Try diving: a first breath underwater, without a card.

What a try dive is

Wikipedia (secondary) describes introductory diving, also called trial or resort diving, as a dive by someone with no previous training, under the guidance of a recreational instructor. It says such a session usually takes two to four hours and does not lead to a certification. Agencies give their versions different names, and those whose figures we found set their own minimum ages and depth limits.

The important point is the last one in Wikipedia's description: a try dive is not a qualification. It does not make anyone a certified diver, and it is not the same thing as the supervised entry-level cards described on certification levels.

The programmes compared

Ages and depths below are each agency's published statement or, where marked, Wikipedia's summary of it.

SSI also runs a pool-based Try Scuba. A search summary of an undated archived SSI standard gives it a minimum age of 8 and a 5 m (15 ft) limit in a pool or confined water, and says SSI calls it a recognition programme rather than a certification. The SSI page itself could not be opened, so those figures are not confirmed here.

Other agencies name their programmes without the details appearing in our research:

• NAUI titles its introductory programme "Introduction to Scuba" and aligns it with ISO 11121, according to the page title in a search result. Wikipedia says that two open water dives on NAUI's Try Scuba earn a "Passport Diver" confirmation, which is not a certification.
• BSAC calls its try-dive "Try scuba diving".
• RAID lists "Try Dive" and "Indoor Diver" among its first programmes.
• GUE starts its recreational ladder with "Discover Diving", a trial for people unsure whether they will enjoy diving or GUE's approach.
• SSI also lists a children's programme, SSI Explorers, from age six, on its 2026 about page.

Credit towards a course

Some try dives can count towards a full course later. Wikipedia (secondary) says PADI Discover Scuba Diving can be credited towards Open Water Diver if the course is taken within a year, and that SSI's open water Try Scuba Diving also offers credit. We did not read the agencies' own credit terms.

The standards behind try dives

Introductory dives have their own international standard. ISO 11121:2017, "Recreational diving services: Requirements for introductory programmes to scuba diving", sets minimum content for introductory programmes that take participants into open water, according to a search summary of the ISO catalogue. Programmes held only in a pool or confined water are outside its scope, and it is not a qualification standard. The summary says it was reviewed and confirmed in 2022. A search summary of the German DIN adoption describes an introductory programme as a supervised, controlled dive meant to introduce non-divers to diving and encourage further training.

ISO 24803:2017, the standard for recreational diving providers, lists introductory diving as one of the five kinds of service it covers. Wikipedia (secondary) says the US RSTC also publishes an Introductory Scuba Experience minimum standard. More on these is on ISO diver standards.

Health questions

The medical screening systems agencies use are described on medical screening. Nothing on this site can say whether a particular person is fit to dive; where a screening form calls for it, a physician decides.