What are the different types of diving certification?
worldwide there are several different organizations that offer separate underwater respiratory apparatuses or diving certification. Many of these groups offer various certifications, including basic authorities that allow one to go to simple ocean dives without the presence of an instructor, more advanced and special certification in areas such as the Deep Ocean, Night and Cave Diving. While groups generally operate independently, most of them have similar requirements for Basic SCUBA certification and recognize the certificates of others in terms of activities sponsored by organizations and clubs for certified divers. The most common basic diving certification through PADI is the course of open water divers, which is anyone who is older than 10 years, in good health and can pass the swimming test. This course is required by time spent on teaching on technical aspects of diving either in class or online environment as well as practical training in closed PCrown, such as a pool, in an open environment such as a lake or an ocean. Once all the training is successfully completed, student divers usually receive a diving card, also called "C-card", which allows them to dive to a depth of up to 60 feet (about 18.3 meters) without a certified diving instructor.
Padi also offers many other certifications that usually allow divers to go deeper or dive under more demanding conditions. For example, it offers Deep Diver certification, which allows divers to go to a depth of up to 100 feet (about 30.5 meters), as well as certifications that allow dives on boat, caves and under the ice. Generally, any new certification of diving through Pads and most other diving organizations requires additional course and practical training.
Another popular international diving certification agency is nai, National ASEying underwater instructors. NAUI offers a similar basic certification to PADI and has similar requirements for age, health and training. It also offers a variety of special diving certifications, such as Advanced Diver certification, which allows dives of up to 130 feet (about 39.2 meters). Other certification agencies include Scuba Schools International (SSI) and British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC), the last of which are operated by divers in the UK.
Generally, most diving certification agencies recognize the certification of other agencies as equally valid. This could be useful, for example, if the diver has a basic certification and wants to take the padi Wrek diver, which would normally have the basic certification of Padi Open Water as a prerequisite. In such an asitation, the PADI course would usually accept the Nai certification as an equivalent, so the diver might not repeat the same basic course again to move forward in his training. Similarly BSAC that runs a diving club in generalIt accepts divers with any valid certification, not only those who are certified by BSAC.