Table of Equivalency
Diving schools and instructors generally offer diving training according to proven and globally recognized training standards. Which training is the best? Very idle to speculate. Every training has its advantages and disadvantages, a good training is more dependent on a good diving instructor and good environmental conditions. Not everyone enjoys learning to dive in cold water and with poor visibility. On the other hand, you might want to get to know the theory better and not experience it on a fast vacation course. Basically there are the following training levels, which are also recognized among each other.
| IAC / RSTC | CMAS | PADI | SSI | SAA / BSAC | ISO-Standard / EUF Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discover Scuba Diving | Try Dive | Discover Scuba Diving | Try Scuba | Try Dive | |
| Pool Diver | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Scuba Diver | Basic Diver | Scuba Diver | Passport Diver / Scuba Diver | Elementary Diver / -- | Supervised Diver |
| Open Water Diver | CMAS* | Open Water Diver | Open Water Diver | Open Water Diver / Ocean Diver | Autonomous Diver |
| Advanced Adventurer | CMAS* + 2 Specialties | Advanced Open Water Diver | Advanced Adventurer | -- | No ISO / EUF Standards |
| Advanced Open Water Diver | CMAS** | -- | Advanced Open Water Diver | -- | |
| AOWD + Specialty Stress & Rescue | CMAS** + Specialty Stress & Rescue | Rescue Diver | Diver Stress & Rescue | Sport Diver / Club Diver | |
| Master Diver | -- | Master DIver | Master Diver | -- | |
| Dive Leader | CMAS*** | Dive Master | Dive Guide | Dive Leader / Dive Leader | Dive Leader |
This list cannot always be transferred 1: 1. Some courses partially overlap. Depending on which direction you are looking from, this table would look different. Thus, the table can only be a rough guideline. Of course, there are a large number of other associations such as VDST, Protec, Naui, IDA, IDEA. However, they all differ only insignificantly and are based on the training scheme either at the RSTC or the CMAS training track and are usually also a member there, e.g. IAC is a member of the RSTC and CMAS, the BSAC is part of the CMAS and PADI and SSI are pure RSTC members. But no matter what certificate a diver has, there is unfortunately no information about how good or how bad the respective diver is.
Tags: Open Water Diver PADI BSAC IAC RSTC SSI ISO Discover Scuba Diving Scuba Diver Master Diver Diveader Diveaster Dive Guide Try Scuba SAA table of equivalency