This is your chance to rally your Torchbearer community!
From 12-20 September, 2026, the global dive community will unite for the 9th annual AWARE Week. This year marks the biggest evolution in AWARE Week’s history: for nearly eight years, this movement has been centered on Dive Against Debris®. Now, as a PADI Professional, you have a full portfolio of conservation opportunities to bring to your divers.
Choose the actions that resonate most with your community: remove marine debris, help monitor shark and ray populations through the Global Shark & Ray Census, or track ecosystem health with the AWARE Biodiversity Survey. Every survey is submitted through the same place, the Conservation Action Portal (CAP), so your data always counts toward the bigger picture.
You’re not just hosting an event. You’re leading a movement, and inviting your divers to choose how they want to protect the ocean.
The CAP is the AWARE App. Whether you access it via the desktop or mobile, it’s the same powerful platform; use whatever works best for you.
Above the Surface
You don’t have to be underwater to take action. Here are some things you can do to celebrate AWARE Week topside.
Drive Impact With the Conservation Action Portal
The Conservation Action Portal is a one-stop shop for conservation action – making it easier than ever for PADI Divers, Professionals and Dive Centers to contribute meaningful data and engage in conservation directly through the dives you’re already doing and leading.
The power of PADI AWARE® lies in you – passionate PADI Professionals with first-hand experience of the ocean and a drive to protect it. Here are six ways you can make a local impact with global reach using the Conservation Action Portal:
- Submit citizen science surveys — Dive Against Debris, Global Shark & Ray Census and AWARE Biodiversity Survey
- Register Adopt the Blue™ sites
- Become a 100% AWARE Center
- Donate to support ocean conservation
- Track your impact and collect your Torchbearer badge
- Sign key ocean policy petitions
Below the Surface: Turn Every Dive Into Impact
Divers are uniquely positioned to document what lies beneath and turn observations into advocacy. Empower your divers to collect critical data, monitor ocean health and become part of a conservation-ready dive force.
Teach Conservation Specialties
The Dive Against Debris and Shark & Ray Conservation Specialty courses are more than courses; they’re proven citizen science programs that equip divers to take real conservation action and submit data that drives change.
All PADI Assistant Instructors and above are eligible to teach these specialties, included as a PADI AWARE Member Benefit. Teach them as digital products, or bundle them with Open Water Diver and Advanced Open Water Diver courses and make every certification count for the ocean.
Host Conservation Events During AWARE Week
Hosting a Dive Against Debris cleanup, a Global Shark & Ray Census dive day or a Biodiversity Survey outing is one of the easiest and most visible ways to get involved.
Use the Conservation Activities Locator to promote your event to divers around the world. Log into the Extranet and tag your activity as an “AWARE Week” Special Event.
Here’s How To Host Your Own Event
- Plan Your AWARE Week Activities – Engage students in your local conservation efforts, such as a community-wide Dive Against Debris event that invites everyone in to help at or below the surface, or a workshop that highlights the primary issues affecting your local marine ecosystem and ways to help.
- Market Your AWARE Week Activities – Amplify your events so the local community of divers and ocean enthusiasts can join you. Take advantage of the marketing tools on the PADI Pros’ Site and list your AWARE Week event and conservation activities with the Conservation Activities Locator. Log in to the Extranet to register your event now. It’s easy! Simply create a Conservation Activity and tag it as an “AWARE Week” Special Event.
Share Your Stories & Events
The PADI AWARE community chooses to be ocean optimists. Together, our actions – big or small – can and do inspire and empower others all over the globe to join our mission to save the ocean. Check out the PADI Pros Marketing Hub to access marketing tools to promote your conservation efforts.
Tag @paditv and @padiaware on your social media stories and posts, and use the following hashtags to tell us your AWARE Week stories. You might even be featured in our social media posts and celebratory photo albums!
- #AWAREWeek
- #SaveTheOcean
- #DiveAgainstDebris
- #AdoptTheBlue
- #LocalActionGlobalImpact
- #EveryDiveaSurveyDive
- #sharkandraycensus
- #gsrc
Thank You to Our Partner
AWARE Week is proudly supported by Blancpain, the Official Partner of the PADI Blueprint for Ocean Action and Founding Partner of the Global Shark and Ray Census, PADI MPA Program and Adopt The Blue.
