Page "Recreational diving" Paragraph 24

There is a certain amount of disquiet over the level of training and experience necessary to qualify as a diver.

Under most entry-level programs ( SEI, SDI, PADI, BSAC, SSAC, NAUI, SSI, and PDIC, divers can complete a certification with as few as four ' open water ' dives.

Such a qualification allows divers to rent equipment, receive air fills, and dive without any higher supervision to depth restrictions of typically 18 meters ( 60 feet ) with a buddy.

Critics claim that four dives is too few to prepare new divers for such a level of responsibility, and that either the total should be raised or the certification qualified.

Certification agencies normally answer that they advise their students to dive within the envelope of their experience and training, and to seek to extend their training to Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air Nitrox, and beyond.

In the 1980s, several agencies with DEMA collaborated to author ANSI Standard Z86. 3 ( 1989 ), Minimum Course Content For Safe Scuba Diving which now serves to limit their potential liability from lawsuits on training adequacy issues by defining their training as the definition of Accepted Industry Practices.