PADI Diving courses

PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) is the world's leading scuba diver training organization, offering various courses for individuals of all experience levels. Whether you're just starting your diving journey or looking to advance your skills, PADI has a course for you.

PADI Discover Scuba Diving

The PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience is an introductory dive program designed for individuals without scuba diving experience. It's great to taste scuba diving before committing to a certification course.

During the Discover Scuba Diving experience, you will learn the basic safety guidelines and skills required to dive under the supervision of a PADI Professional. The session usually begins with a brief introduction to the equipment you will use and an explanation of basic diving principles.

Following this, you'll practice a few essential skills in a pool or shallow water to prepare for your open-water dive. These skills may include learning how to breathe underwater, clearing water from your mask, and recovering your regulator.

Once you're comfortable with the basics, you'll be taken on an actual dive in open water, such as a sea or ocean. This dive is typically to a maximum depth of 12 meters (40 feet) and is always conducted under the close supervision of a PADI Professional.

The Discover Scuba Diving experience is a fantastic way to explore the underwater world for the first time. It's not a certification course, but your experience may count toward PADI Scuba Diver or Open Water Diver certification if you continue your training.

 

PADI Open Water

The PADI Open Water Diver course is the first complete, license-granting course in the PADI system. It's the world's most popular scuba course and has introduced millions of people to the adventurous diving lifestyle.

The course consists of three main phases:

1. Knowledge Development: This phase can be completed online, in a classroom, or through self-study. You'll learn the basic principles of scuba diving, including understanding what happens to your body while diving, managing your buoyancy, navigating underwater, and planning dives. You'll also learn about the equipment you'll be using.
   
   
2. Confined Water Dives: These dives are typically conducted in a swimming or pool-like environment. Here, you'll learn and practice basic scuba skills, such as setting up your gear, clearing your mask, recovering your regulator, and emergency procedures.
   
   
3. Open Water Dives: The final phase of the course involves applying what you've learned in four open water dives. These dives are usually conducted in a lake or the ocean under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. You'll demonstrate the skills you learned in confined water while exploring the underwater world.

Upon completing the course, you'll earn your PADI Open Water Diver certification, which allows you to dive independently with a buddy to a maximum depth of 18 meters (60 feet). This certification is recognized worldwide and is your ticket to a lifetime of underwater exploration.

 

PADI Advanced Open Water

The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is designed to improve your underwater knowledge and skills. You can enroll in the Advanced Open Water Diver course immediately after the certification of your PADI Open Water Diver.

This course allows you to gain more experience, build confidence, and broaden your scuba skills through Adventure Dives. You'll plan your learning path with your instructor by choosing from a list of Adventure Dives.

The course consists of five Adventure Dives, including mandatory Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation Dives, along with three other dives chosen by the student from a range of options such as Peak Performance Buoyancy, Wreck Diving, Night Diving, Search and Recovery, and many more.

Each Adventure Dive in the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course may credit toward the first dive of the corresponding PADI Specialty Diver course.

Upon completion, you'll earn the Advanced Open Water Diver certification, which allows you to dive to a maximum depth of 30 meters (100 feet). This course helps you increase your confidence and build your scuba skills to become more comfortable in the water.

 

Emergency First Response - EFR

Emergency First Response (EFR) is a comprehensive first-aid training program PADI offers. It's designed to build rescuer confidence in providing care when faced with a medical emergency. EFR courses meet the CPR and first aid training requirements for the PADI Rescue Diver course and all professional-level ratings.

The EFR course encompasses two main components:

1. Primary Care (CPR): This teaches you how to respond to life-threatening emergencies. The course focuses on primary care through knowledge development, skill development, and realistic scenario practice to ensure confidence in providing care when emergencies arise.
2. Secondary Care (First Aid): This covers injuries or illnesses that are not immediately life-threatening. Participants focus on secondary assessment and first aid through knowledge development, skill development, and realistic scenario practice.

Key topics of EFR include:

• The role of the first responder
• Recognizing an emergency
• Taking the decision to help
• Infection control
• Essential life support (CPR)
• Bleeding and shock management
• Illness assessment
• Injury assessment
• Bandaging and splinting

The EFR course must be diving-specific and, therefore, open to anyone. It's an excellent course for anyone interested in learning first aid and CPR skills, whether they are divers or not. The skills learned in the EFR course are invaluable and provide a solid foundation for the rescue skills divers need.

 

PADI Rescue Diver course

The PADI Rescue Diver course is pivotal in expanding a diver's knowledge and experience. Beyond simply looking after yourself, you'll learn to consider the safety and well-being of other divers. Although this course is challenging, it's also gratifying, and most divers find it one of their favorite courses.

The Rescue Diver course prepares you to deal with minor and significant dive emergencies using various techniques. Knowledge development and rescue exercises teach you what to look for and how to respond.

The PADI Rescue course covers:

1. Self-rescue: How to recognize and manage stress in other divers and rescue diver self-rescue.
   
   
2. Recognizing and managing stress in other divers: You'll learn to identify signs of stress and how to manage stressful situations.
   
   
3. Emergency management and equipment: The course covers handling emergency situations, including using available equipment.
   
   
4. Rescuing panicked divers: You'll learn techniques for dealing with a diver experiencing panic on the surface and underwater.
   
   
5. Rescuing unresponsive divers: The course also covers how to rescue an unresponsive diver on the surface and underwater.

The course culminates in two Rescue Scenarios in which you apply the skills you've learned to manage and coordinate a real-life rescue situation.

Upon completion, you'll be a more competent and confident diver, ready to handle emergencies should they arise.

 

PADI Refresher course

The PADI Refresher Course, also known as the ReActivate™ program, is designed for certified divers who have not dived for a while and want to refresh their diving knowledge and skills. It's a quick and easy way to update your dive safety information and review the diving procedures.

The program consists of two main components:

1. Knowledge Review: You can complete This theory component online with PADI eLearning. It covers the basic safety concepts and procedures every diver should know. You'll review dive planning, problem management, and dive tables. After completing the knowledge review, you'll take a quick quiz to ensure you retain the information.
   
   
2. Confined Water Dive: This is a practical session with a PADI Professional in a pool or a pool-like environment. You'll review basic scuba skills, such as setting up your gear, buoyancy control, mask clearing, regulator recovery, and emergency procedures.

Upon completing the PADI Refresher Course, you'll feel more confident and comfortable in the water, ready to dive in again. You'll also receive a new certification card with the ReActivated date.

Diving is a perishable skill, and regular practice is the best way to keep your skills sharp. If it's been a while since your last dive, the PADI Refresher Course is a great way to ensure you're ready for your next underwater adventure.

 

PADI Specialties

PADI Specialty Diver courses are a great way to hone your skills and learn new ones. Each specialty focuses on a specific skill or type of diving, allowing you to explore your interests in more depth and become a more versatile diver.

There are a wide variety of PADI Specialty Diver courses to choose from, including:

• Deep Diver: Learn techniques for diving in the deeper range of 18-40 meters/60-130 feet.
• Wreck Diver: Learn how to explore shipwrecks safely.
• Night Diver: Discover what happens underwater after the sun goes down.
• Underwater Photographer: Learn how to take your photography skills underwater.
• Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox): Learn how to safely extend your no-stop time by diving with enriched air nitrox.
• Peak Performance Buoyancy: Fine-tune your buoyancy and soar over reefs or perform better in underwater photography.
• Search and Recovery Diver: Learn practical ways to find objects underwater and bring them to the surface.
• Underwater Navigator: Learn how to navigate using kick-cycles, visual landmarks, and time.
• Drysuit Diver: Learn to dive with a dry suit to stay warm and comfortable in cold waters.
• Project AWARE Specialist: Learn about the plight of worldwide aquatic ecosystems and how you can help preserve them.

 

Each Specialty Diver course requires various dives and can be completed in as little as one day to an entire weekend. After completing five specialty courses and logging 50 dives, you can earn the highest non-professional rank in the PADI system - the Master Scuba Diver.