The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a recreational diving membership and diver training organization founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson. PADI courses range from entry level to advanced recreational diver certification. Further, they provide several specialized diving skills courses connected with specific equipment or conditions, some diving related informational courses and a range of recreational diving instructor certifications. They also offer various technical diving courses. As of 2023, PADI is reported to have issued 29 million scuba certifications.
A divemaster (DM) is a role that includes organising and leading recreational dives, particularly in a professional capacity, and is a qualification used in many parts of the world in recreational scuba diving for a diver who has supervisory responsibility for a group of divers and as a dive guide. As well as being a generic term, 'Divemaster' is the title of the first professional rating of many training agencies, such as PADI, SSI, SDI, NASE, except NAUI, which rates a NAUI Divemaster under a NAUI Instructor but above a NAUI Assistant Instructor. The divemaster certification is generally equivalent to the requirements of ISO 24801-3 Dive Leader.
The National Association of Underwater Instructors is a nonprofit association of scuba instructors. It primarily serves as a recreational dive certification and membership organization established to provide international diver standards and education programs. The agency was founded in 1960 by Albert Tillman and Neal Hess. NAUI is headquartered in the Tampa, Florida area with dive and member instructors, resorts, stores, service and training centers located around the world.
Recreational diver training is the process of developing knowledge and understanding of the basic principles, and the skills and procedures for the use of scuba equipment so that the diver is able to dive for recreational purposes with acceptable risk using the type of equipment and in similar conditions to those experienced during training.
Scuba Schools International (SSI) is a for-profit organization that teaches the skills involved in scuba diving and freediving, and supports dive businesses and resorts. SSI has over 2,500 authorized dealers, 35 regional centers, and offices all over the world.
Advanced Open Water Diver (AOWD) is a recreational scuba diving certification level provided by several diver training agencies. Agencies offering this level of training under this title include Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), and Scuba Schools International (SSI). Other agencies offer similar training under different titles. Advanced Open Water Diver is one step up from entry level certification as a beginner autonomous scuba diver. A major difference between Autonomous diver equivalent Open Water Diver (OWD) certification and AOWD is that the depth limit is increased from 18 to 30 metres.
CMAS one-star scuba diver is the entry-level diving certification for recreational scuba diving issued by the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS).
Scuba Diving International (SDI) is a Scuba training and certification agency. It is the recreational arm of Technical Diving International, a technical diver training organization.
ACUC, American and Canadian Underwater Certifications Inc. is an international recreational diving membership and diver training organization. Formerly known as the Association of Canadian Underwater Councils, it was formed as a not for profit collective of regional dive councils to create a national forum for their common interest and concerns. It soon began developing a training curriculum better suited to the Canadian conditions that many other training agencies neglected. It was later incorporated in 1986 in Canada by Robert Cronkwright. Cronkwright was a National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) instructor from 1969 to 1971. In 1971 he crossed over to the Association of Canadian Underwater Councils and became a Training Director, Secretary/Treasurer and later Vice President of the Association (1972–1984). He was also Training Director for the Ontario Underwater Council (OUC) in the 1970s.
The World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to creating minimum recreational diving training standards for the various scuba diving certification agencies across the world. The WRSTC restricts its membership to national or regional councils. These councils consist of individual training organizations who collectively represent at least 50% of the annual diver certifications in the member council's country or region. A national council is referred to as a RSTC.
The European Underwater Federation (EUF) is an umbrella organisation representing the interests of scuba diver training organisations operating in both the not for profit and for profit sectors within Europe.
Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) is an international federation that represents underwater activities in underwater sport and underwater sciences, and oversees an international system of recreational snorkel and scuba diver training and recognition. It is also known by its English name, the World Underwater Federation, and its Spanish name, Confederación Mundial De Actividades Subacuáticas. Its foundation in Monaco during January 1959 makes it one of the world's oldest underwater diving organisations.
A Diving certification or C-card is a document recognizing that an individual or organization authorized to do so, "certifies" that the bearer has completed a course of training as required by the agency issuing the card. This is assumed to represent a defined level of skill and knowledge in underwater diving. Divers carry a qualification record or certification card which may be required to prove their qualifications when booking a dive trip, hiring scuba equipment, filling diving cylinders or in the case of professional divers, seeking employment.
Open Water Diver (OWD) is an entry-level autonomous diver certification for recreational scuba diving. Although different agencies use different names, similar entry-level courses are offered by all recreational diving agencies and consist of a combination of knowledge development (theory), confined water dives and open water dives (experience) suitable to allow the diver to dive on open circuit scuba, in open water to a limited depth and in conditions similar to those in which the diver has been trained or later gained appropriate experience, to an acceptable level of safety.
YMCA SCUBA Program was an underwater diving training program operated by YMCA of the USA from 1959 to 2008. It was the first nationally organised underwater diving instruction program offered in the United States of America. A program with a similar content is now delivered by Scuba Educators International, an organisation founded by a group of former senior YMCA SCUBA instructors in 2008.
Dive RAID International is a dive training organization which was founded in 2007 to support diver training for the Poseidon Mk VI Discovery Rebreather. It has since extended its scope to include open circuit scuba training and training for both recreational and technical diving sectors as well as snorkeling and freediving.
Autonomous diver is an international minimum standard for entry level recreational scuba diver certification. It describes the minimum requirements for basic training and certification for recreational scuba divers in international standard ISO 24801-2 and the equivalent European Standard EN 14153-2. Various organizations offer training that meets the requirements of the Autonomous Diver standard. A certification which corresponds to Autonomous Diver allows for independent diving with a dive buddy in open water. Most training organizations do not recommend exceeding a depth of 18 or 20 meters at this level of certification. After completion of this certification the training can be extended to a dive leader to ISO 24801-3 or an intermediate not defined by international standards.
Recreational scuba certification levels are the levels of skill represented by recreational scuba certification. Each certification level is associated with a specific training standard published by the certification agency, and a training programme associated with the standard., though in some cases recognition of prior learning can apply. These levels of skill can be categorised in several ways:
Professional Technical and Recreational Diving(ProTec) is an international diver certification agency based in Munich, Germany.
