On Saturday, 21 July, PADI® Dive Centers, Resorts and Professional Members hosted more than 1,000 events in 104 countries across the globe for the fourth annual PADI Women’s Dive Day. With record-breaking participation, the day brought together thousands of female and male divers of all ages and experience levels. A few highlights from this year’s festivities include:
- Fifth Point Diving Centre in the United Kingdom transformed the one-day celebration into a weeklong event filled with education programs like fundamentals of underwater photography and the Project AWARE® Dive Against Debris® Specialty course, as well as snorkeling and diving excursions. The week culminated with a Dive Against Debris on PADI Women’s Dive Day, during which BBC joined in to film the group’s environmental efforts.
- In Grand Cayman, Divetech celebrated by bringing together 84 women to set the world record for longest underwater female human chain. The empowering event raised over $3,000 US to support breast cancer research.
- In support of the local community and in honor of the great accomplishments women have made in diving, Blue Corner Dive in Bali offered two free internships to local Indonesian women. The female-led mentorship program will take them from PADI Open Water Diver to PADI Divemaster starting in August. Selected applicants were chosen based on a short video or essay explaining why they hope to become true dive professionals.
“One of our main goals has always been to remove any barriers divers may face when entering the sport – particularly for women and young people,” said Nic Emery, co-founder of Fifth Point Diving Centre, which crossed over to PADI this year. “We know this isn’t always the easiest atmosphere to break into as a newbie diver, or even as a seasoned pro looking for somewhere new. Our week of celebrations served as a culmination of our efforts to change these perceptions.”
Media coverage of PADI Women’s Dive Day events exceeded 236 million viewers worldwide and engaged millions of people via social media, increasing awareness and excitement for diving across diverse audiences. PADI Members and divers all took to their social channels to proudly share their #padiwomensdiveday experiences. For a snapshot of events around the world, check out the PADI Women’s Dive Day 2018 Facebook photo album.
PADI Women’s Dive Day began in 2015 out of the PADI organization’s commitment to fostering a global dive community that encourages and empowers females of all ages to safely and confidently explore the underwater world. Each year since, PADI Women’s Dive Day has seen increased adoption of the event and support from every sector of the dive industry, growing from 335 events in 65 countries in 2015 to 1,066 events in 104 countries in 2018. Year over year, the dive community has rallied together around PADI Women’s Dive Day to reduce the gender gap in diving, strengthen bonds, get more people actively diving and create more stewards for the ocean.
Thank you to all who took part in this year’s celebration to inspire new divers and build a stronger, more active dive community.
Mark your calendars: Next year’s PADI Women’s Dive Day is scheduled for Saturday, 20 July 2019.
