Training agency
Professional Association of Diving Instructors
A large recreational diver training organisation founded in 1966 whose public catalogue includes a Cavern Diver specialty limited to the light zone.
PADI says it was founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson, and reports more than 30 million certifications and about 6,600 dive centres and resorts [1].
On the PADI pages reviewed for this reference, PADI's overhead offering in natural caves is the Cavern Diver specialty for Advanced Open Water Divers aged 18 or over, which keeps divers within the light zone of a cavern [2]. PADI's public course page does not set out numeric distance or depth limits, and no public PADI standards document for the course was found. This reference does not list a PADI full-cave course because none was found on the pages opened.
1 courses
Cave-related courses
As published on the organisation's own course or standards pages; the official page is the authority. Similar names elsewhere are not automatically equivalent.
| Course | Prerequisites | Scope and published limits |
|---|---|---|
| PADI Cavern Diver ↗Cavern · min. age 18 · checked 2026-10-14 | PADI Advanced Open Water Diver; at least 18 years old. | A recreational specialty giving the knowledge and skills to explore caverns while staying within the light zone so that open water can be reached easily.The public course page describes staying within the light zone but gives no numeric distance or depth limits. No public PADI standards document for the course was found. |
12
Providers stating this affiliation
| Provider | Where | How we know |
|---|---|---|
| Diving Adelaide | Marleston (Adelaide) | Provider's own website |
| Cristina Zenato | Grand Bahama | Provider's own website |
| ScubaFun | Bayahibe | Provider's own website |
| Circle Divers | Dahab | Provider's own website |
| Argonauta Diving Cala Gonone | Cala Gonone (Dorgali) | Agency directory |
| Scuba Junkie | Semporna and Mabul Island | Provider's own website |
| Mexidivers Dive Center | Tulum (beach hotel zone) | Provider's own website |
| Pro Dive International (Pro Dive Mexico) | Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Cancún and Cozumel (hotel-based centres) | Provider's own website |
| Tank-Ha Dive Center | Playa del Carmen | Provider's own website |
| The Akumal Dive Shop | Akumal | Provider's own website |
| Amigos Dive Center | Fort White | Provider's own website |
| Dive Wild | Harare | Provider's own website |
Further reading
Every fact on this page, with its source (3)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PADI says it was founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson. | Verified | [1] |
| PADI reports more than 30 million certified divers and about 6,600 dive centres and resorts.Self-reported figures, as displayed on 2026-10-14. | Verified | [1] |
| PADI's Cavern Diver specialty requires Advanced Open Water Diver and a minimum age of 18 and keeps divers within the light zone.Numeric limits are not on the public page. | Verified | [2] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction