FAQs
Are your Scuba certification cards recognized all over the world?
Yes, all our Instructors are certified from an international training agencies. This counts certification cards of all dive organizations.
If I forgot to bring my certification card with me, will I still be able to dive?
Most of international diving training agencies have an online system and since we are affiliated with most of them, we will be able to look you up. If a dive center is not affiliated with the organization you have done your course with, we can contact them to see if you are in the system. A signed logbook also helps.
If I forgot to bring my certification card and I don’t show up in the system, will I still be able to dive?
No, we, at Octopus, need to see proof of certification before we take you on a dive, regardless of training agency or experience level.
Is scuba diving dangerous?
As with any adventure sport, some risk is involved. Humans are not built to breathe underwater, which means that a diver is completely dependent upon the proper equipment, skills, and emergency training to ensure a safe resurface for every dive.
What are the Risks of Scuba Diving?
Diving does entail some risk. Not to frighten you, but these risks include decompression sickness (DCS, the “bends”), arterial air embolism, and of course drowning. There are also effects of diving, such as nitrogen narcosis, that can contribute to the cause of these problems.
DIVING ORGANIZATIONS
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NAUI – National Association of Underwater Instructors
The National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI Worldwide) is a nonprofit association of Scuba instruction. It is a recreation dive certification and membership organization established to provide international diver standards and education programs. The agency was founded in 1960 by NASA’s astronauts. NAUI is headquartered in Tampa, Florida (US) with dive and member instructors, resorts, stores, service and training centers, located in Japan, South Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Brazil and the Pacific Rim
It was officially CE and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified in May 2007 in all three diver levels and both instructor levels and re-certified for its Scuba Diving Programs as meeting ISO and European Underwater Federation standards on November 24, 2015.
The US Internal Revenue Service determined that NAUI be a tax-exempt, non-profit educational organization in 1971.
Agency standards, policies, and ethics are governed by 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.
PADI – 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 minimal 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.
In March 2017 PADI was sold by Providence Equity Partners LLC.
SDI / TDI / ERN – SCUBA Diving International
SCUBA Diving International, launched in 1998 or 1999, is the sister organization of Technical Diving International. Thus, SDI was created by dive professionals from the technical diving field.
SDI’s philosophy is to take recreational scuba diving to new levels, enhancing older – maybe even outdated - diving practices by incorporating new diving technology and emphasizing safety. Divers who progress through SDI’s recreational diving courses are then in a position to advance to technical diving with the courses offered by Technical Diving International.
Whereas TDI and ERDI (the two sister companies of SDI) handle technical diving courses and emergency personnel courses respectively, SDI covers the recreational aspect of diving by offering the following courses.
SSI – SCUBA School International
SSI was founded by Robert Clark in 1970. SSI headquarters are in Fort Collins, Colorado, and it is owned by Concept Systems International, Inc. In 2008, it was acquired by Doug McNeese (owner of NASDS (USA) until the merger with SSI in 1999) and Robert Stoss (manager of Scuba pro and Seemann Sub). On January 1, 2014, SSI was acquired by MARES, a diving equipment brand in turn owned by HEAD NV, for €4.9m.
SSI offers internationally recognized recreational diver training programs - starting with snorkeling and entry level scuba diving courses up to instructor certifications.
IDEA – International Diving Educators Association
T he International Diving Educators Association or (IDEA) was founded in 1952 as the Florida Skin Divers Association (FSDA) Scuba Training Committee, and later changed its name to the Florida Scuba Divers Association. Then, in February 1976 the FSDA Scuba Training Committee members voted to create the International Diving Educators Association, based on the principles of the FSDA to make the organization an international Scuba diving certification agency.
IDEA has affiliates operating in Asia and Europe. IDEA Europe is a member of RSTC E urope.
PFI – Performance Free diving International
PFI offers multifaceted educational Free diving and Breath-Hold Survival courses targeted at snorkelers, free divers, spear fishers, surfers, special operations teams and rescue teams. Because individuals with different experience levels and different interests require different training, PFI offers a wide variety of course levels.