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Scuba Diving International
Abbreviation	SDI
Formation	1998 or 1999
Type	NGO
Purpose	Underwater Diver training
Headquarters	World Headquarters, Stuart, Florida, United States
Location	1321 SE Decker Ave Stuart, FL 34994 USA;
Region served	Worldwide
Parent organization	International Training
Subsidiaries	ERDI; PFI; TDI;
Affiliations	United States RSTC; RSTC Canada; RSTC Europe;
Website	www.tdisdi.com

Scuba Diving International (SDI) is a Scuba training and certification agency. It is the recreational arm of Technical Diving International, a technical diver training organization.^[3]

SDI is a member of the United States RSTC, the RSTC Canada and the RSTC Europe.^[4]^[5]^[6]

History

SCUBA Diving International, launched in 1998 or 1999,^[1]^[2] is the sister organization of Technical Diving International.^[7] SDI was created by dive professionals from the technical diving field. This gives the organization the perspective of teaching recreational diving through the lens of experienced technical diving.^[8]

SDI's philosophy is to improve recreational scuba diving training, enhancing older diving practices by incorporating new diving technology and emphasizing safety.^[8] The curriculum is set up to take divers from the beginner level to instructor level and structures its courses around a logged dive and specialty course approach.^[9] Divers who progress through SDI's recreational diving courses are then in a position to advance to technical diving with the courses offered by Technical Diving International.^[8]

Training

Whereas TDI and ERDI (the two sister companies of SDI) handle technical diving courses and emergency personnel courses respectively, SDI covers the recreational aspect of diving by offering the following courses:^[10]

SDI requires students to have access to a modern dive computer on all dives during training from the very start.^[11]

SDI is also unusual amongst recreational diver training organisations in that it recognises solo diving as part of recreational diving, and offers a special training course relating to it.^[12] Most major recreational diver training organisations mandate diving with a "buddy" at all times.

Entry Level Courses

These courses are meant for people interested in taking the first steps towards Scuba diving:^[13]

Future Buddies Program - A course designed to provide children between the ages of 8 & 9 an introduction to scuba diving in a controlled environment under the direct supervision of an instructor. Once the future buddy turns 10 they can enroll in the SDI Junior Open Water Diver course.
Scuba Discovery Program - An introductory program to scuba diving, for people who are not sure they want to proceed with a full scuba course and certification.
Open Water Scuba Diver Course - Entry-level certification to scuba diving
Skin Diver Course - A skin diving course.

Specialty Courses

Advanced Diver Development Program - The aim of this program is for the diver to experience four different specialties to improve comfort level and skills in the water. To qualify as an advanced diver a minimum of 25 logged dives, which may include training dives, is required. These courses are for already certified divers, independent of their skill level,^{[clarification needed]} who wish to expand their knowledge of a specific area of interest:^[14]

Advanced Adventure Diver
Advanced Buoyancy
Altitude Diver
Boat Diver
Computer Diver
Computer Nitrox Diver
Deep Diver
Diver Propulsion Vehicle
Drift Diver
Dry Suit Diver
Equipment Specialist
Inactive Diver Program
Full Face Mask Diver Specialty
Ice Diver
Marine Ecosystems Awareness
Night- Limited Visibility Diver
Research Diver
Search and Recovery
Shore/Beach Diver
Sidemount Diver
Underwater Hunter & Collector
Underwater Navigation
Underwater Photography
Underwater Video
Visual Inspection Procedures
Wreck Diver

Advanced Courses

These courses are for already certified divers, wishing to further progress on their certification level:^[14]

Solo Diver Course - One of SDI's most popular courses, the solo diver program teaches experienced recreational divers how to safely dive independently of a dive buddy or strengthen your buddy team skills. This course so far is not offered by any other Underwater diving training organization.
Rescue Diver Course - This course is designed for certified Advanced Divers to develop their knowledge and necessary skills to perform self rescues, buddy rescues and to assist and administer necessary first aid. (This is not a course for professional rescue divers. Such courses are offered by ERDI. A sister company of TDI and SDI)
Master Scuba Diver Development Program - This certification is awarded to certified Rescue Divers that have logged 50 dives.

Professional Courses

The courses below are considered professional courses as they allow the diver to engage in appropriate paid work:^[15]

Divemaster Course
Assistant Instructor Course
Instructor Course
Specialty Instructor
Course Director Qualifications
Instructor Trainer Qualifications
Online Instructor Crossover System - A program for Instructors who are current with another recognized scuba certification agency to crossover to Scuba Diving International.

EUF Certification

The SDI and the TDI training systems obtained CEN certification from the EUF certification body in 2006 with certificate number S EUF CB 2006002, and is currently certified until 2022.^[16]

Corporate affiliates

Scuba Diving International is one of the subsidiaries of International Training whose group includes Emergency Response Diving International, First Response Training International, Performance Freediving International and Technical Diving International.^[1]^[17]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Who Is SDI". Retrieved 14 September 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Who Is SDI". 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Learn About SDI". Scuba Diving International. Archived from the original on 20 January 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
^ "United States Agencies". WRSTC. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
^ "Canadian Agencies". WRSTC. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
^ "European Agencies". WRSTC. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
^ "Technical Diving International (TDI)/Scuba Diving International (SDI)". Retrieved 10 July 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c "PADI versus SDI: Differences, Benefits and Drawbacks". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
^ "Technical Divers International/Scuba Divers International". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
^ "Learn to Scuba Dive - Get Certified". Tdisdi. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
^ "Who is SDI?". Scuba Diving International. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
^ "Solo Diver Course". Scuba Diving International. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
^ "Experience the Underwater World". Tdisdi. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Expand Your Diving Skills". Tdisdi. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
^ "Educate Future Divers". Tdisdi. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
^ "EUF Certified Training Systems/Training Organisations". EUF Certification International. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
^ Whelan, Stephan (16 July 2019). "BREAKING: SDI/TDI Announce Acquisition Of Performance Freediving International". deeperblue.net limited. Retrieved 7 September 2019.