Professional Association of Diving Instructors

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. 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.

PADI courses range from entry level to relatively advanced recreational diver certification, several specialized diving skills courses, usually 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 2022, PADI is reported to have issued 29 million scuba certifications.

History

In 1966, PADI was founded by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson.

In 2006, PADI 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 Mandarinfish Holding.

In 2018, PADI launched PADI Travel, an online dive travel resource and booking platform for dive resort and liveaboard packages.

In 2019, PADI reported it had a membership of over 137,000 professional members and 6,600 dive centers, and had awarded more than 27,000,000 diving certifications internationally. PADI operates in 186 countries and
territories. Membership is heavily weighted toward males, but in 2016, the organization experienced a growth of 1.1% in female certifications. Women accounted for 37.2% of all certifications during 2016. The organization hosts Women's Dive Day events across the globe in an effort to increase awareness of women divers.

In November 2020, a teenage diver died following an incident at Lake McDonald in Montana while executing a dive of a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course. The diver was advised to buy and use a Dry suit, due to the extreme cold, without being qualified for its use. The suit lacked an inflator hose connection, did not seal completely and, coupled with excessive ballast weights used caused their death. In April 2022, a judge in Montana denied PADI's denial of responsibility and must face a jury to decide if it is vicariously liable for the teenager's death. The agency was accused of negligence in its oversight of a member-business.

PADI AWARE

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 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.

Training system

PADI courses are performance-based diver training programs, and at the introductory level emphasize 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. These practices fall within current modern learning philosophies and receive regular updates via peer review.

The PADI training system 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 eLearning. All study options are supplemented with video and, in most cases, live instruction to help the participant visualize what they have read. Confirmation of the student diver's level of mastery in standardized knowledge review sessions is carried out by a scuba instructor. The instructor utilizes both written tests and live observation during actual dives to verify a student's knowledge and skills. Practical skills are obtained through confined water training (pools or relatively shallow water) and performance evaluations in open water.

Dive experiences

* Discover Scuba Diving – an introductory diving experience under the direct supervision of an instructor in controlled conditions.
* PADI Seal Team (Age 8 and above)
* PADI Bubble Maker (Age 8 and above)
* Skin Diver (Snorkeling)
* Discover Rebreather – an introductory confined water experience using a recreational or technical rebreather under the direct supervision of a PADI Rebreather or Tec CCR Instructor.
* Discover Tec – an introductory confined water experience using technical backmount or sidemount equipment.

Certification levels

* Junior Scuba Diver (Age 10 to 14)
* Scuba Diver – subset of the PADI Open Water Diver course, must dive under the direct supervision of a PADI Professional
* Junior Open Water Diver (Age 10 to 14)
* Open Water Diver
* Adventure Diver – exposure to three elective scuba experiences.
* Advanced Open Water Diver – expanded scuba skills through "adventure" dive experience: a "deep" dive (18–30m), an underwater navigation dive and three electives from a large choice.
* Rescue Diver

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