There are many forms of certification for scuba divers available. First of all you can chose between the internationally recognized organisations such as SSI and PADI or your national equivalent. Then you should choose a location and a dive school where you would like to get certified. Finally, you should not consider dive training an end in itself. It should help you to be able to do the types of dives you want to do.

Introduction dive

An introduction dive is the first dive you do in order to test your ability and desire to dive before you decide whether you want go for certification. It is a good trial before you sign up for an expensive dive course.

Introduction dives usually take place in a pool, but can also be made in a shallow, secluded bay. It generally is a relatively short dive that does not take you any deeper than 5 or 6 metres. It is meant to teach you how it feels to wear all the scuba equipment and how to breathe under water.

If you feel comfortable during this dive, there is a good chance that you will enjoy your Open Water certification and will become a scuba addict.

Open Water

This course is designed to introduce you to scuba diving and to teach you the basics for making exiting dives of relatively low difficulty. It tells you about scuba gear, the signs you use to communicate under water, the things that can go wrong while diving, how to be a good buddy, basic underwater navigation and how to dive safely.

It also teaches you al the special tricks about what to do when your mask fills up with water, when you lose your regulator and when your air supply fails. The Open Water certification entitles you to go as deep as 18 metres down. It is not recommended to dive without a guide or a dive master when you only have this certification. In order to be safe, continue to dive with more experienced divers.

Advanced Open Water

The Advanced Open Water course is a direct continuation of your scuba certification. You can start with it directly after you passed your Open Water course. This certification consists of 5 specialty dives, of which 3 are compulsory: a navigation dive, a computer dive and a deep dive. For the other two dives you can choose from a variation of options, such as a boat dive underwater photography or a night dive.

As soon as you have completed this course, you are allowed to dive to a depth of 30 metres. Despite the fact that Advanced Open Water sounds very sophisticated, it does not mean that you are an experienced diver yet. You will need to log many more dives to become one. The Advanced Open Water certification is meant to boost your confidence and to give you the option to visit more, different and deeper dive sites.

Specialty courses

Depending on where you want to dive, you might need to learn local specialties, such as kelp diving, wreck diving or cave diving. These types of dives ask skills of divers that go beyond what you learn in Open Water and Advanced Open Water certification courses. It can also be useful to follow a local specialty for diving in a dry suit.

Which specialty courses a dive school offers depends on which techniques the dive locations nearby require. Following local specialty courses is advisable, in order to make sure that you are prepared for the new situations you will encounter under water. Specialties like these will be useful for the rest of your life when you explore the oceans.

There are also specialty courses for people interested in underwater photography and in becoming an underwater naturalist.

Rescue Diver

In order to become a Rescue Diver, you need to log a minimum of 30 dives before you can start this course. The Rescue Diver certification is designed to teach you how to deal with (medical) emergencies that involve scuba diving. It is important that you specialize in this field, because scuba divers can experience different medical problems than people who did not spend time under water.

After this course you will be well equipped to assist with dive accidents. It also teaches you strategies about how to search for lost divers and other techniques that can safe lives of divers in trouble. Next to being able to assist other divers, you will become more aware of your own safety under water.

Rescue Diver certification consists of 2 parts. In the first part you have a theoretical exam about diving medicine and emergency procedure. In the second part you do a number of training dives to put your new skills into practice.

Nitrox diver

Enriched Air Nitrox (EAN) or Nitrox is a gas mixture that contains more oxygen and less nitrogen than normal compressed air. Diving with Nitrox can extend your bottom time with respect to decompression sickness. If you dive at moderate depths, Nitrox can greatly enhance the time you can spend under water.

This certification involves more classroom work than many other certifications, but in return you get longer dives for the rest of your life. In order to dive with Nitrox, you have to be an active diver that dives regularly. For certification, you don't even have to do any dives on Nitrox. The course can be completed via e-learning if you wish.

Master Diver

This is the most advanced certification before you move on to the teaching certifications. It involves a lot of classroom work and a substantial amount of dives. You need to have logged over 50 dives to be able to start with this course and you will be fully certified when you are close to 100 logged dives.

You’ll find that most people who attend this course are very active divers, often on their way to become Dive Masters or Dive Instructors. The Master Diver certification teaches you everything you need to know about scuba diving. After completion of this course, you can count yourself to the elite of very experienced and active divers.

To fully qualify as a Mater Diver you need Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and 5 specialties.

Teaching certifications

If you are adamant that you want to dive as much as possible for the rest of your life, it might be worth thinking about turning scuba diving into your profession. In order to do so, you will need to continue your training. First get your Dive Master certification, then you become Assistant Instructor and finally you'll get your Dive Instructor certification. There is extensive classroom training and a large number of dives involved, but as soon as you are fully certified, you can turn your hobby into your work.