What education and training is required to become a scuba diver?

Answer 1

The interesting thing about Scuba diving, is legally, there are no licenses or certifications required. The problem arises, however, that while scuba is an extremely safe sport, some training is required to make it safe. And from a liability standpoint, dive shops, and dive resorts will not rent gear, or take people diving unless they can show a scuba license (or C-Card - certification card) from a recognized training agency.

You can take classes locally or online that teach scuba diving, and upon graduation from the class, a certification card (which resembles a credit card) with your name, date certified, etc is given. That card will be required in most any location in order to dive.

There are different levels of certification, Open Water Scuba Diver, Advanced Scuba Diver, Rescue Diver, Divemaster, Instructor, etc, and by taking additional classes, someone can gather more experience, education and certifications.

Beyond recreational diving, there are courses for technical diving including deep, mixed gas, cave diving, etc, and there are also commercial dive courses covering everything from underwater welding, inspection, etc.