Diver below a school of manta rays in sun rays

Master Scuba Diver

Name: Master Scuba Diver
Brand: PADI
SKU: MSD001
Price: 1200.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock

SKU MSD001

R 1,200.00

Product variants

The highest recreational rating PADI awards, and you can't buy your way into it.

Master Scuba Diver isn't a course. There's no syllabus, no exam and no week off work. It's a rating you apply for once you've genuinely done the diving, and that's precisely why it means something. Fewer than two percent of divers hold it.

The requirements are deliberately demanding. Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver, five separate PADI specialty certifications, and 50 logged dives. That's not a weekend. It's a couple of years of actually going diving, which is rather the point of the rating.

What it recognises is breadth as much as depth. Five specialities means five different kinds of diving done properly, and Rescue Diver means you've been trained to look after other people in the water, not just yourself.

How To Get There

You'll need PADI (Junior) Advanced Open Water Diver, PADI (Junior) Rescue Diver, five PADI specialty certifications, 50 logged dives and a minimum age of 12. TecRec, Public Safety Diver, Freediver and Mermaid certifications can count toward your five specialities, which is worth knowing if your diving has gone in one of those directions.

If you're already close, we'll verify your certifications and dives and submit the application for you. If you're not, talk to us anyway. We'll map out exactly which specialities and how many dives you still need, and there's usually a more efficient route than the obvious one.

Ready to find out where you stand? Get in touch with our team, or book below if you already meet the requirements.

What This Course Entails

Master Scuba Diver is a rating rather than a course, so there's no training to complete. What happens instead is a review: we check your certifications and logged dives against the requirements and tell you plainly whether you qualify.

If you do, we submit your Master Scuba Diver application to PADI and handle the certification and card. If you don't yet, we'll map out exactly what's missing, and we'll usually find you a more efficient route to the five specialities than working through them at random.

Divers aged 12 to 14 earn a Junior Master Scuba Diver certification. There's also a Dedicated Master Scuba Diver route, based on five distinctive specialty certifications within a single programme, which we're happy to explain if it suits your diving better.

Prerequisites

Certified PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or Junior Advanced Open Water Diver.
Certified PADI Rescue Diver or Junior Rescue Diver.
Five PADI certifications from any combination of Specialty Diver courses, TecRec courses, Public Safety Diver courses, Freediver courses (not Basic) or Mermaid courses (not Basic).
50 logged scuba dives.
Minimum age is 12 years old. Divers aged 12 to 14 earn a Junior Master Scuba Diver certification.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Master Scuba Diver a course?

No, and this catches people out. It's a rating you apply for once you've met the requirements, not something you sit through. It's the highest recreational rating in the PADI system, and fewer than two percent of divers hold it.

What do I need to qualify?

PADI (Junior) Advanced Open Water Diver, PADI (Junior) Rescue Diver, five PADI specialty certifications, 50 logged dives, and a minimum age of 12. TecRec, Public Safety Diver, Freediver and Mermaid certifications can count toward the five specialities, which is worth knowing if you've gone down one of those routes.

How rare is the Master Scuba Diver rating?

Fewer than two percent of divers hold it. Not because it's difficult, but because it takes 50 logged dives and five specialities, which means a year or two of genuinely going diving rather than a course you can book and finish.

Can a 12 year old earn it?

Yes. The minimum age is 12, and divers aged 12 to 14 earn the Junior Master Scuba Diver rating, which converts when they turn 15. They'd still need Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, five specialities and 50 logged dives, so it's a real achievement at that age.

What does the fee cover?

We verify your certifications and logged dives against the requirements, submit your Master Scuba Diver application to PADI, and handle the certification and card. If you're not there yet, talk to us anyway and we'll map out exactly which specialities and how many dives you still need.