There is something new on the horizon. PADI AWARE Foundation is introducing newly revised and easy-to-use instructional materials, for the 10 Tips to Save the Ocean, and at long last…eLearning. This is exciting on so many levels, as there are that many more ways of delivering the message that everything underwater is alive until you touch it. 

Established in 1992, the PADI AWARE Foundation started finding its fins, and evolved significantly in the early 2000’s, hitting such milestones as 1 million pieces of marine debris removed, aiding more than 30,000 entangled animals, and the introduction of the 10 Tips to Save the Ocean.

PADI AWARE has been sharing conservation and their mission to rid the oceans of marine debris to any and all that were reachable. It is important to note a mission goes only as far as the motivational voices behind the movement. That voice is ours, the divers who make the oceans our playground, hobby, livelihood and more. We are all AWARE divers and must drive local action for global ocean conservation, and now we have some new ways to do that very thing.

How to Teach the PADI AWARE Specialty Course

First and foremost, there is a new approach for the delivery of the course’s workshop portion adapted from similar PADI workshops, such as the Thinking Like a Diver workshop and Thinking Like an Instructor workshop, introduced in the 2016 PADI AOW and 2020 Instructor Development Course. In the case of the PADI AWARE Specialty course, this workshop is Thinking Like an Environmentalist. In other words, these are our Take Action workshops. Through this approach, you, the Instructor or Dive Center, are able to choose the best way to deliver the course to your divers. Whether in a classroom, on a dive boat or through eLearning, the mission is the same – to guide participants toward simple actions they can take to support conservation and join the Ocean Torchbearer movement.

Historically, AWARE’s message has started in a classroom. This is still a viable assembly, but that classroom may be in an elementary school full of eager students learning about the underwater world for the first time. The classroom may be full of new or experienced divers. Whichever your setting, the message starts with recognizing the plight of the underwater world and guiding your divers and non-divers alike towards doing something. With the aid of the new PADI AWARE Specialty Lesson Guides, you will be able to demonstrate the value of the all new 10 Tips to Save the Ocean, showcasing ways to take action, including education on respecting wildlife, responsible underwater imaging, mastering buoyancy, and connecting with eco-conscious tour and hotel operators for your next adventure.

If you choose to use the new PADI AWARE eLearning as the start your students’ journey, that’s great. It will provide more time to build passion in your students and share ways to help. Imagine, you have a group of four Open Water Divers who were able to go through the eLearning before meeting you at the boat. Now, you have a 45-minute ride to get to the dive site. What better way to use that time than a workshop? It would be like one big dive briefing where you get to share your passion for the wildlife, while discussing ways to be a citizen scientist on every dive. This is an opportunity to teach divers to make their dives count, not just count their dives.

Good for the Environment & Your Business

These messages are not only crucial for the environment, but essential for your business. Too often we are reticent to discuss continuing education or gear sales with our divers. But the truth is, people are going to continue diving and buying gear, so why not guide them to do that with you? The PADI AWARE Specialty course is the best gentle reminder of how to do this very thing. While discussing the fact that excellent buoyancy is one way to help dive responsibly, you might recommend taking the Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course and purchasing proper dive gear for the environment. As a responsible imager, photos and videos are a must. Or, what better way to guide your divers to becoming responsible underwater photographers and videographers than by taking the Digital Underwater Photographer Specialty course to go along with the new camera that was just purchased from you? Why? Because you will be able to teach that diver how to manage their buoyancy to dive responsibly, while getting acquainted with their new equipment. 

Educate More Citizen Scientists

Perhaps the most exciting new addition to the PADI AWARE Specialty course flow is the “Becoming a Citizen Scientist” Take Action workshop. The effects of climate change are more apparent than ever before. Who better to present and assist with the underwater world than us, divers and Ocean Torchbearers? We are the eyes of the ocean. We bring the hard reality of a cigarette butt found on the street, that may soon find itself in the ocean. We are citizen scientists every time we take action to help the underwater world, and now, we are able to train new ways of surveying and reporting the actions we take to help. This work supplies the very data that perpetuates concrete changes in views, opinions, and policies, for the better.

Try it. Impart your passion of the underwater world and share it using the PADI AWARE Specialty course as your guide. There are so many ways to deliver the AWARE message of ocean conservation and the Ocean Torchbearer movement; all you have to do is dive it forward.

This article was written by guest blogger Ross Neill, Director of Training, Rainbow Reef Dive Center. Neill is a father and Platinum PADI Course Director who teaches and trains the PADI AWARE Specialty course every two weeks in his Instructor Development Course. He also practices what is preached to dive it forward.

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