PADI = Put Another Dollar In

Master Scuba Diver is a complete waste of money. It is just a certificate of recognition that you have completed 5 specialties, which you’ve paid for separately. The MSD is literally you giving padi money for them to give you a pat on the back.

thank you. i'm gonna get my rescue diver license this year

Good video! IMHO if you dive in cold water Dry Suit Diver Specialty is a MUST do. Don’t even don a dry suit if you are not certified (or going through the certification course). Linnea Mills paid with her life for trusting the wrong instructor and dive shop. Her dry suit squeezed her to death at Lake MacDonald in Montana. “Plan your dive & dive your plan.”

a Divemaster here: In my humble opinion, Basic Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air - Nitrox and Rescue Diver are the certs all divers will benefit from. I agree, also, that if you want to dive in a drysuit, you should get instruction. if your basic open water instructor isn’t teaching new divers the skills to give a new diver the best possible buoyancy to prevent damage to the u/w environment, that diver is being underserved. the idea of obtaining a c-card to dive off a boat or drift dive (to me) is ridiculous. I began diving in 1983, and in my experience, instruction was more comprehensive back in those days.

I am doing my AOW now and think it's indeed epic. The cool thing about it is that if you're not sure which course to take after you can check out other specialties by choosing them as adventure dives within your AOW. I've only done two dives yet: the deep dive and the drift. During the deep dive, I found a fully functional torch. This experience helped me to decide which specialty I want to try next, which is search and recovery. The current was my biggest concern while diving so I went for drift diving. It was a little scary but I learned a lot. I would definitely move the Drift Diver Course to must-dos because you acquire such a valuable skill of dealing with current underwater besides it is so fun and makes you a better diver.

How is Zombie Apocalypse Diver not in the epic list?? I also have a suggestion for renaming shark attacks into "shark taste tests" or STTs.

I think DSD is a great idea. It gets people into Scuba and I've seen a lot of shops that do it for free, or a nominal fee. So great value and so gives people an easy way to find out if they love diving. My personal priorities were the ones that would allow me to do what I want to do and make me the safest diver I could be doing it. So Drysuit, Deep, Nitrox, Nav and of course Rescue were easy picks. What I did decide from my training was that peak performance buoyancy shouldn't be a separate course, it should be imbedded in Open Water and AOW. If you want to shoot a DSMB, penetrate a wreck, do videograohy or not stand on a sea urchin at night, proper trim and buoyancy are key everywhere! Oh and Rescue is absolutely both the most epic and a must do!

If anyone is serious about diving, look at technical agencies such as GUE or TDI. I did my cave training with TDI and they have high standards that a recreational diver can adopt. GUE famously offers "Fundamentals" in which you get a rec pass (single tank), tech (twins) pass or fail (which is very possible). All that nonsense offered by PADI, SSI, etc. is not sufficient and I can immediately tell the difference when I'm diving between recreational and technical divers.

Perhaps you should check your standards for bubble maker?

I want to learn scuba diving

I actually took them Adventure Diver Course for financial reasons. I am also the type of person who likes to take on new challenges slowly and during the pandemic it worked out great for me!!

What about the PADI Deep Diver Course? I already have experience diving up to 40 meters, so would this course be necessary?

Diver Against Debris Speciality.. i am not familiar with Padi courses or their cost but rhis should be free course available to Padi divers along their journey . Its essential we are all aware , we will pick up the rubbish , Padi should pay forward... "Is it free"?

Almost every diver thinks Rescue Diver is the most epic course in their journey. And for many, it is. But I differ. Every Eagle Scout has already mastered 80% of this course. Scouts call it Emergency Preparedness and Life Saving. The only parts not covered by Scouting are the actual underwater search and recovery and DCI treatment, which are relatively small parts of the Rescue Diver certification. Be Prepared. And help people before it's too late.

IMO For mere closed circuit mortals, Rescue, Deep, and a quality Navigation course are ESSENTIAL.

agreed with most things..couple i would change would be drift as a must do, even epic. basically all the diving I do is drift (in Galapagos islands) and Im surprised about how poorly ppl handle current. On that same note id say DSM diver is a MUST for drift diving, boat diving, CCR (rebreather) and a bunch other types of diving. Deploying a SMB is NOT nearly as easy as ppl often think and, again, im absolutely shocked on how many experienced advanced divers are completely unable to deploy a marker. This skill is essential on my experience.. and lastly id say PPB is a must do, if not epic course. This ofcourse depends on your instructor, but overall a proper and thougtfull PPB course can help new divers master bouyancy (best case scenario) or at least stop diving as a sea horse!

On the SSI side of the house, Navigation, Night, Deep and Diver Stress and Rescue and Science of Diving are all prerequisites for Dive Guide, (first level of SSI professional diving)

Bouncy definitely a must. And if you do wet suit - used in cold waters, tooks full face mask highly recommended!

Thanks. Can you tell me where you would place a "re-activation" course on this list? The local dive shop recommended doing it (I believe they said) every 5 years and an employee there also said that PADI now recommends (I believe they said) every 6 months! I thought, you're kidding me!

I agree nearly with all of your rankings and my reasons are 95% the same. OW: epic. It's a prerequisite and covers the basics of scuba diving. It's a good way to tell how much you may like diving Divemaster: never done it but would love to if I had the time, money, or I was going pro Bubblemaker: I was raised in the water so didn't bother. I dove twice when I was 12 and went straight to OW at 18. Discover: only do this if you're apprehensive and don't want to commit to OW yet. Also, doesn't satisfy prerequisites like OW does Boat: living in Hawaii every dive was a boat dive so this was unnecessary Navigation: why not. It's good to know PP buoyancy: very good to know but is usually in AOW AOW: epic. Also a prerequisite for a lot of higher courses. As she said, let's you go up to 30m instead of 18m. Night: epic. If you haven't gone at night you have only seen half of it Rescue: epic. This is the next one I plan on doing Drift: meh Multi level: meh. That's what computers are for Altitude: at least why not. However, not offered or necessary in Hawaii. Most computers can be set to compensate for this. Ice: epic. Same reason as night Cavern: epic. I take that back,if you haven't gone at night you have only seen ¼ of it. The rest is night, ice, cavern, and wreck Wreck: epic, nuff said Shark: if you haven't seen 1 shark on one of your dives are you really diving? Photography: idk I have a love/dislike for taking pictures DPV: why not? But I love diving with the scooter Self: must. Most of my dives are alone Drysuit: must. You need it for ice dives Enriched air: must. IYKYK Rebreather: epic if you can afford it Deep: must. BUT if you do AOW it's included Sidemount: why not. Good for cavern, some rebreathers, tech diving Master scuba: skip it

Hi Katt! Thank you for the video, it was soooo helpful to undestand better all the range of options PADI offers. I just finished my Open Water course in the Gold Coast and I heard you mentioning some places in Queensland for certain courses. Could you extend a little on this? or suggest some Diving Centres? I want to do my Advanced now and I don't know where, since I don't want to repeat the diving spots I did in the Open Water. Also, I'm sooo interested in the Underwater Photography specialty but I can't seem to find any Centre that offers it or includes it in the Advanced. Thank you so much again for the helpful video!

Just finished OW last weekend. "Gateway into this alien world" sums it up pretty well. When surfacing from our 60' dive on dive 4, all 5 of us were smiling ear to ear. We really didn't even see much because visibility was about 6ft and it was completely dark after 45-50ft. We basically saw some Comb Jellies and silt covered limestone - but it was EPIC!!! Until someone goes through certification, there is just no possible way to explain the overall epic-ness of it all.

I’ve done all of mine through SSI, so I am not thoroughly familiar with the PADI system, please correct me if I am wrong. One of the common differences that come up through post dive chats is the PADI depth allowance of AOW with the single dive to 30m within the course. Some of the dive sites near me will only accept a separate deep certification for anything below 60 feet, (everything locally deeper than that is also cold water). What are your thoughts on the differences between the programs, and do you feel that people are adequately prepared to dive to 30m by the PADI AOW program?

Very useful advises, thanks a lot!

What are your opinions on Tec Diving Courses? Where would you categorize them on your chart?

Overall a ok job on the Video. I have been teaching Scuba for 38+ Years (SSI) 30 years (SDI/TDI). Im in Colorado, USA I tell my students that most of the classes are great to take, and we talk about them. All agencies have specialty classes - most of the classes are designed to teach and make you a better diver. However, there are some classes that are just about money… (Not bashing any agency). Let’s start with an SSI Advanced Diver. It is more of a recognition level is ANY 4 specialties and 24 dives. It is automatically issued. Master Diver is also a recognition level from SSI, you have to have advanced, Stress & Rescue, the First aid set of classes (First aid/CPR/AED/O2), and have 50 dives. On to the specialty classes Epic Deep, Night/Limit Visibility, Nitrox, Navigation, Stress & Rescue (Rescue), First aid/CPR/AED/O2 (Many names), Must do Perfect Buoyancy (This is a pet peeve of mine --- The industry as a whole sucks on this…. Partly because the Open water classes don’t generally have time to work on this skill. The old adage of just adding more weight instead of teaching them correct buoyancy techniques. The dive guides is the islands are just as bad!!! Lucky, the industry is trying to correct this problem.) Equipment Techniques (This teaches more about how to fix minor problems that normal divers can fix, - Mouth pieces, hoses, straps, some computer batteries, etc. - It does not teach them how to service their gear). Special interest - Good to have Disabled Buddy diver (special training with diving with disabled divers), Ice Diver, Self-reliant (solo) diver, Tec classes -- Professional levels Dive Guide & Dive Master (the information in these classes is great and most people will benefit from taking the classes for what they will learn. Also, in order to be a professional you have to carry insurance and pay dues to the agency.) Why not/May want. Any of the marine ecology classes, Boat diving (teaches more about etiquette on boat diving), Science of Diving, Wreck, Drysuit, Altitude Diver, Photo/video classes…. The right instructor will make this class. Waste of time and money Drift diving, Trash pickup diver (you made a good point of you dive pick up trash). Computer diver, Adventure diver - tease of a few specialties. One thing I would say is if you don’t know what the specialty is - you may not want to talk about it and place it in wrong category.

I would reccomed taking the basic up to Master diver! If your diveing at least 10 times a year.

Hello Im 14 years old and about to do my advanced is their any other major things I should know besides what I learnt in my open water that you could tell me or help me get though the test.

I have taken most of the courses and i learned something,! but i am all about learning as much as i can.

Thanks this was helpful

Hi, i am full cave diver and normoxic trimix technical diver. First of all you need to find as good teacher as you can find, owervise it's just badges and cards. Epic courses: deep, rescue. Must: ow, aowd, wreck, ean. Depending on conditions there your prefer to dive: dry suit, ice, drift. Other courses just skip.

Cant wait my fist class is Sat.

in some rivers in Switzerland drift diver is required, so if you want to dive in Switzerland in all rivers, it's a must do. At River Rhein you don't need this certification, but there are some you must have. Often you could do it there. To me a certification makes more sence when I can see and feel the benefit, so, I would do attitude diving in the Moutains, night dive I would love to do in the ocean, not in a lake where I may couldn't see anything. Just as you said about photographer, some specialities makes more sence doing it at the right place.

Really good tier list! Finally one that is in the proper tier format! Thanks! Now Comments & changes: Open water - should have simply been "must have", basic training cannot be epic, it devalues the epic'ness of the other classes. Photo/Video and Night - all should go to Why Not - those are specialities, for some more interesting, for some not, no harm done in doing them, you actually get some value and new knowledge, but otherwise they are not necessary. Peak buoyancy - ... why not is the highest possible tier. But I can tell you why not - because buoyancy is a core skill you need to get good at during OW and then to be working on it all the time, yourself and hire instructors to help you develop, why pay fees for a "certification" in a core skill?? Naturalist & Fish ID - is NOT a must do!! Its a why not at best if you feel like it. But again, why do you need a certification in being a "naturalist"? Full face mask - that's a must-do If you want to use a FFM, but otherwise its a Why Not if you want to expand your skill set range. Multi-level - its skip. I mean, we have computeres these days, no one's using diving tables. So a Meh at the very very best.

When i got certified in the 80's Padi was all about numbers ! So i went Naui and never looked back. There rrvord st that time was in the toilet. Not sure what they are now. Just getting back into diving. Live in a ssnd pit state with big ponds on either side. Don't like what the water does to your equipment here and swiming with prehistoric critters isn't my cup of tea either. Still hsve my Sherwood Magnum Blizzard and freedom bc from 88. I went with Sherwood because i figured anyone asks me if i want to go diving ------- I'll just say -------, SHERWOOD 😂. Ordered a Scuba Pro full face mask and waiting for it's arrival. Found out too late that my blizzard would work with this mask after i found a beautiful G-250 SP second stage. Now doing the upgrade to the barrel. May I give a BIG shout out to SASS in Battle Creek Mi. Great people. Kim and her husband. ( sorry but my memory is getting bad ,, but he has a twin brother who used to hard hat commercial dive. Great people great friends. Excellent servise from SUB AQUATICS SPORTS & SERVISE !!! Hi Kim 👋. You know who it is. Boat racer. 😊 Just came to me. RICK 👋

What about Tec 40 / 45 / 50, Trimix, Cavern, Cave, and the most important - Mermaid ?

I took Open Water. Scuba Diver Limits your Training to 40ft? Open Water increases it 60. And set the foundation for more Advanced Courses. I'm thinking about AOW later this year. I would like to go into Search and Recovery

Sidemount was the most epic course for me so far (yes, better dan rescue and the DM course). I highly suggest that anyone at least tries it once. I now prefer sidemount over backmount and the majority of SM divers do😅

10 year olds can get certified junior open water diver

so when i go push an old lady and steal her purse im just “testing to see whats in her purse” by what your saying

Concerning Altitude Diver: I dont's see it as must do. I live in Switzerland where basically every Lake is an Altitude Lake. You learn the Altitude Theory already in the Open Water, altough you don't get the Specialty. Computer does the rest. So all you learn in the specialty is theory that can be broken down to 2 sentences and the order to set your computer properly. And then 2 Fun dives with an instructor, which is always nice. So to me it's not more than nice to have.

Bubble Maker 10-12?? Isn‘t it 8-9 as from 10 kids can do the Junior Open Water Diver?

I think it better to separate cards into "Access" "Good training, worthless card" and "Worthless" Access cards being cards required to access certain types of diving, these are things like OWD, AOW, drysuit, etc. Worthless being obvious. But the "Good training, worthless cards" are for things where the training is valuable but there is no reason to pay PADI for the card as no one is going to ask for the card. A good example of this is the Sidemount Diver card, no one is going to ask you for the card. Another great examples are the photography and videography courses, in fact in this case the person teaching doesn't need to be a professional diver, it is probably a good idea for they themselves to be one for insurance reasons, but what matters is the quality of the work the person is able to produce and their ability to teach. Now I should mention there is no universal rebreather certification, the units are all so different that the certifications are unit specific, even within brands like someone that is certified on a KISS Sidewinder can't take rent a KISS Classic without taking the class to crossover.

I was not aware that PADI had so many courses.

cheap oilless compressor 9l, water/oil seperator with micron filter 50m hose. cheap regulator battery and inverter easy safe diving down to 30m. all the diving/compressor stuff lands on around 200 dollar battery depends on your choosing my pack with inverter coast 900 and good for 2 ppl for 3-4 hours (can then only go 15m unless 2 oilless compressors) well above 2k hours diving so far. "scuba" is cheap if you want it to be

Hello

I think all these extra "specialties" are all BS. Nothing but ways to bilk people out of their bucks. I've had my OW since 1974. I was an Army brat, and was taught by Army divers. Class work/theory/charts. Pool work and then an open water dive, and I was good for 130fsw. We didn't have BCD's and computers back then. It was a lot more physically demanding. Hundreds of Olympic pool laps surface swimming, lots and lots of subsurface laps, treading water with weights overhead, donning and doffing and good old fashioned drown proofing. That's all that is really needed. The rest is just common sense, ie, don't kick up the silt when you penetrate a wreck, take one fin off and grab the ladder when the boat is on its way up. Just common sense stuff. But the next logical step for an additional certification would be deco dives and navigation etc. But paying for a certification that says you know how to get back on a boat is ridiculous.

Enriched air course, very over priced. complete rip off.

I found Master Dive to have been my favorite course of course I went through Naui not Padi

Rebreather course, I wouldnt have it in epic and would move it to meh. Obviously must do if you want to use a rebreather but 99.9% of divers wont get to the point of using a rebreather- youre looking at a minimum 10k aud to be set up, youre paying $300-$500 aud to rent one.

aow should be after at least 50 dives not 8 it would give it more credibility. perfect buoyancy should be #1 after ow. i wish the dive guide would tell people when they step off a boat improperly for there own safety. dsmb is not as easy as it looks and if your in open water you should carry a dsmb and practice releasing it for your own safety.

I have followed you thru several different names. WHY? You seem to be a good diver , fun , sexy, passionate.!

Bubblemaker is 8 and up, not 10.

How on earth would you say that navigation is MEH? I wouldn't take any advice from an instructor that admits they have taught courses that they have no experience in. Stop rating courses that you have absolutely no idea about.

So dog bite incident? lol

PADI National Geographic Diver. The most useless course ever. Don't know why people want to take that course. A lot of dive centres just refuse to sell this course.

Dive against debris as why not??? Boat dive as skip... Don't see your logic, honestly most of padi courses are a total skip. Must: OW and nitrox. Why not (depends of what you want from scuba, for many 18m is plenty, for other the ones I'm listing as why not are musts as well): AOW, deep, wreck, divemaster and above, emergency, rescue. For technical diving there are better agencies than padi and with cheaper progression. All the rest is just Padi sucking money out of you, especially peak buoyancy which is only needed if you had crap instructor which should have his credentials reviewed as he/she wasn't able to teach you the absolute basic... Like buoyancy... Most of the specialities if you do some research and study you'll get the same or more than from the course like in everything related to conservation and similar.

Master is just spend money for a bage waste of money

Advanced was disappointing, was billed as a multiple cert course. Not nearly enough time for each subject tho.

What dive course or specialty would you skip? And what is your favourite? All these rankings are strictly for fun and just my own opinion! Make sure to tailor your diving courses to what you need and your strengths and weaknesses! Happy bubbling :)

I'm a PADI Master Scuba Diver. Big time meh.

PADI courses are a waste of time.

Total hokum.... Anyone who puts a buoyancy cert as a must do isn't training their students well enough. Full stop. New paragraph. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all people should have amazing buoyancy right off the bat. And that some people wouldn't benefit from working on their buoyancy with an instructor. But having to be sold a course and a certification to work on it?! Totally unnecessary. If one wants to work on their buoyancy as their OW instructor didn't do a good enough job when they were originally certified, then find a better instructor and pay them to help work on it. One does not need to pay an additional premium to a certifying agency just for a certification. Same goes for night, and nav. And UW Photography... This more than anything does not need a certifying agency to get involved. Ever. As you pointed out, find someone who is highly regarded in the field, that also does courses, and take the course from them. But there does not need to be a certification coming off the back of it. Also, if you are putting Dry Suit in the Must Do, then Full Face Mask is the same. But obviously (as you pointed out) they are only Must Do if you intend to do that type of diving. Although, if people are coming to diving from seeing it in the movies, try watching a movie this day and age containing SCUBA where the protagonist isn't wearing an FFM... (Sanctum, Deep Blue Sea, 47m Down, 47m Down: Uncaged, The Deep House, Deep Fear, The Dive... To name a few...) So some people may see this as standard SCUBA these days...