06/04/2026
đ 60 Years of PADI Heroics, Firsts and Records!
Over the last decade, tremendous feats from PADI divers and members include:
Thai Cave Rescue (2018): Divers helped lead the rescue diving mission for the âWild Boarsâ youth soccer team, who were trapped in the Tham Luang cave system in Thailand for 18 days. The successful rescue was one of the most dangerous dive rescues of all time and earned this group the first PADI Medal of Valor!
Largest Underwater Cleanup (2019): PADI Dive Center Dixie Divers in Deerfield Beach, Florida, united their diving community on June 15, 2019 to bring 633 scuba divers together at the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier to successfully remove 1,450 kilograms (3,200 pounds) of fishing gear and over 9,000 pieces of marine debris in 24 hours.
Largest Underwater Mermaid Show (2021): 110 PADI Mermaids in Hainan, China set a Guinness World Book of Records for the largest underwater mermaid show on April 28, 2021 at the Atlantis Sanya.
Deepest Diving Pool in the World (2021): PADI Dive Center Deep Dive Dubai built the worldâs deepest pool for diving at 60 meters (196 feet). The pool was built specifically for scuba divers! Designed to resemble an abandoned sunken city and filled with 14 million liters of water!
Fastest to Dive All Seven Continents (2024): PADI Ambassador Barrington Scott successfully dove all seven continents in a record-breaking 19 days, seeking adventure in Australia, Thailand, Egypt, Malta, the United States, Argentina and Antarctica!
Most Celebrated Day of Diving (2025): PADI Womenâs Dive Day celebrated its 11th anniversary on June 19, 2025. For the past 11 years, the dive community has rallied together annually to encourage those of all genders, ages, races, backgrounds and abilities to dive together.
Most Certifications Issued by a Dive Center (2025): Two PADI Dive Centers, Banâs Diving Resort (Thailand) and Quicksilver Dive (Australia) have surpassed an incredible PADI certification milestone, each introducing over 300,000 people to scuba diving and the underwater world.