others and witness life transformations. Whether you want to work at a faraway dive destination or close to home at a local dive shop, the adventure of a lifetime awaits you.
PADI Instructor Development Course
A PADI Divemaster who has been a certified diver for six months and has logged at least 60 dives may enroll in the PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC). Over the course of about seven days, the IDC prepares you to teach and conduct all PADI core courses.
Instructor Examination
The final step to earning a PADI Instructor certification is the Instructor Examination (IE). The IE is a two-day evaluative program that tests an instructor candidate’s teaching ability and professionalism. Only those who meet the IE performance requirements earn the respected PADI Instructor certification.
Why Teach PADI
Career Development
As with any career, professional development is paramount to your success. PADI provides an in-depth instructor development system that prepares you to reach for higher levels and shape the next generation of PADI Divers and Professionals.
Be the Best
PADI Professionals are the most sought-after around the world because they are held to the highest standards for training in the diving industry.
Live Anywhere
With more than 6,400 PADI Dive Shops issuing nearly one million certifications each year, you'll find job opportunities in every corner of the globe. Love your job anywhere you've ever dreamed of living.
Build your career and share
your passion.
As a PADI Professional, you can live a life of which others only dream. Whether you work in a local dive shop, at a resort or on a liveaboard dive boat, you'll be one of the special few who work doing what they love. On the path to becoming a PADI Professional, you will train with experienced and dedicated dive educators and discover a career that allows you to transform lives and share incredible underwater adventures.
PADI Divemaster
The PADI Divemaster course teaches you to be a leader and take charge of dive activities. Through knowledge development sessions, waterskills exercises and workshops, and hands-on practical assessment, you develop the skills to organize and direct a variety of scuba diving activities.
PADI Mermaid Program
Introducing the New PADI Mermaid
Program
Many people have a desire to imitate the underwater abilities of mythical mermaids. The PADI Mermaid Program helps students become “real-life” mermaids or mermen. It familiarizes divers with the equipment, skills, knowledge, planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems, hazards and enjoyment of “mermaid diving” – that is freediving while equipped and/or costumed to resemble mermaids. The word “mermaid” in China roughly translates to “human fish”. In many Asian cultures like China, Japan, South Korea & Vietnam, the word “mermaid’ is not gender-specific and therefore, the words “man” or “woman” need to be added to specify to a particular gender. The PADI Mermaid program is a stand-alone program like the PADI Freediver program, it doesn’t require scuba or freediver ratings as an underlying certification.
PADI Discover Mermaid Experience
Prerequisites: None. Minimum age: 6 years old. Pool (confined […]
PADI Basic Mermaid
Prerequisite 1: Ability to swim at least 25m/80ft. Prerequisite […]