Dive Against Debris Specialty

Gain the knowledge and skills to activate your inner citizen scientist by taking the Dive Against Debris® Specialty. You’ll learn to complete Dive Against Debris surveys under the guidance of a PADI® Professional and help keep you your local dive sites healthier by removing trash.

If you’re a PADI (Junior) Open Water Diver who is at least 12 years old, you can enroll in the Dive Against Debris Specialty course.

Your training starts in the classroom by learning:

• About marine debris, the damage done, what it is, where it comes from and how divers are part of the solution.
• How to establish a Dive Against Debris® survey, the survey frequency, sites, profiles and equipment. Also the use of photography and knowing what to leave behind.
• How to make your survey count. The five easy steps to report the debris you’ve removed to maximize each survey’s benefits.
• How to join the global Project AWARE movement of scuba divers protecting our ocean planet.
• During your one open water dive, you will conduct a Dive Against Debris® survey, including weighing, sorting, recording, disposing and reporting your marine debris to Project AWARE.

Get credit! The dive of this PADI Specialty Diver course may credit as an Adventure Dive toward your Advanced Open Water Diver certification – ask your instructor about earning credit.

You can start by reading the Dive Against Debris Survey Guide, the Marine Debris Identification Guide and by downloading the Dive Against Debris Data Card from the Project AWARE website. Stop by your local PADI Dive Center and Resort to enroll in the course and start learning about the effects of marine debris.