I encourage every Member, diver and employee in the PADI organization to use their superpowers to make positive differences. Ocean Torchbearers witness the underwater world we care so much about and take responsibility to help protect and restore it. Dive instructors and leaders see firsthand how diving is a healing, motivating force that transforms lives. As a community of PADI Members, we shoulder the responsibility to share that, too.
PADI surveys and independent research, like the 2025 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Dive Industry Study, show that together the PADI organization engages more people in diving in more places, cultures and languages than all other diver training organizations in our industry combined. This means you represent a true consumer brand that is the undisputed leader in scuba diving, and you make the choice to support and participate in the PADI brand community, a massive force for good.
Did you know that around 75 percent of new divers had heard of PADI before taking a class? This is not by coincidence. It takes a focused strategy and an excellent reputation to create this level of consumer demand. PADI has about four times the website activity and social media followers as the next closest training organization, and PADI’s media share of voice is 90 percent. That means when the media mentions a diver training organization, nine times out of 10, it’s PADI.
With this exposure, not surprisingly, approximately 7.5 of every 10 diver certifications globally are PADI, an increase over what surveys found 10 years ago. Your professionalism and enthusiasm play a big part in this – 90 percent of PADI Open Water Divers say they would recommend PADI. The 2025 BCG survey and research findings confirmed that PADI has the highest net promotor score (NPS) of all training organizations, which means you and your fellow PADI Members are providing divers the best experiences, which translates into satisfied divers enthusiastically recommending PADI to others.
In addition to becoming confident and comfortable divers, through your influence, your divers become engaged ocean advocates. Supporting the Blueprint for Ocean Action and PADI AWARE, PADI Divers to date have participated in more than 350,000 ocean awareness/citizen science/restoration efforts, adopted almost 3,000 dive sites for monitoring, freed more than 36,000 entangled marine animals, and removed and documented millions of pieces of debris to the world’s largest underwater marine debris database. We have contributed to more than USD $6 million in approved AWARE grants – directly applied on a local level across the planet. On the healing side, more than four dozen PADI Adaptive Services Facilities have opened the underwater world to thousands of motivated and driven people with varying degrees of ability.
Affiliation and loyalty to PADI translate into clear business benefits for PADI Dive Centers and Resort Members, too. This is essential. BCG’s 2025 dive industry data show that, thanks to PADI’s superior diver training programs, standards, and educational materials, in combination with greater PADI recognition and new diver traffic, PADI-exclusive resorts and stores are more productive, earning, on average, USD $186,000 annually more than non-PADI operators.
It’s important for all of us to step forward and step up. What we’re doing to transform lives and save the ocean is remarkable, constructive, and positive. It happens because of your support and belief in the PADI organization and our mission. Thank you for being a PADI Member. You are making a constructive difference.
Sincerely,
Drew Richardson
President & CEO
