DIVING NEWS
PADI Women’s Dive-in Saturday
Picture: PADI Worldwide.
“When we introduced PADI Women’s DIve Day at our centre the women divers we had were far and few between, making it difficult to find a buddy,” says Malin Tiger Dahlström, PADI Course Director of Dive Team in Sweden.
“This special day not only provided the opportunity for fellow women divers to meet up and dive but also to bring in friends and family who maybe weren’t in the sport but certainly interested in learning more. It gave us all a chance to dive together, make new friends and new dive-buddies.
“Today it has become an event that is eagerly anticipated by our women members, and the turn-out increases every year, with returning members as well as new ones. A lot of the friendships made on this day continue today, with a lot of the women diving together every weekend. This year our theme – the diversity of the fjord – brings into the light all the fantastic diving we offer in the surrounding area.”
The seventh annual PADI Women’s Dive Day takes place around the world next Saturday, 17 July. The training agency describes the annual event as dedicated to “fostering a global community that encourages divers of all genders, ages, races, backgrounds and abilities to safely and confidently explore and protect the underwater world”.
2021 events will be scaled in accordance with restrictions imposed in different countries by Covid-19. According to the agency the event has contributed to the “significant growth” in the number of female divers since 2015 and, subsequently, in PADI Torchbearers concerned with ocean conservation.
“With the launch of PADI’s Women in Diving initiative and Women’s Dive Day in 2015, PADI began to see a reduction in the gender gap of diver certifications on a global level, and noticeable growth in female certifications,” PADI told Divernet.
“Since the inception of the WDD event in 2015 through to the start of 2020, certification growth for females outpaced that of males every year in every region and was increasing annually on average by 1-2% globally each year.”
10 July 2021
Through July PADI says it will be sharing the stories of a range of women, from South African freediver instructor Zandile Ndhlovu who founded the Black Mermaid Foundation and US marine biologist Xochitl Clare who researches the effects of climate change on fish, to Cody Unser, another PADI AmbassaDiver who works to introduce people with disabilities to diving.
UK events on the Saturday include diving the Fleur De Lys wreck followed by Poole Rocks MPA with Dorset Diving Services; and Ladies Day at Fifth Point Diving in Northumberland with PADI Discover Scuba experiences.
Diving-related games take place in the Tranquility Divers pool in Norwich on the afternoon of 18 July; and there’s a women’s day at Capernwray on 25 July with a full ladies’ trip to St Abbs with two days’ boat-diving plus a spa day in October, both with Bolton Area Divers.
PADI Women’s Dive Day events can be located here and divers can participate through social media using #PADIWOMEN.
Year-round, the agency’s recently launched Conservation Activities Locator can be used to find local events.
