PADI Divemaster
DIVEMASTER
Turn Your Passion for Diving into Something More.
The PADI Divemaster course is your first step into the world of professional diving.
You'll move beyond simply being a good recreational diver and start developing the knowledge, skills, judgement and leadership abilities expected of a PADI Professional.
Working closely with our experienced PADI Instructors, you'll refine your own diving to demonstration quality, develop your dive theory and learn how to supervise diving activities, assist with courses and look after other divers.
At Scuba Academy, your training isn't limited to completing a series of exercises. You'll have the opportunity to become involved in the day-to-day activities of a busy dive centre, assist with real students and courses, and gain practical experience alongside experienced PADI Professionals.
Whether your goal is to work in diving, travel the world, progress towards becoming a PADI Instructor or simply become the best diver you can be, Divemaster is where your professional journey begins.
WHAT'S INCLUDED IN YOUR DIVEMASTER COURSE?
PADI Divemaster eLearning
Develop your diving skills to professional demonstration quality
Expand your dive theory and diving knowledge
Learn to supervise and manage diving activities
Develop professional briefing and dive-management skills
Practise mapping, search & recovery and deep-diving skills
Develop your ability to respond to diver problems
Complete Divemaster water-skills exercises
Gain experience assisting PADI Instructors and real students
Experience how courses are organised and delivered
Develop professional-level judgement and leadership
Mentoring from experienced PADI Professionals
Regular access to our dedicated training facility
Full scuba equipment provided
PADI Divemaster certification on successful completion
WHAT HAPPENS DURING YOUR DIVEMASTER COURSE?
Divemaster is very different from the recreational courses you've completed so far.
You're no longer just learning how to perform skills yourself. You're learning how to demonstrate, supervise, anticipate problems, assist students and become a role model for other divers.
Your PADI Divemaster eLearning develops your professional-level knowledge, covering areas including dive theory, equipment, decompression theory, dive management, supervision and the role of a PADI Divemaster.
Alongside your knowledge development, you'll work through practical assessments, workshops and water-skills exercises.
You'll refine the fundamental scuba skills you first learned as an Open Water Diver until you can perform them slowly, clearly and precisely enough that a student could learn simply by watching you.
You'll develop rescue skills, navigation, search and recovery, deep-diving experience, dive-site mapping and the physical water skills expected of a dive professional.
But some of the most valuable learning happens while you're working alongside instructors and students.
You'll see how experienced instructors organise sessions, brief students, solve problems, manage groups and adapt their teaching to different people.
Gradually, you'll start taking on more responsibility yourself.
That's when you stop simply training to become a Divemaster and start thinking like a PADI Professional.
TRAIN WHERE REAL TRAINING HAPPENS
One of the biggest advantages of completing your Divemaster training with Scuba Academy is the environment you're training in.
We have our own dedicated scuba training facility, giving us far greater flexibility for developing your skills than relying solely on occasional hired pool sessions.
That means time to practise.
Time to repeat skills.
Time to work on demonstrations.
And importantly, opportunities to assist on real PADI courses and gain experience with actual students.
Scuba Academy runs training from beginner experiences and children's programmes through Open Water, continuing education and professional-level courses.
As a Divemaster candidate, that gives you opportunities to observe different instructors, different students and different stages of diver development.
You'll see that one student may understand something immediately while another needs a completely different explanation or demonstration.
That's experience you simply can't get from a book.
Our aim isn't just to get you through the Divemaster requirements.
It's to help develop you into the kind of confident, capable and professional Divemaster that an instructor actually wants alongside them.
FROM DIVER TO DIVE PROFESSIONAL
Becoming a Divemaster changes your role underwater.
Until now, most of your training has concentrated on your own diving.
Can you control your buoyancy?
Can you navigate?
Can you manage a problem?
Can you plan and safely complete your dive?
As a Divemaster, your awareness needs to become much broader.
You'll start watching other divers.
You'll learn to recognise when somebody is uncomfortable before they tell you.
You'll think about where the group is, what the conditions are doing, what could happen next and what you would do if something changed.
You'll learn how to organise and supervise diving activities and how to support an instructor during diver training.
That transition from concentrating primarily on yourself to looking after the bigger picture is one of the most important parts of becoming a dive professional.
Questions You May Have
WHAT IS A PADI DIVEMASTER?
PADI Divemaster is the first professional level within the PADI system.
Divemasters are trained as dive leaders and can supervise certain diving activities, guide certified divers and assist PADI Instructors during diver training.
It's also the first major step on the professional pathway towards becoming a PADI Instructor.
DO I HAVE TO WANT A CAREER IN DIVING?
No.
Some people become Divemasters because they want to work in the diving industry or eventually become instructors.
Others take the course because they simply want to challenge themselves and reach a professional standard of diving knowledge and ability.
Either is a perfectly good reason.
If you love diving and want to understand it at a completely different level, Divemaster can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
WHAT WILL I LEARN?
Your Divemaster training develops both your knowledge and practical abilities.
You'll work on areas including:
Dive theory
Dive planning and management
Supervising certified divers
Assisting with student divers
Demonstration-quality scuba skills
Rescue skills
Underwater mapping
Search & recovery
Deep-diving procedures
Briefings and diver organisation
Problem recognition and prevention
Professional conduct and judgement
Most importantly, you'll learn how all of these individual skills come together when you're responsible for helping other people enjoy safe, well-organised diving.
WILL I ACTUALLY ASSIST ON COURSES?
Yes – and we consider this an extremely valuable part of your development.
Where appropriate during your training, you'll have opportunities to work alongside our PADI Instructors during real training activities.
You'll observe how sessions are organised, see how instructors work with different students and progressively develop your own ability to assist.
Because Scuba Academy runs regular training programmes, you're learning in an environment where diver education is actually taking place rather than simply simulating every situation between Divemaster candidates.
WHY IS SCUBA ACADEMY'S OWN TRAINING FACILITY AN ADVANTAGE?
Developing professional-quality skills takes practice.
Having our own dedicated facility gives us greater flexibility to work on skill demonstrations, buoyancy, rescue techniques, workshops and areas where you personally need additional practice.
More importantly, the facility is regularly used for actual diver training.
That means you'll have opportunities to see how instructors manage real students and potentially assist across different programmes as your own training progresses.
For a future Divemaster – and particularly someone considering becoming an Instructor – that experience is extremely valuable.
DO MY SKILLS NEED TO BE PERFECT BEFORE I START?
No.
You're expected to arrive as a competent Rescue Diver, but you aren't expected to already perform every skill at professional demonstration quality.
That's part of what you're here to learn.
We'll work with you to refine your buoyancy, positioning and fundamental scuba skills until you can demonstrate them slowly, clearly and correctly for student divers.
WHAT ARE DEMONSTRATION-QUALITY SKILLS?
As a recreational diver, successfully completing a skill is normally the objective.
As a dive professional, sometimes you need to show somebody else exactly how that skill is performed.
That means slowing everything down, exaggerating important steps, maintaining excellent control and making the demonstration easy for a student to understand.
You'll work through the fundamental scuba skills and learn how to demonstrate them to professional standards.
ARE THERE SWIMMING TESTS?
Yes.
PADI Divemaster candidates complete a series of water-skills exercises designed to assess aquatic ability and stamina.
These include swimming, swimming with mask, snorkel and fins, towing or pushing another diver and maintaining yourself at the surface without aids.
You don't need to be an Olympic swimmer, but a dive professional is expected to have an appropriate level of water confidence, stamina and fitness.
HOW MANY DIVES DO I NEED TO START?
You need at least 40 logged dives to begin the PADI Divemaster course.
You must have at least 60 logged dives before you can be certified as a PADI Divemaster.
Your logged experience at certification must also include appropriate experience in underwater navigation, night diving and deep diving.
DO I NEED TO BE A RESCUE DIVER?
Yes.
To begin PADI Divemaster training, you must be a PADI Rescue Diver or hold a qualifying certification.
You must also have completed appropriate CPR and First Aid training within the previous 24 months.
PADI Emergency First Response Primary & Secondary Care meets this requirement.
DO I NEED A MEDICAL?
Yes.
Unlike most recreational courses, Divemaster candidates need a medical clearance confirming fitness to dive signed by a physician within the previous 12 months.
We'll provide the appropriate paperwork and explain what's required before your training begins.
HOW LONG DOES DIVEMASTER TAKE?
Divemaster isn't a course we believe should simply be rushed through.
How long it takes will depend on your existing experience, availability, skill level and how intensively you want to train.
One of the advantages of training with us is the opportunity to develop through regular involvement with real diving and training activities, rather than treating Divemaster as a quick checklist exercise.
We'll discuss your goals and availability and help create a training pathway that works for you.
CAN I COMPLETE DIVEMASTER AROUND WORK?
Yes.
We understand that many Divemaster candidates are training alongside a full-time career, studies or family commitments.
Our regular training schedule and dedicated facility give us flexibility to build your Divemaster development around available training opportunities rather than requiring everything to happen during one intensive block.
Talk to us about your availability and we'll discuss the best approach.
IS ALL MY SCUBA EQUIPMENT PROVIDED?
Yes. Full scuba equipment is available throughout your training.
However, Divemaster is the point where we strongly recommend starting to become familiar with your own personal diving equipment if you haven't already.
As a professional diver, you'll be spending considerably more time underwater, and knowing your own equipment intimately is an important part of your development.
We're happy to advise you as you gradually build your own equipment setup.
WHAT CAN A PADI DIVEMASTER DO?
Once certified and meeting PADI's professional membership requirements, a PADI Divemaster can perform a range of professional duties.
These include supervising diving activities, guiding certified divers and assisting PADI Instructors during training.
There are also certain PADI programmes that Divemasters can conduct independently, subject to the relevant PADI requirements and any additional training required.
Your Divemaster training will help you understand both the opportunities and the professional responsibilities that come with your new rating.
CAN I WORK AS A DIVEMASTER?
PADI Divemaster is a professional diving qualification, and active-status PADI Divemasters can seek employment within the recreational diving industry.
Opportunities exist with dive centres, resorts, boats and other diving operations both in the UK and around the world.
Certification doesn't guarantee employment, but it gives you the professional foundation from which you can start building experience within the diving industry.
CAN I BECOME AN INSTRUCTOR AFTER DIVEMASTER?
Yes.
For many divers, Divemaster is the beginning of their journey towards becoming a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.
Once you've gained the required experience and meet PADI's prerequisites, you can progress into the PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC).
If becoming an Instructor is your goal, tell us from the beginning.
We can approach your Divemaster development with that progression in mind, giving you as much exposure as possible to student divers, teaching situations and experienced instructors along the way.
EXPLORE THE PADI IDC
WHAT IF I'M UNDER 18?
PADI also offers a Junior Divemaster programme for qualifying divers aged 15–17.
Junior Divemaster allows younger divers to begin developing many of the knowledge and practical skills involved in professional-level diving.
It isn't the same as being a PADI Divemaster and doesn't provide professional Divemaster status, but it creates an excellent foundation for progressing to the full Divemaster course once you're old enough and meet the additional requirements.
VIEW JUNIOR DIVEMASTER
DIVEMASTER HIGHLIGHTS
Ready to become a PADI Professional?
Divemaster isn't simply another certification card.
It's the point where you begin to look at diving differently – developing the skills, knowledge, awareness and responsibility expected of someone other divers can look to for leadership.
At Scuba Academy, you'll have the opportunity to learn alongside experienced PADI Professionals, practise in our dedicated training environment and gain valuable experience assisting with real diver training.
Whether your ambition is to work somewhere tropical, become a PADI Instructor or simply see how far you can take your diving, your professional journey can start right here in London.