What is PADI?
PADI is a recreational diving agency. The agency trains and certifies students to become members in both beginner and professional levels of diving.
PADI offers scuba diving, freediving, skin-diving (snorkeling), and technical diving courses. These courses are standardized around the world. This means if you undertake a PADI Open Water course in Australia, it will be exactly the same as if you took the PADI course in Thailand. This also allows you to split the course if you needed to. For example; you could do half the course at home, and the rest of the course while on a tropical holiday!
When you complete a PADI course and become certified with this agency, then dive centers will know your level of training and allow you to dive according to the agency’s limits.
Do you need to be certified to go scuba diving?
What does PADI stand for?
PADI stands for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. It was established in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson.
PADI Overview
According to PADI’s statistics:
- Since 1967, PADI has issued over 27 million diver certifications globally.
- PADI issues one million certifications annually.
- PADI has more than 137,000 professional members around the world.
- There are more than 6,600 PADI Dive Centers and Resorts globally.
- PADI operates in 186 countries and territories.
PADI Scuba Medical Form
This is the current standard scuba diving medical form for PADI courses.
PADI Scuba Diving Medical Form
You will need to complete this form prior to any scuba diving course with PADI. Please check with your dive center or instructor for more information.
How Do I Get my PADI?
To get certified with PADI, you can find a PADI dive center or a PADI instructor and complete a course with them. You will receive PADI materials, and work through several modules to be certified. These usually include some theory, confined water sessions, and dives in the open water.
What is the minimum age to join PADI?
The minimum age for a PADI dive experience such as a ‘Bubblemaker’ try-dive is 8 years old.
The minimum age for a PADI scuba diving course is 10 years old with depth restrictions.
Read more about the depth restrictions and requirements for children here.
The minimum age for a PADI Professional Member, such as a DiveMaster or an Instructor, is 18 years old.
Is a PADI certification worth it?
Getting certified as a scuba diver is important if you want to continue diving for safety and practical reasons. It allows you to dive in different places, whether locally or internationally. A certification with an agency means you have trained to a high standard, and know safety procedures if an emergency were to happen.
A PADI certification is a great one to have as it is a widely recognised and international dive agency. You could go anywhere around the world, present your certification card or email, and the dive center will know your level of training and allow you to dive.
Is it worth it?
Yes, in our opinion!
How to find my PADI certification number?
Lost your PADI certification card? Or maybe you have accidentally deleted the email confirmation. Never fear. Any PADI affiliated dive center or PADI Professional can search for you in the international PADI system using your full name and birth-date.
Find out more about your PADI diving certification card, and what to do if you lose it!