Become a scuba diver! Visit PADI.com to find a dive shop or dive resort and learn to scuba dive with PADI scuba diving experts who will guide you through scuba lessons anywhere in the world.
PADI (padi.com) has 347 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 2.5 out of 5.
Also known as
padi.com
Website
padi.com
Category
Extreme Sports
Location
Rancho Santa Margarita, California
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
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The company replied to 80% of reviews.
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Most recent review: October 2026.
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Their eLearning platform absolutely blows. I know you're a diving organization but what the hell, why can't you join the 21st century?
Paid for a program (two different program actually) and have to deal with the dive shop and get it all sorted out directly because they just don't show up in thei rportal. No idea why, no bug fixes, no apology, nothing.
GT
ghosty T.
On the day of the first dive on open … Instructor purposefully looking for ways to fail me while treating the others in the group far better
On the day of the first dive on open water the instructor would constantly ask me questions which i managed to answer them properly to his annoyance because nearly all the questions were directed at me and not the others in the group,
i felt like he was trying to rush everything and seemed to have a problem with me,
before the final dive he told us what we were going to do, for the end we were told we had to wait three minutes and then i had to let out the air in my jacket and swim up and once i got to the top i then blow into my bcd to inflate it, however as soon as i started to go up he made me breath on his regulator which confused me,
so when we surfaced i took a couple of seconds to start blowing into the bcd but he failed me. I was treated badly and the nasty Padi instructor tricked me / lied to get to fail me as I remember this girl in our group surfaced on her own and a few seconds later the other dive master with her. Don't waste your time and money with Padi because all it takes to fail is an instructor who has a problem with you personally
CZ
Craig Z.
I will start by saying I took the padi …
I will start by saying I took the padi open water diver class years ago when there was a class and a book . Loved every minute of it ! My son wanted to take dive lessons told him how much fun I had . Well . This has Ben the worst experience to say the least . Try to make this short . He passed all swimming classes with ease . Got the e learning what a complete joke . Where is the instructions 179 dollars to do your self . Also paid 600 for private instuter. What's the point when you do everything your self . Padi when I took class I felt was the best . We are so frustrated with this program I called the dive shop and quit on 5/3/2017 . I have many frends who in the past have talked to about getting dive licenses guess I can tell them why bother just teach yourself. If you would like to here more of this this is just the top of the iceberg I will gladly tell you more . Craigz1973@ gmail.com
AL
Albee
Bad Experience at Lumut Malaysia Quiver Dive Team Padi Dive Center
Me and my friends drive travel(Road Trip) from Singapore all the way up to Lumut on 22nd November 2015 (Sunday) non stop for 6 hrs in a high speed, just to reach Lumut in time (0830hrs on 23rd Nov as mentioned in the email sent by them). We able to reached there at 0400hrs and finally we have our short nap while waiting for the dive center to open.
At 0830hrs, we finally get to see 2 staff setting up the center. We approached them, and they asked us to come back at 1000hrs. We drive around and have our breakfast then proceed back to the dive center.
We get to know that actually there is nothing for us on 23rd Nov, the so called instructor pass us a advance diver manual and ask us to study and a question paper to fill up. He then said there is some question in the manual, but is not really correct. Any question you can ask me. But after that the whole day we do nothing, no video, no theory question, no anything, even there is no discussing on the question paper that we spend our time and scratch our head out to finish it.
The trainer is not professional in guiding us and we are totally lost and there is no course objective, we just dive and explore by ourself. Dive site is terrible, the seawater is dirty and visibility is super low in the water. And we lost 3 of our divers during a dive, luckily they manage to come back safely.
What worse is I lost 1 of the mask and my friend lost 1 of the fin during the back roll entry. And the dive center said we have to paid $90 for the mask and $353 for the fin. The mask and fin is used, and they asked us to paid the price that is much higher than the market brand new mask n fin. I don't mind paid for the lost fin n mask, is our mistake. But at least with reasonable price. This is much overly charge. Even 2nd hand stuff get 2nd hand price offered. But this used mask n fin is much more expensive than market brand new mask & fin. And we get threaten by the Quiver Dive Team boss that if we never pay, they won't issue us our Padi cert. We paid $1,250 for each for advance diver course. And this is what we been treated... I am really sad about this, and this experience did cut of my passion to be a padi dive instructor. I love diving, soooo much. But this make me feel shameful to be 1 of the padi instructor in future...
PD
pdubois64
PADI elearning is a RIPOFF
Buy the book for $50 with the slate or elearning for $172 with no access on
iPads, iPhones, or iPods.
Guess which one I chose.
AC
Anna-Chiara B.
The online system is a nightmare and customer service inexistent
I am a PADI certifcate diver. PADI asks you to pay €36 for each ecard, which is just online access to certificates you have already earned and dearly paid for. I have three certificates so, in order to be able to dive as I don't have the plastic cards with me, I paid €108 with my credit card.
The process to get to pay for the eCards is simply a nightmare, as counterintuitive as possible. The information I need is readily available, just entering my name and date of birth, without any password or anything, they find my record, but it requires a hunt to get to order the "replacement cards" which again are just online access to that same data that is public in their branded app.
I manage through the process. At the end of the payment, the system releases the following information:
Username: N/A
Password: N/A
I get an email thanking me for paying, and, if I cannot access the site, to reset my password entering my email and clicking continue. I do so, and the system shows a blank page. I try from the app and I get a "student record not found error". I try several times, and I always the same useless error. So, I paid €108 to get online access to that data, and I cannot have an account to access that data.
I tried calling customer service in the UK, nobody answered the phone. it's summer and divers are going all over the world, but apparently they don't work on Sundays. I sent an email, I received an auto-responder and then silence.
As a result, despite paying €108, I am not able to access my certifications, and the diving center doesn't allow me to dive without them.
With all the money they charge for each course and certification, including this absurd price for creating a fancy gif with my name on it, they should at least be able, in 2015, to create accounts for their users.
BK
Bukkake K.
PADI stands for "Put Another Dollar In"
I wanted to learn scuba diving to get Open Water certification for my holiday, so I chose PADI eLearning to study the theory on my PC before the actual diving in the swimming pool and open water at diving centre, in order to save time and money. So I paid $120.00......
To tell the conclusion first, DO NOT APPLY FOR ELEARNING if you want to save money & time, or don't want to get ripped off by PADI.
I believed myself if I took eLearning, I would get some sort of discount from the total course fee after the completion (Mind you, I'd already paid 120.00 beforehand - who wouldn't expect deduction?), but in fact THERE IS NO DISCOUNT AT ALL. It doesn't really matter if you take eLearning or studying in the classroom with other learners; you'll have to pay the full price one way or the other.
I was gobsmacked so I wrote an email to PADI, and here's the reply.
"Dear ***<snip!>***
Thank you for your email, and we are sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with the PADI eLearning process. The instructors and dive centres that offer PADI courses are not agents of PADI, nor are they employed by PADI and as such PADI receives no monetary benefit from the courses run through these instructors or dive centres. PADI is therefore not a party to the pricing policy of dive centres, and we are unable to intervene in financial disputes. PADI cannot control our member's financial agreements with their customers.
Further to this, as you have stated in your email, the PADI eLearning programme is designed soley to assist you in gaining the knowledge required to continue with your diving education in a timely manner and one which is convenient to yourself. Many students prefer to study at home, or during work breaks, or even whilst commuting by train, and the PADI eLearning programme provides for this method of leanring.
Upon initial registration for the course the terms and conditions clearly state that an additional fee may be payable for the remainder section of the course:
“In addition to the online knowledge development portion of the PADI Open Water Diver course, you'll need to complete inwater training. You can visit your chosen PADI Dive Center or Resort to begin your dives at any point after you complete the first section. When you visit the facility, be sure to bring your eLearning Record with you and remember, the $120 US nonrefundable fee is for the online portion of the course only. You will be required to pay an additional fee to your chosen facility for the inwater portion of your certification. You are also responsible for purchasing or renting any required equipment such as a mask, snorkel and pair of fins, as well as the scuba system. Your PADI Dive Center or Resort may suggest additional equipment along with the required purchase of a Recreational Dive Planner (Table or eRDP version) and a log book.”
We are sorry to hear of your disappointment regarding the pricing structure at the dive centre you have chosen, however as previously stated, the PADI eLearning course is intended to provide convenience to yourself as a consumer, and may not be a suitably priced option for all consumers.
With regards
****<snip!>*****
Training and Quality Management Consultant
PADI International Ltd
The Way the World Learns to Dive®"
Obviously he meant "we don't care and thanks for the cash!", didn't he?
I understand many people choose PADI becasue it is one of the largest organisation worldwide, but I really don't like their business style and attitude towards learners. If you want to learn scuba diving, go for BSAC or CMAS.