Scuba Diver is a subset of Open Water. Same skills. Same instructors. You just do fewer dives. Knowledge development is shorter, confined water is shorter, and you complete two open water training dives instead of four. Depth caps at 12 metres rather than 18. You must always dive with a PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Instructor — not just a certified buddy of equal or higher experience.
The course suits people who don't expect to dive often, or who plan to dive while travelling with an active dive shop that runs guided diving as standard. It's also a sensible intermediate step if you want to enter the water sooner without delaying for the full Open Water syllabus. Everything you complete here credits directly toward Open Water Diver. When you're ready to go further, you finish the additional knowledge development, the remaining confined skills, and the two extra open water dives to upgrade.
Entry is open from age 10. Junior Scuba Diver covers ages 10-14 and converts to the standard rating at 15. You need basic swimming ability and good general health, the same standards as for any entry-level recreational diving programme. No prior diving experience required. Unsure whether diving suits you? The Discover Scuba Diving programme is a no-certification taster you can book before committing to anything longer.
Advanced
The next step after Open Water. Five dives in total: two required (deep diving and underwater navigation) plus three elective specialty dives picked from a wide menu. By the end you can dive to 30 metres and have a head start toward up to three PADI specialty certifications.
Advanced
A subset of the Advanced Open Water Diver course. Complete three Adventure Dives from the same menu and you earn the Adventure Diver rating. Three dives, not five. Useful if you want a structured next step after Open Water without committing to the full AOW programme yet.
Advanced
The course that shifts your attention outward. Up to here, training is about your own diving. From this point on it's about everyone else's too. You learn to spot problems early, prevent them where you can, and respond when they happen anyway.