In what marks a massive milestone for the sport of scuba diving, the 10th annual PADI Women’s Dive Day took place on July 20, 2024, with members from around the world hosting local events for their communities.
PADI® Women’s Dive Day has grown into the most celebrated day of diving on the planet, transforming lives and opening the door to the underwater world. For ten consecutive years, the dive community has rallied together to encourage divers of all genders, ages, races, backgrounds, and abilities to confidently explore and protect the ocean.
“The Women in Diving Initiative, and its flagship annual event PADI Women’s Dive Day, was identified as a solution to increase the inclusivity and belonging of females in the dive industry,” says Katie Thompson, PADI’s Senior Director, Environment & Sustainability.
“When we dove into the data a decade ago, we knew that we could do something to break down barriers and make diving more welcoming for women. PADI Dive Centers, Resorts, and Instructors have made this movement their own, and there are more women of all ages diving today than ever before.”
Since the inception of PADI Women’s Dive Day, events around the globe have highlighted the important ties between diversity, inclusion, and environmentalism – with this year’s event focused on discovery, education, adventure, and conservation, seeing thousands of divers and Ocean TorchbearersTM join in on celebrating the true ethos of scuba diving and PADI.
“It’s inspiring to see PADI Members champion this annual celebration for a decade, hosting events that unite local communities,” continues Thompson. “Women’s Dive Day has been a catalyst for the dive community to break down barriers and empower divers of all genders, ages, races, backgrounds, and abilities to believe they too can explore and protect the ocean.”
Highlights from this year’s event include:
Celebrating Discovery: PADI Dive Centers and Resorts like Plongée Grand Cozumel (Mexico), Ceningan Divers (Indonesia), and Sun Divers Roatan (Honduras) organized opportunities for local women to connect with the ocean through scuba diving.
“PADI Women’s Dive Day is the perfect platform for us to engage our dive community in sharing the benefits of the underwater world with local girls of Roatan,” says Natalie Shuman, Owner of Sun Divers Roatan. “You saw the spirit of PADI Women’s Dive Day come to life at this event. Our dive customers were diving alongside our local girls, and everyone’s having a blast creating community and bonding over a common love for the ocean. It’s always been a day that makes me immensely proud to be a PADI pro and female diver.”
TGI Maldives at OBLU Nature Helengel (Maldives) had the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of the Maldives join in on the celebration as guests tried scuba diving for the first time.
Celebrating Education: Placing a focus on enhancing confidence through continued education, PADI Dive Centers and Resorts created ways for females to advance their skills and build careers in scuba diving. Ocean Turtle Diving (United Kingdom) held a female Instructor Development Course in Spain, with day one of the exam led by a female examiner falling on this year’s PADI Women’s Dive Day. Torpedo Rays Scuba (Canada) announced their second annual SeaFoxes Scholarship, which supports a deserving female diver in Nova Scotia with financial support that goes towards a PADI Continued Education Course.
“PADI Women’s Dive Day is an extremely important day and we used it as an opportunity to empower and highlight our divers,” explains April Weickert, PADI IDC Staff Instructor and Manager of Torpedo Rays Scuba. “To take part means giving back to the community and supporting them, especially in ways I never felt supported in the past. It’s a day of reflection, empowerment, joy, and recognition and my favorite day of the year!”
Celebrating Adventure: Creating ways for friends and families of all ages to connect in the water together and introduce the next generation to diving, TSK Zurich (Switzerland) brought together women from the community to help both in water and on land as kids took part in a “taster” dive in their shop’s pool.
“The greatest joy of this event is seeing kids’ eyes light up the moment they take their first breath and recognize their own courage,” says Annick den Harder, Dive School Manager at TSK Zurich. “It is beautiful to see that we can make a significant impact on the next generation with such small gestures. I feel proud and grateful to be part of this PADI Women’s Dive Day event, empowering these new tiny superheroes.”
PADI, in collaboration with Sandals Resorts (Caribbean), announced the winner of their Just Add Water contest, which encouraged people to share an Instagram post of how being a PADI Diver transformed their life. The winner received an all-inclusive vacation for two to PADI Dive Resort Sandals Jamaica.
Celebrating Conservation: Showing scuba divers that they can be superheroes for our shared blue planet, PADI Dive Centers and Resorts organized various conservation activities that brought communities together. Evidive (Brazil) teamed up with Seiko to run a Dive Against Debris with over 100 scuba divers and allowed them to test-dive the Seiko Prospect PADI watches.
“We believe this initiative is an important step towards encouraging and empowering women in diving,” says Fabiano and Juliana Silva, co-owners of Evidive. “We also recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion. We wanted to create a space where everyone felt welcome and could learn from each other, celebrating the diversity that makes diving such a vibrant and special activity!”
Monkey Divers Diving College (Egypt) ran a coral conservation workshop before taking participants out for an exploratory dive in the Red Sea – allowing them to see first-hand the importance of having a healthy coral ecosystem and best practices to protect it.
“We thank PADI Members for continually fostering an environment of openness across the dive industry and working together to make the underwater world accessible to all,” continues Thompson. “When we see stories of lives transformed by Women’s Dive Day, it is clear that there is a swell of sea change regarding gender acceptance in diving and that people of all genders and backgrounds can seek adventure and save the ocean.”
The 11th Annual PADI Women’s Dive Day is set to take place next 19 July 2025, which will call on the 6,600 PADI Dive Centers and Resorts located around the world to rally their local communities together once again to join PADI in creating positive ocean change.