The numbers behind running a dive centre.
A grounded, sourced snapshot of the dive business in 2026: how big the training world is, who is learning to dive, what the market is worth, and how divers now get in touch. Every figure links to where it came from.
Diving is a global training business.
Recreational diving runs on the two big agencies and the thousands of centres that teach under them. SSI and PADI between them certify divers in almost every country with a coastline.
PADI Dive Centres and Resorts
operating in 184 countries and territories
PADI 2024 Worldwide Corporate StatisticsThe new diver is younger and more diverse.
The agencies publish who is getting certified. The picture has shifted steadily: more women, a young core, and a clear centre of gravity in warm-water destinations.
of 2024 PADI certifications were women
a share that has risen every year since 2020
PADI 2024 Worldwide Corporate Statisticsdestinations: USA, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Philippines
PADI Open Water, 2024
PADI 2024 Worldwide Corporate StatisticsDive travel is worth billions, and climbing.
Diving tourism sits inside the wider travel recovery. Estimates vary by research firm and by how the market is scoped, but every serious forecast points the same way: up.
estimated diving-tourism market in 2025
across independent market-research firms
Diving-tourism market researchforecast annual growth (CAGR) this decade
depending on the firm and market definition
Diving-tourism market researchThe first message now arrives on WhatsApp.
In most dive destinations the enquiry does not come by phone or email. It comes as a message, often out of hours, often in a language that is not the centre's first. Speed of reply is what wins the booking.
now outranks calling as the way people prefer to reach a business
Twilio State of Customer EngagementThe same day, run on DiveOps.
The figures above describe the industry. These describe what changes for a centre that puts one system behind the front desk. They are DiveOps outcomes, not industry averages.
the front desk answers, day and night, in the diver's language
of first WhatsApp messages answered automatically
to a first reply, at any hour
of admin handed back to the team each week
Questions, answered.
How many dive centres are there in the world?
SSI lists more than 4,000 Training Centres and resorts across 150+ countries, and PADI reports 6,600 Dive Centres and Resorts in 184 countries and territories. There is overlap, as many centres teach under more than one agency, so the two figures cannot simply be added together.
How many people are certified to scuba dive?
PADI alone reports more than 30 million certifications issued since 1967, though a diver can hold several certifications over their life, so this is a count of certifications rather than of living active divers.
How do divers book a dive trip now?
In most dive destinations the first enquiry arrives as a WhatsApp message, frequently out of hours and in the diver's own language. With 64% of consumers expecting a business reply within an hour, how fast a centre answers is now a direct driver of bookings.
Agency figures are taken from SSI and PADI corporate statistics. Market figures are drawn from published diving-tourism market summaries, which vary by research firm; we quote them as a range rather than a single number. Messaging figures come from Twilio and Meta research. The DiveOps figures describe outcomes reported by dive centres running DiveOps, not the industry as a whole. Figures were last reviewed in September 2026.
- SSI (Scuba Schools International)Corporate “About SSI” figures, divessi.com
- PADI 2024 Worldwide Corporate StatisticsData for 2019–2024, prepared December 2024
- Diving-tourism market researchFortune Business Insights and Grand View Research market summaries, 2025
- Twilio State of Customer EngagementConsumer messaging expectations, 2024
- Meta / WhatsAppWhatsApp global reach
- DiveOpsOutcomes reported by dive centres running DiveOps
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