Glossary of Diving Terms
AI – Assistant Instructor
One step above DM some additional responsabilities beyond those of a divemaster, AIs have done the first four days of an IDC, but have not yet done the IE.
Advanced Open Water, This is the second PADI course coming after open water. It is aimed at introducing new divers to some of the different diving activities available. This course develops the basic skills taught in Open Water it consiste of a deep dive, a navigation dive and three dives chosen by the student based on their interests.
CD – Course Director, the highest level of PADI instructor rating. Course directors are qualified to conduct IDCs and Staff instructor courses, they can also teach various other instructor level courses depending on their experience and qualifications.
CPA - Certified Public Accountant. What I used to be!
EFR -Emergency First Response, Is PADIs CPR and first aid course. A one day course teaching basic CPR and first aid.
EFRI - Emergency First Response Instructor, To qualify as an EFRI you need to take a course with an EFR Instructor Trainer.
DM – Divemaster, the first level of PADI’s professional qualifications
DMT – Divemaster Trainee, someone who is currently taking the Divemaster course.
DSAT - Diving Science and Tecnology. A PADI subsidiary responsible for the more technical aspects of diving.
Internship – One of two ways to take the Divemaster course. If you take the course using the internship method you assist on real life training courses. This usually takes longer as the course has to fit in with customer demand. The alternative to an internship is Practical Training Exercices
IDC – Instructor Development Course, a course taking between 7 and 12 days preparing DMs and AIs to take the IE.
IE – Instructor Exam, A two day exam conducted by a PADI employed examiner, passing this leads to qualification as an OWSI.
MI - Master Instructor, One step above staff instructor to become an MI you need to have certified 150 students have been an instructor for 2 years.
MSD – Master Scuba diver. The highest level of amateur recreational scuba diving certification, not a professional certification. To be an MSD a diver must be a Rescue diver with 50 logged dives and be certified in 5 specialties.
MSDT – The second level of the PADI instructor ranks. After becoming an OWSI you can apply to be an MSDT once you have issued 25 certifications and are qualified to teach 5 specialties.
Open Water, The entry level PADI scuba course. This course gives you the basic knowledge you need to independantly dive in conditions similar to those in which you learnt.
OWSI – Open Water Scuba Instructor, the first level of PADI's instructor ranks. To become an OWSI you must be complete and IDC and IE.
PADI - Professional Association of Dive Instructors. The largest scuba diver certification agency in the world.
Practical Training Exercises – One of two ways to take the Divemaster course. This method involves taking part in simulated training exercises as opposed to assisting in real life courses with real student divers. This is usually a faster way to complete Divemaster training as it is not reliant on other students signing up for the courses you need to assist on.
Rescue course -This course you take after an advanced course. It is focused on teaching divers how to spot problems before they become emergenices and how to deal with emergencies if they do occcur. It is the first course which takes the divers attention from themselves and starts focusing on awareness of others.
Specialties - These courses are focused on a specific area of diving. Depending upon the specialty they can be taken by any diver depending on interest. An example would be the Deep diver specialty which focuses on the considerations and special procedures required to safely dive deep.
Staff Instructor – The third level of the PADI instructor ranks. To become a staff instructor you must do a staff course with a PADI CD. A Staff instructor can teach Assistant Instructors.
Tec or Technical Diving - This involves diving beyond the recreational limits in temrs of depth and or cave/wreck penetration. One differentiated a Tec diver is the extensive equipment they take to be able to SAFELY exceed the recreational limits. You are NOT a TEC diver if you just exceed the limits, you also need extensive training and equipment to be a TEC diver.
TEC Deep. The first DSAT/PADI Tec course/qualification. This course is split between apprentice and full tec deep. It introduces you to the equioment and procedures for Tec diving including using gas switches to accelrate decompression.
TEC Trimix. Following Tec Deep is the Tec Trimix course. This extends the knowledge gained in the deep course to qualify a diver to plan and execute a dive using helium to reduce narcosis at depth and therefore dive deeper safely.