PADI AWARE Fish Identification
Enjoy your dives even more by recognising the creatures that you see! You’ll learn the main fish families and characteristics to help identify species all over the world!
For example, a butterfly fish in the Caribbean has a similar shape to a butterfly fish in Southeast Asia, but their colors and markings maybe wildly different. If you know what fish family it belongs to, it becomes much easier to look up the local name or at least be able to intelligently ask the local scuba instructor what you saw.
It works better than asking about a “yellow thingy with a funny tail fin”!
1. Course overview
You’ll get to complete the course over 2 dives. There’s little-to-no classroom content; this is a very hands-on course.
You already need to be a PADI Open Water diver (or equivilent certification from another training agency), and you need to be at least 10 years old.
2. What you'll learn
The PADI Project AWARE Fish Identification specialty course with Stellar Divers provides you with the fish identification basics so that next time you see a fish you may know what it is. You’ll learn:
How to identify characteristics of local fish families and species
Fish survey techniques and strategies
How to practice fish identification dive planning, organisation and procedures
3. Equipment
Unlike our introductory courses, you’ll either need to provide your own scuba kit, or hire some from us for the duration of your course. If you want to look at purchasing your own, we’d be happy to help you also.
As a minimum, you’ll need a mask, snorkel, fins, buoyancy compensating jacket (BCD), scuba regulator, and the instrumentation to monitor your depth and air supply. You can hire cylinders from us, or bring your own in-test cylinders with you to be refilled at the dive site.
You’ll also need adequate exposure protection for the conditions you’ll be diving in (this could be a wetsuit or drysuit) to keep you comfortable on your dives. If you dive in a dry suit, you need to ensure you have the correct training for this too.
Some courses may require additional equipment, depending on the individual course requirements.
Any equipment you provide yourself must be in a serviced, well-maintained and safe condition. No exceptions!
4. Learning materials
We will send you any e-Learning materials needed for your specialty course, which will take you to the registration area of the PADI site. This teaches you the background information you need for your course, and allows you to study at your own pace.
You can complete this on pretty much any device with an internet connection.
Some courses also have physical learning content, which we can give you once you’re enrolled.
Ready to start?
You can book and pay for your course with us online, either for yourself or someone else. We’ll send over any e-Learning content to your email, and we can then work with you on suitable dates and times for any in-person sessions.
We have availability throughout the year, although if you have specific dates or a timeline in mind, please check with us first.
Your next adventure...
If you enjoyed learning more about the underwater world, then you’ll almost certainly love the PADI AWARE Coral Reef Conservation course. Learn about the complexity of these underwater habitats, including how you can help conserve these vital systems.
You may also want to check out the PADI Underwater Naturalist course. It’ll give you even more detailed insight into the amazing life in the oceans, and build on your knowledge of responsible human interactions with aquatic organisms.
The Stellar Crew
We have a very straightforward philosophy; we are totally committed to ensuring you – our customer – have the best, safest and most enjoyable experience possible. It’s as simple as that!
Here at Stellar, we all love to scuba dive, and we love to have fun doing it. We absolutely want you to feel the same way when you dive with us.
We can very proudly boast that we’re a PADI 5-star Instructor Development Centre. Put simply, this means we also train the trainers – so naturally we take our education of safe diving very seriously. You’re in safe hands, and you’ll have a lot of fun in the process too.