SDI Marine Ecosystems Awareness Diver

Learn what you are actually looking at underwater. The SDI Marine Ecosystems Awareness Course covers how ocean and freshwater environments work, the problems they face, and how divers can help protect them.

Who this course is for:

Certified divers who want to understand the reefs, lakes, and cenotes they dive and how to protect them.

Course prerequisites

• Minimum age 18, or 10 with parental consent
• SDI Open Water Scuba Diver or equivalent

What you can expect to learn:

The SDI Marine Ecosystems Awareness Diver Course takes an in-depth look at all of the following:

• Temperature, salinity, light, nutrients, waves, tides, and currents
• Plankton, aquatic plants and animals, and food webs
• Tropical reef, temperate, and freshwater ecosystems
• Conservation: buoyancy control, coral bleaching, habitat loss, overfishing, and pollution
• Responsible interactions with aquatic life
• Field skills: observations, monitoring, and documenting human impact

What’s in it for you?

Graduates may dive without direct instructor supervision in conditions similar to their training. Junior divers (ages 10-14) must dive with a parent, guardian, or dive professional. Counts toward the SDI Advanced Diver Development Program.

SDI Marine Ecosystems Awareness Diver minimum certification requirements:

• Complete all open water requirements safely
• Demonstrate mature judgment in dive planning and execution