Scuba diving standards – The details
The seven standards relating to scuba training help to ensure that courses are safe, well-structured and run by suitably qualified instructors. They describe:
- Any prerequisites for taking part in the course
- The instructor’s qualifications and credentials
- The equipment to be used
- The conduct of the training
- The knowledge and practical skills that divers must achieve to reach that level
- The activities that can be safely carried out by divers at each level.
BS ISO 11121:2009
Recreational diving services. Requirements for introductory training programmes to scuba diving
Introductory scuba training programmes
BS ISO 11121:2009 applies to introductory dives for beginners trying out scuba diving in open water – the type of one-off experience that many people enjoy on holiday.
BS ISO 11121 is the standard that specifies minimum programme content requirements for introductory scuba experiences in recreational scuba diving. Under no conditions are these requirements considered to be a standard for the training and certification of scuba divers. Instead, these requirements are used to introduce a non-diver to recreational scuba diving by means of a supervised, controlled dive experience, and to encourage the participant to seek further training.
The introductory diving programme does not result in certification, but is experiential in nature; consequently, in-depth knowledge of diving academics and skills is not necessary.
Participants are taught only what is required of them to experience scuba diving under direct supervision.
BS ISO 11121 specifies minimum requirements for training organizations that offer introductory scuba experience training programmes to non-divers.
BS ISO 11121 applies to programmes that include participants being taken into an open water environment. It does not apply to programmes that are exclusively conducted in a confined water environment (e.g. swimming pools).
BS ISO 11121 also specifies the conditions under which this service is to be provided, which supplement the general requirements for recreational diving services specified in ISO 24803.
The organizations below have been externally audited to confirm that their training meets the relevant standards.
- British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC)
- Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI)
