You’ve earned your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification—now what? This is the point where diving really opens up. With more confidence, deeper limits, and new environments within reach, the next step is all about choosing experiences that match your interests and sharpen your skills.
Whether you’re chasing adventure, better technique, or new challenges underwater, this guide will help you decide where to go next.
Path 1: Master Scuba Diver
The first path is to seek for the PADI Master Scuba DiverTM rating. This starts with getting the PADI Open Water Diver certification, then completing the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course and the PADI Rescue Diver course (or any qualified certifications).
You’ll need five PADI Specialty Diver certifications and a minimum of 50 logged dives. Luckily, Advanced Open Water Divers have already made solid progress.
PADI Master Scuba Diver (MSD) is considered the highest non-professional rating that you can achieve. They’re a highly respected group of divers with significant training and experience. Less than two percent of divers achieve this highly-regarded certification. Showing your Master Scuba Diver card tells people you’ve dived in a wide range of environments.
PADI Specialty Courses
One of the best parts of the Master Scuba Diver program is that you will choose your five specialty courses. You might choose specialties that are suitable for your local dive conditions, like Dry Suit Diver speciality or Boat Diver speciality. Instead of that, you can choose options that you are interested in, such as the Wreck Diver Specialty or the Night Diver Specialty.
If you opt for specialty courses that correspond with the Adventure Dives you did on your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course, then those dives may, at your instructor’s discretion, count towards your specialty certifications, too. PADI Advanced Open Water dives are known as ‘Adventure Dives‘, and these are also the first dives of any corresponding specialty course.
Path 2: PADI Professional
The second path is for those who are thinking about working in the diving industry. The next step, in this case, is becoming a PADI Divemaster or Instructor. If you enjoy being around others and have a passion for the underwater world, become a PADI Professional (or PADI Pro for short)!
Rescue Diver
If becoming a PADI Pro is your goal and you want to get there quickly, earning your Rescue Diver certification is the obvious next step. You’ll often hear this mentioned as the most challenging, yet most rewarding course divers ever take.
Rescue Divers learn to prevent and manage problems as well as develop more confidence in their dive skills. Additionally, they practice problem-solving skills until they’re second nature. It’s a serious, yet enjoyable, course that ultimately prepares divers to help others.
To certify as a PADI Rescue Diver, you will also need to complete the Emergency First Response course (or other applicable first aid and CPR course). The Rescue Diver course is a fitting prerequisite for leadership-level training.
PADI Divemaster
After you’ve completed your Rescue Diver course, and have logged at least 40 scuba dives, you’ll continue to the PADI Divemaster course. As a Divemaster, you’ll be able to supervise scuba diving activities and assist PADI Instructors with scuba classes. PADI Divemaster is the first step in your professional diving career.
This course includes:
- Knowledge development sessions
- Water skills exercises and workshops
- Hands-on practical assessments
This will help you develop the skills to organize and direct a variety of scuba diving activities.
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
After the PADI Divemaster course, if you’d like to teach your own courses, the PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (or Assistant Instructor) course is your next step.
So, if you like people, have a passion for scuba diving and want an extraordinary life, become a PADI Instructor. Additionally, teaching scuba diving allows you to share your love of the aquatic world with others while doing what you enjoy – being in, around and underwater.
To become a PADI Instructor, you will need to complete a PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC). The Instructor Development Course is made up of two parts – the Assistant Instructor (AI) course and the Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) program.
Most dive professionals complete the entire IDC in one go and then attend an Instructor Examination (IE), which is the final step to becoming a PADI Instructor.
You earn a PADI Instructor rating through hard work and commitment, but you’re rewarded with a job that lets you share incredible underwater adventures with others, transforming their lives for the better and enriching yours, too.
