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85-462: In 1966, PADI was founded by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson. Cronin was originally a NAUI instructor who decided to form his own organization with Erickson, and to break diver training down into several modular courses instead of the single universal course then prevalent. Erickson developed continuing education scuba courses during this time and wrote the initial issue of the first trade magazine for scuba instructors, The Undersea Journal . Cronin got

170-414: A parachute sea anchor can be deployed to minimise drift. Windage will generally position the buoy and boat downwind of the parachute. The other end of the tether is clipped to the diver's harness or buoyancy compensator by some form of quick-release shackle. These procedures and equipment can also be used at night. If a sea anchor is deployed to limit drift, it must be kept clear of the divers to minimise

255-546: A PADI Divemaster registered with PADI to run the specific course. Some additional training and course attendance is required. These courses do not include actual diving skills, just skills or knowledge that may be useful while diving or interesting in the context of diving. Some PADI training standards have been found to be ambiguous of contradictory, For example, the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course does not require direct instructor supervision of

340-429: A depth restriction. Confined water has some of the characteristics of benign water, in that it is not possible to accidentally stray from the environment, but although some usages of the term confined water imply benign conditions, that meaning is not inherent in the term, as water in a confined space may logically be referred to as confined water, and such confined water may contain significant hazards. Benign water

425-412: A few variations of open water environments with more specific names. There are also a number of named diving environments which are usually also open water environments. The extreme case of open water is the deep open ocean, where the bottom is at a depth which is irrelevant to the diver as there would be no chance of surviving long enough to reach it. Open oceanic water is often remarkably clear, but this

510-549: A magazine called The Skin Diver (later renamed Skin Diver Magazine ). Two-year dive teacher Neal Earl Hess contributed to its "The Instructors Corner" column to inform readers about scuba. He soon established a column called "The National Diving Patrol" as a section to name new skin and scuba diving "instructors". Still, no official training and certifying agency existed, except for the training and resources provided by

595-491: A membership of over 128,000 professional members and 6,600 dive centers, and had awarded more than 28 million diving certifications internationally. PADI operates in 186 countries and territories. From 2015-2020, the average male to female membership split was approximately 63% to 37% respectively. The organization hosts Women's Dive Day events across the globe in an effort to increase awareness for women divers . PADI courses are performance-based diver training programs, and at

680-649: A nationally or state accredited training provider. PADI courses are recognized, recommended and cited by the institutions and organizations listed below for both recreational diving and vocational training . PADI courses are recommended for college credit in the US by ACE. PADI is a member of the United States Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC). Recognition's and equivalencies has been established between PADI and Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques ,

765-399: A necessary condition for classification of a dive as an open water dive, as a decompression obligation is a procedural and safety restriction on immediate ascent to the surface, but this does not affect the classification of the venue as open water. Swim-throughs – the recreational diving term for arches and short, clear, tunnels where the natural light can be seen at the far end, and there

850-505: A pioneer of diving medicine. Actor Lloyd Bridges was the first honorary NAUI instructor member. He played frogman "Mike Nelson" in the American television series Sea Hunt , which popularized scuba diving as a recreational sport. Zale Parry played the female role, and she formally instructed Lloyd Bridges on how to dive for the part. She was a research diver starring in the television's first underwater documentary series, Kingdom of

935-513: A range of categories, including "Essentials", "Safety Focus", "Advanced Skills", "Cold Water", "Conservation", " Photography ", "Discovery", " Freediving " and " Technical Diving ". For the youth demographic, the Padi Seal Team and Bubblemaker Programs are provided for students ages 8+. As of 2023, the courses in "Beginner", "Continuing Education" and "Professional" categories include: PADI training standards are generally inaccessible to

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1020-483: A separate corporation in 1972. NAUI instructors certified more than 40,000 entry-level scuba divers in 1970 alone; 1979 was a year with over 5,000 newly certified NAUI scuba instructors. By the time 1989 came around, over 12,000 NAUI instructors were certified. NAUI Worldwide had established a network of 20 service centers in 1998. From 1981 to 1997, NAUI headquarters facilities remained in Montclair, California . It

1105-422: A specialty instructor for several specialties, without demonstrating competence to teach or even perform those specialties, including Dry Suit Diver, which requires a significant skill set and understanding of the principles to be done safely. PADI offers a specialty program called Public Safety Diver for divers who are either employed in or serve as volunteers in the public safety diving sector principally within

1190-565: A student during "adventure dives", which may include a diver's first experience using a dry suit, while the standard for the PADI Dry Suit Diver course requires not only direct supervision of the student by the instructor, during open water dives, but also that open water dives must be preceded by a theory class, and a confined water skills training session, both of which must be satisfactorily completed before venturing into open water. A PADI Open Water Instructor can be registered as

1275-451: A swimming pool to practicing skills in open water in which the environment is not restricted to a small, controlled locality and depth, with conditions more typical of a natural body of water which might be used by divers, and the range of hazards and associated risk is significantly expanded. In this context confined water and benign water are special cases of open water, as they comply with the more general condition of unobstructed access to

1360-556: A wide range of plankton that would not often be seen by day or closer inshore. This is known as blackwater photography. Weighted downlines are commonly used to provide a stable vertical reference. These may be tied to the boat or supported by a buoy. Each diver may be attached to a downline using a shorter tether to ensure that divers do not go too far from the boat or too deep. The downline may be marked with lights to indicate depth and to attract mobile organisms. A wide range of animal life may be seen, including many species that spend

1445-573: A worldwide coverage instructor liability insurance policy in 1974. This worldwide policy allowed members of the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands and other islands of the Caribbean, and military personnel stationed in various areas around the world to receive worldwide coverage. NAUI's rescue certification course was first proposed and made available to members in 1981 to provide an alternative to

1530-1051: A worldwide group of dive shops and resorts committed to selling PADI products and promoting the PADI diving and marketing philosophy. PADI Worldwide, Inc., contracts directly with member dive shops, to join the RRA, and PADI Americas, Inc., administers the RRA in the United States. A PADI 5 Star Dive Center is a dive centre that exclusively offers PADI training and certification, has been a PADI dive centre for at least 12 months, with no verified violations of PADI quality assurance over that period and no open QA investigations, and have been awarded all three of PADI's dive centre recognition awards (the criteria for which do not appear to be publicly available). The centre must also advertise to recruit and retain customers. The centre must have provided at least one course each of Advanced Open Water Diver, PADI Rescue Diver, and Divemadter or Assistant Instructor, in

1615-516: A year. PADI was the first organization to use confined water or pool dives for training new divers and introduced the PADI Rescue Diver course and manual for rescue training during the 1980s. In 1989, PADI founded Project AWARE to help conserve underwater environments. In 1992, Project AWARE Foundation became a registered nonprofit organization with an environmental mission and purpose. PADI continues to partner with PADI AWARE, supporting

1700-442: Is allied with Divers Alert Network , a non-profit organization for diver's assistance and medical research on recreational scuba diving safety, developed by Executive Director Dan Orr in 1980. DAN and NAUI allied in 2007 to work together for diver safety. DAN is the official dive accident insurance provider for NAUI. In November 2015, DAN and NAUI renewed their alliance to extend their reach of dive safety programs. NAUI initiated

1785-438: Is composed of modules with standardized learning objectives divided into theory and practical skills development. Each module is a stand-alone course for which certification is provided to the participant on successful completion of the course. Theory is mainly conveyed by way of self-study using books or digital training using PADI E-Learning. All study options are supplemented with video and, in most cases, live instruction to help

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1870-407: Is enough clearance that it is theoretically possible for the diver to pass through the narrowest point without contact with the sides, bottom or ceiling, are technically an overhead environment, but this is often overlooked by divers as there is no risk of getting lost inside, and the risk of entrapment is generally low. Divers progress from learning diving skills in confined or benign water such as

1955-429: Is focused on small organisms or instruments at close range is likely to have diminished awareness of depth, buoyancy, current, surge, other divers, large organisms, and even the direction to the surface. An accepted procedure for scientific blue-water collection diving with several working divers, is to tether the working divers to a central hub connected to a surface platform, and to have an in-water safety diver attend

2040-617: Is headquartered in Riverview, Florida near Tampa with dive and member instructors, resorts, stores, service and training centers located around the world. It was officially CE and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified in May 2007 in all three diver levels and both instructor levels. It was re-certified for its scuba diving programs as meeting ISO and European Underwater Federation standards on November 24, 2015. Agency standards, policies, and ethics are governed by

2125-463: Is largely by limitations on the certified diver's recommended range of acceptable environmental and equipment options and providing profitable additional training programmes to extend these options by small increments. PADI offers dive shops and training centers the opportunity to affiliate with the PADI brand by becoming a member of the PADI Retailer and Resort Association (PADI RRA) which is

2210-684: Is no more than a professional organisation and certifying agency, and its members operate independently, and PADI is therefore not responsible for their actions or omissions. In a civil case in Missoula, Montana, where PADI Open Water Diver Linnea Mills drowned during a PADI course where the PADI dive shop and PADI instructor allegedly contravened both PADI training standards, PADI business practices, and several other procedures generally considered safe recreational diving practice, PADI's argument that Gull Dive and their staff were neither its agents nor employees, and that it could not be held responsible for

2295-422: Is not always the case. There is no natural visual reference for depth in the open ocean, and depth monitoring and control is critically important to diver safety. Blue-water diving is done in mid-water where the bottom is out of sight of the diver and there may be no fixed visual reference. It is done by scientific divers for direct observation and sampling of pelagic organisms and particulate matter, particularly

2380-459: Is often used to refer to a swimming pool or tank where initial skills training of divers takes place, which is both confined and benign. The Queensland government defines confined water for recreational diving purposes as "Water which offers pool-like conditions, good visibility, and water which is shallow enough so that all divers can stand up with their heads well clear of the water". Other definitions do not require such shallow depth, but may have

2465-402: Is open water with very low risk and no unknown hazards, where it is unlikely or impossible for a diver to accidentally stray to an area of higher risk. Some definitions add a depth limit and that the water must also be confined. Benign conditions are environments of low risk, where it is extremely unlikely or impossible for the diver to get lost or entrapped, or be exposed to hazards other than

2550-430: Is referred to as black-water . The term black-water may also be used to refer to diving in zero visibility, or in sewage. Christopher Newbert, author of Within a Rainbow Sea , (1984) is credited as an early black-water diver. In his book, he describes solo offshore night dives to depths of up to 150 feet (46 m). Black-water diving is often done as a photographic opportunity for recreational divers as there can be

2635-490: Is targeted on increasing the support diver's awareness of the challenged diver's abilities and limitations, and how to effectively assist in their management. Prerequisites are Open Water Diver , in date Emergency First Response primary and secondary care, and recommended PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy . The course covers diving with people with reduced mobility and supporting divers who are blind or have less obvious disabilities, and focuses on what disabled people can do, to help

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2720-647: The American Academy of Underwater Sciences , and while their training programs greatly exceed minimum NAUI requirements, certifications in their scientific diving training programs are often arranged through NAUI. Many governmental agencies in the United States do the same, including the US Navy SEALs , Army Special Forces , and NASA . NAUI produced a Scuba Diver Education System in 2000, and it began including its education systems to all mainline certification courses, listed below. NAUI

2805-753: The Colombian Navy , and Fédération Française d'Études et de Sports Sous-Marins (FFESSM). PADI is also a registered training organisation in Australia . As of 2012, PADI rescue diver and divemaster programs are included on the United Kingdom 's Health and Safety Executive list of approved diving qualifications. Those PADI courses aligning with standards published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for 'Recreational diving services' were audited by

2890-573: The Divers Alert Network and Performance Freediving International . For the first time, NAUI and DAN came together to offer DAN's first-aid programs to NAUI divers and members. NAUI established and incorporated the co-branded DAN-NAUI first-aid courses into their curricula. In 2010, NAUI Worldwide formed the NAUI Green Diver Initiative (GDI). GDI was implemented to "empower individuals to preserve and conserve

2975-713: The European Underwater Federation (EUF) Certification Body in 2004 and 2009, and were certified at both times as complying with these standards. The relevant certifications may include: Most PADI training programes are not directly covered by ISO standards. PADI is a member of the following member councils of the World Recreational Scuba Training Council – the RSTC Canada , the RSTC Europe and

3060-723: The Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas (USA). NAUI's alliance with the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory provides training materials, certification cards and collateral materials for their scuba program. NAUI is a member of the Universal Referral Program (URP), a worldwide customer service program that allows instructors to refer their students for certification dives with either NAUI or other diver training agencies. The URP

3145-814: The United States were NAUI members and made significant contributions to NAUI's programs, including: Lee Somers University of Michigan , James Stewart Scripps Institution of Oceanography , Richard Bell University of California, Davis , Henry Viex United States Military Academy , Lloyd Austin University of California, Berkeley , Mark Flahan California State University, San Diego , Phillip Sharkey University of Rhode Island , Ronnie D'Amico California State University, Long Beach , Walt Hendricks, Sr. University of Puerto Rico , Glen Egstrom University of California, Los Angeles , and John Heine Moss Landing Marine Laboratories . These institutions, and others, belong to

3230-492: The United States , US Navy SEALs , Coast Guard rescue divers, and other special military forces are trained to NAUI standards as part of their overall training with open and closed circuit rebreathers ; National Park Service and NOAA divers receive NAUI training and certifications. Aqualung inventor Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau was on the original Board of Advisers of NAUI, as was Albert R. Behnke ,

3315-400: The "Dive Team Report", released once per week. The podcast was designed to inform the general public and divers on trends and issues affecting the sport of diving. The first full episode aired on November 12, 2015. A series of other announcements included its new marketing campaign "The Definition of Diving", its demo version of its new website interface (version 1.0), and its alliance with

3400-519: The Association's Board of Directors, who are members themselves and who are each elected through a democratic election process by the overall instructor membership. After Jacques-Yves Cousteau introduced the Aqua-Lung to the market, there followed a growing interest in scuba diving by the public and a subsequent need to codify the training. In 1951, Jim Auxie Jr and Chuck Blakeslee started

3485-588: The Boy and Girl Scouts to PADI diving instruction, to the more recently popular geolocation game Foursquare, badges have been successfully used to set goals, motivate behaviors, represent achievements, and communicate success in many contexts." PADI's environmental emphasis is cited in the 2007 book, New Frontiers in Marine Tourism , in its section, Dive Tourism, Sustainable Tourism and Social Responsibility: A Growing Agenda – Environmental management and education:

Professional Association of Diving Instructors - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-552: The C-Card Council (Japan) . PADI is recognised as the largest recreational diver training agency with the largest rate of issue of diver certification, and the largest membership of professional instructors and dive leaders in recreational diving. They are a for-profit organization focused on efficiency of training of the largest number of customers. To gain membership of PADI, a person must agree to follow PADI training standards, be reviewed by PADI for quality assurance, sign

3655-599: The China Water Sports Administration (CWSA), officially legitimized NAUI to provide translated diver training materials and diver training in the People's Republic of China. The Malaysian Sport Diving Association (MSDA)] officially adopted NAUI standards for use in their diver training in Malaysia. NAUI is the diver training organization of choice of NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at

3740-532: The Ohio Board of Pharmacy amended Code 4729-21-06: Sales of medical oxygen to scuba divers. The code authorized individuals who completed courses from NAUI to purchase and possess medical oxygen for the purpose of emergency care or treatment at the scene of a diving emergency. In November 2015, NAUI released a series of announcements during the 2015 DEMA Show in Orlando, Florida . Its first podcast series,

3825-784: The President and Neal Hess as the Executive Secretary. NAUI's first elected Board of Directors included Al Tillman, John C. Jones, Jr., Neal Hess, Garry Howland, Jim Auxier, and James Cahill. A Board of Advisers was appointed and included Captain Albert Behnke, Jr., Commander George Bond, Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and Dr. Andreas Rechnitzer . The number of NAUI ICCs grew throughout the 1960s in central locations throughout North America . The association's conduct of business relied on volunteers and

3910-645: The Red Cross training, which was previously required for leadership candidates in NAUI courses. It was created by the NAUI Board of Directors to avoid making NAUI programs dependent upon other agency certifications. NAUI sanctioned nitrox training in 1992 and published standards for teaching technical diving in 1997. Technical diving includes methods that exceed the limits imposed on depth or immersion time for traditional recreational diving. It often involves

3995-555: The Sea, in 1954. She made a record-setting 209-foot dive that same year, distinguishing women as skilled divers. NAUI has numerous corporate alliances with organizations, such as Walt Disney World Resort , The Florida Aquarium , NASA 's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory , and the Fire Department of New York . Many of the first generation of diving safety officers of the top universities, colleges and institutes of technology in

4080-514: The United States. This certification is not recognised in some countries which have national standards for occupational diving qualifications and require registration with a national body. PADI, via its subsidiary, Emergency First Response, Corp , distributes the following programs in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid for both divers and non-divers: These may not be recognised by health and safety authorities in some jurisdictions where workplace first aid certification must be through

4165-436: The backing of their dive center." National Association of Underwater Instructors The National Association of Underwater Instructors ( NAUI Worldwide ) is a nonprofit association of scuba instructors founded in 1960 by Albert Tillman and Neal Hess. NAUI primarily serves as a recreational dive certification and membership organization, providing international diver standards and education programs. NAUI

4250-424: The board regional leaders, all administered out of Al Tillman's home. Skin Diver Magazine published the "NAUI Page" as a regular feature to help the organization grow, to accumulate a salary and, later, to provide office space. The first International Conference on Underwater Education was held in 1969 at Santa Ana College , where it served as a venue for NAUI members from all over could meet and exchange ideas. It

4335-416: The breathable air of the atmosphere. Other environmental hazards may exist which do not affect the classification. Open water diving implies that if a problem arises, the diver can directly ascend vertically to the atmosphere to breathe air, so it is also understood that, with this restriction, a staged decompression obligation is incompatible with open water diving, though it does not affect classification of

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4420-413: The case of PADI, (Chapter Seven). "PADI, as well as other diver certification organisations and individual businesses, has put significant resources into conservation and developed public awareness programs". New Frontiers in Marine Tourism also cites in the section entitled Student Scholarships and Social Responsibility: A Growing Agenda for PADI, that "The PADI Scholarship program … is a good example of

4505-424: The chairman for each, to assist in the development of technical diving standards and training. The reduced gradient bubble model is an iterative approach to staging diver ascents. It employs a dual phase approach with separated phase volumes as limit points, along with critical tensions across tissue compartments. It was developed by Dr. Bruce Wienke in 1988 at Los Alamos National Laboratories . He published

4590-417: The daylight hours at depths below those accessible to ambient pressure divers, and migrate vertically through the water column on a diurnal cycle . Many of these are bioluminescent or translucent or both. The boat moves differently from the divers and the divers move differently from the plankton, making it necessary to work to get a position from which there will be enough time to frame and take photos of

4675-491: The death of a client of Gull Dive was overruled by a judge, who stated that PADI exerted control over Gull Dive and its instructors by way of its membership agreement, which obliged members to follow its standards and instructions. Adaptive Support Diver is a course for divers who Want to support a dive buddy with a physical or mental barrier to full independence as a recreational diver, and must rely on some support from one or more support divers for acceptable safety. The training

4760-459: The diver has direct vertical access to the surface of the water in contact with the Earth's atmosphere. Environments which by definition are not open water include overhead environments, and diving in these is called Penetration diving . This may involve entering caves or wrecks, or diving under ice or the hull of a large ship. In some contexts the lack of a decompression obligation is considered

4845-441: The drifting subjects. The boat will drift under the influence of current and wind, while the divers and plankton will drift with the current. If there is wind the boat will drag the downlines, and if tethered to the buoy, it will drag the buoy and divers attached. If divers swim ahead of the towing action, they will have a short time to drift with the plankton and take photos until the slack in the line has been taken up, at which point

4930-455: The environment. This meaning is implied in the certifications titled Open Water Diver and variations thereof. In underwater diving , open water is unrestricted water such as a sea, lake, river, or flooded quarry . It is a contradistinction to an overhead environment , where there is a physical barrier to direct vertical ascent to the surface, and to a flooded confined space where there may not be enough room to maneuver freely. In open water

5015-595: The first instructor members of the National Association of Underwater Instructors. The NAUI ICC became the first course to make diver certification available worldwide. A year later, the second NAUI ICC was held in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, under the direction of Ben Davis. In October 1961, NAUI was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit educational organization, with Al Tillman as

5100-468: The gelatinous zoo-plankton that are fragile and transparent, making them relatively inaccessible by other methods, and by recreational divers for observation and photography of a range of organisms not easily seen in inshore waters. The techniques of blue-water diving have been developed over the years to suit the conditions and address the hazards of an environment which is functionally bottomless, and has no fixed visible positional references. The diver who

5185-488: The growing number of diver requests. It was the world's first civilian training program to certify recreational divers and soon began granting Provisional Certification to instructors across the country. In the May 1960 issue of Skin Diver Magazine , the creation of The National Diving Patrol was announced as an official, national organization. Its purpose and function was "to insure competent underwater instruction and to reduce diving accidents through education." In 1959,

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5270-404: The hub. The tethers pass through fairleads at the hub and are tensioned by a weight at the end, which keeps slack out of the line and thereby reduces the risk of entanglement, and prevents the end of the line from passing through the fairlead. The tether serves to limit the distance a diver can move away from the hub, which is typically fastened to a substantial downline supported by a large buoy at

5355-481: The idea for PADI's Positive Identification Card at a trade show. PADI established the Master Scuba Diver certification, the industry's first certification awarded for accumulation of specified certification and experience, and not based on a specific training program, in 1973, later launching the modular scuba program. By 1979, PADI was producing 100,000 certifications a year after previously hitting 25,000

5440-459: The introductory level emphasizes practical knowledge, safety and motor skills. The basics of diving physics and physiology are introduced during entry level programs. The details of these concepts are left for later courses when they are necessary for the required competences of the specific training. According to PADI, these practices fall within current modern learning philosophies and receive regular updates via peer review. The PADI training system

5525-610: The membership agreement and pay the annual membership dues, for which they are allowed to buy PADI course materials, resell them to their customers, and use the PADI trademarks and logos for marketing their services. In early 2024 PADI dive centres in Africa and the Middle East were prohibited from offering scuba diving training with certification from any agency other than PADI. PADI marketing puts an emphasis on convenience, fun and continued attendance on PADI courses. Risk management

5610-580: The military (Underwater Demolition Teams) and dive clubs. In 1952, Al Tillman, the director of sports for the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation , said in a letter to Parks and Recreation director Paul Gruendyke, "A new sport—skin diving—is becoming popular in the area. Recently while diving in Palos Verdes , I ran into several divers in the water with me who didn't know what they were doing. One had one of

5695-667: The model in 1992. The algorithm is now incorporated into many dive computers and advanced dive planning software. Today it enhances the safety of serious deep and technical divers. NAUI's RGBM decompression tables were developed in 1997 exclusively for NAUI by Dr. Bruce Wienke and Tim O'Leary. NAUI began publishing the only decompression manual with a full set of RGBM tables in 2000 for air, nitrox and trimix for both open and closed-circuit diving. Recreational RGBM no-calculation tables were published in 2001 exclusively for NAUI for sea level through 10,000 feet, no-stop diving. The Chinese Underwater Association (CUA), in conjunction with

5780-615: The name was changed to the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). Hess, Blakeslee, Auxier, and Tillman met in August 1960 to discuss and organize NAUI's first Instructor Certification Course. It was held at the Shamrock Hotel in Houston, Texas on August 22–26. During the six-day course, 72 candidates attended from the U.S. and Canada, but only 53 graduated. The 53 graduates along with their staff instructors became

5865-478: The new underwater breathing units that allows divers to stay under for long periods of time... I propose that my department get involved in this sport and provide training classes. I believe that diving will grow in the future and we have an obligation to make the sport as safe as possible." In 1955, Tillman and L.A. County lifeguard Bev Morgan created the L.A. County Parks and Recreational Underwater Instructor Certification Course (1UICC) in an effort to respond to

5950-492: The ocean planet with the common goal of taking action to protect the environment." With stagnant progress, it was not until July 2015 that NAUI renewed its commitment to the Initiative, unveiling its first manager, Sam Richardson, who entered the full-time position with over 10 years of non-profit experience. GDI remained a U.S. registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit that relied on the support of donors to fulfill its mission. In

6035-434: The organization with in-kind services, donations through its processes and connection to the PADI network of divers, dive professionals and dive centers. PADI AWARE information has been integrated in most courses and divers are offered the chance to exchange their normal certification card for an AWARE-certification card by making a donation to the program when sending in their application for a new certification. In 2006, PADI

6120-679: The participant visualize what they have read. Confirmation of the student diver's level of competence in standardized knowledge review sessions is carried out by a scuba instructor using both written tests and personal observation during dives to verify the student's knowledge and skills. Practical skills are obtained through confined water training (pools or relatively shallow water) and performance evaluations in open water . PADI courses target four progressive experience demographics, designated by PADI as "Youth", "Beginner", "Continuing Education" and "Professional". Options are available for students or instructors to attain additional certifications across

6205-519: The plankton will be left behind. This drift problem can be reduced by setting a parachute anchor, which will reduce wind drift to a negligible amount. The divers should stay clear of the entanglement hazard of the parachute suspension lines. At the other extreme from the open ocean, confined water is open water where it is not possible to inadvertently stray outside the designated area due to physical barriers. Usually this also refers to an area of known low risk and minimal hazard – benign water. The term

6290-465: The previous year, and provide diving activities or travel apart from training. There is no mention or guarantee of better quality service compared to any other dive centre. A PADI Elite Instructor is a PADI instructor with no verified QA violations who certifies more than a specified number of divers per year. According to a statement by an attorney for PADI, PADI issues disclaimers on various documents, saying member shops are not agents of PADI, and PADI

6375-469: The public via internet search, making an informed decision on whether a specific training course is appropriate to the diver's needs difficult. Those few programs which comply with ISO standards can be assumed to at least nominally include all the requirements of the ISO standard, but not necessarily anything more. Some PADI courses, i.e. those which have no actual diving component, may be presented and assessed by

6460-423: The risk of entanglement, and it should be buoyed to prevent sinking in a calm. The sea anchor cable should be buoyant line for the same reason. Blue-water diving operations are constrained by water and weather conditions, including wind, sea state, current strength, visibility, and the presence of aggressive predators. Black-water diving is mid-water diving at night, particularly on a moonless night. The environment

6545-662: The support diver understand the use of adaptive techniques. Since 2009, PADI and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have maintained a mutual support partnership. In Canada, PADI sponsors the Scouts Canada Scuba Program. Affiliates include: PADI's instructional methodology is cited in EDUCAUSE's 2012 book, Game Changers: Education and Information Technologies regarding badges as "a symbol or indicator of an accomplishment, skill, quality, or interest. From

6630-401: The surface, and kept vertical by a weight. The float at the surface allows the divers to move freely in the water column within the constraint of the tether, and drift with the current. The tethers also allow rope signals between the safety diver and the working divers. The surface platform, generally a small boat, may be tethered to the buoy, and if there is sufficient wind to make this a problem

6715-421: The surface. Some recreational diver certification agencies use a variation on this term in the title of their entry level diver certification . Open Water Diver certification implies that the diver is competent to dive in unrestricted water, with various constraints regarding the conditions, and particularly that their competence is limited to diving in open water with free access to the surface. There are

6800-529: The use of special gas mixtures (rather than compressed air) for breathing. NAUI standards for technical diving were developed by Tim O'Leary and published by NAUI Worldwide in 1997. NAUI's technical diving program requires special training, equipment, and qualified support teams. In 1997, the NAUI Technical Diving Division was created. NAUI formed a Technical Training Advisory Board and Rebreather Advisory Board, with Tim O'Leary as

6885-430: The way that various disparate parts of an industry, each with limited resources, can pool their efforts to help more people from developing countries to enter the diving profession… PADI recognizes that good relations with the involvement of local people is essential both to business development and to environmental protection. The scholarship scheme makes entry into the dive business more possible for some students who have

6970-458: Was also used as a forum to present information on diving skills and safety, teaching, diving physiology, physics, and other diving and marine sciences. The US Internal Revenue Service determined that NAUI be a tax-exempt nonprofit educational organization in 1971. Soon, NAUI membership began to expand internationally, with an ICC being held in Japan in 1970 and NAUI Canada being organized as

7055-473: Was developed in 1998 through the cooperative efforts of IDEA, NASDS, NAUI, PDIC , SSI, and YMCA . PADI Instructors and facilities can also receive students and be registered as referral instructors and locations under the URP. Confined water (diving) Open water diving is underwater diving in an open water environment, where the diver has unrestricted access by way of a direct vertical ascent to

7140-553: Was during these years (in 1987) that the NAUI Board of Directors elected its first woman president, Nancy Guarascio. In 1997, NAUI Worldwide headquarters was moved to Tampa , Florida and included Board of Directors members from Europe and Asia for the first time. NAUI hired Jim Bram as its president in June 1995. Bram renamed NAUI to do business as NAUI Worldwide , with the intent to provide business support to members everywhere via licensed service centers. On January 20, 2015,

7225-1066: Was severely criticized by a Coroner's court in the United Kingdom for providing what experts regarded as short and insufficient training. Although PADI training standards differ from those formerly prevalent in the United Kingdom under the BSAC system, PADI training standards are consistent with World Recreational Scuba Training Council standards. On 9 August 2012, Lincolnshire Management and Providence Equity Partners jointly acquired PADI from Seidler Equity Partners. In 2015, Providence Equity Partners acquired majority stake of PADI from Lincolnshire Management. In 2017, Providence Equity Partners LLC sold PADI to Canadian investment firm Altas Partners and French private equity firm Florac for 700 million USD, through an entity called Mandarin fish Holding. In 2018, PADI launched PADI Travel, an online dive travel resource and booking platform for dive resort and live-aboard packages. In 2021, PADI reported it had

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