Have you heard about PADI Club yet? PADI Club is a community of divers, like you, who stay up to date and connected to diving thanks to a variety of benefits designed to help you maintain your diver status.
Just a few of PADI Club benefits include:
In addition to the PADI Club benefits listed above, Club Members also gain access to our exclusive Speaker Series. This is your chance for some face time with your scuba diving heroes from around the world! During events through the PADI Club Speaker Series, you will get to spend time listening to some of the most interesting people in the dive industry. Our carefully selected experts come from all backgrounds, from conservation and marine biology to underwater photography and shark awareness.
In these fun, informative, and interactive talks, you can ask questions during the live Q&A, usually following the presentation. This is a truly unique experience and an opportunity to ask the questions you’ve always wanted to. Once you have signed up for a PADI Club Membership, you’ll have access to register for the next scheduled live event – so get your questions ready!
Photo: Brent Durand
Your Club membership will also give you access to recorded Speaker Series events from the last two years. Previously featured speakers include Jill Heinerth, Tec Clark, Brent Durand, and Liz Parkinson.
During the presentation, PADI Club Members got to hear how professional underwater photographer, Brent Durand, fell into diving before he developed an interest in photography. Photography complemented his previous experience in the diving industry, so it was a natural progression to marry the two together and become an underwater photographer. The rest, as they say, is history!
During the Q&A session, Brent revealed that after taking his PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course, he became distracted by his photography. However, taking his PADI Rescue Diver Course is on the cards!
When asked about transitioning from underwater photography as a passion hobby into becoming a professional underwater photographer, Brent says that it was after receiving his first paycheck that he realized he could earn a living doing the two things that he is most driven by. Brent admits that he likes to be busy and making a career out of underwater photography allows him to be creative and pursue projects of his own. Being able to work in an industry that combines his two biggest passions meshed everything together into a career path.
Did you know that Brent pieced together his first underwater camera from eBay?! It’s amazing what is revealed by the speakers during these conversations!
Jill Heinerth is one of the world’s premiere underwater explorers, and the first person to have dived inside Antarctic icebergs. An acclaimed polar explorer, cave diver, author, public speaker, filmmaker and climate advocate, Jill is the first-ever Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Tec is the founder and host of ScubaGuru.com, as well as Founder and Director of Reef Ministries. Tec is the Associate Director for Scuba Diving and Outdoor Recreation at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he teaches and directs the Nova Southeastern University Academic Diving Program.
Liz Parkinson is not only an accomplished freediver, she is a stunt performer and scuba instructor with film credits such as Avatar 2: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Reminiscence and more.
This past summer, PADI AWARE® launched the funding phase of their Shark and Ray Census, a citizen science initiative aimed at collecting critical data to help protect our cartilaginous friends in waters all over the world. Natasha Marosi, Conservation Director for Beqa Adventure Divers and Founder of My Fiji Shark and Yannis Papastamatiou, PhD, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the Institute of Environment at Florida International University, joined PADI Club Members to talk about these misunderstood animals and their extraordinary impact on marine ecosystems.
Amos Nachoum is a world-renowned wildlife photographer who is known for getting up close with some of the largest marine animals on the planet. Winning Grand Prize for the World Nature Photography Awards in 2021, Amos has captured images others would only dream of getting. Amos is also a dedicated conservationist and received the 2019 SeaKeeper of the Year honor. Needless to say, this was one fascinating conversation for PADI Club Members!
Check Out All the Previous Speaker Series Events
We asked a selection of PADI Club Members for their feedback and thoughts about the PADI Club Speaker Series and here are just a handful of the responses we received.
“The Speaker series is a great opportunity to learn from key people in the industry who are happy to share their experiences and provide us some tips to make future travel and diving more enjoyable… I have seen how the advice has helped me to become a better photographer as well as a more conscious diver. Look forward to the next Speaker Series…”
Fernando G. – PADI Club Member
“It was great to hear from two experts who arrived at their passion through different pathways. The common goal of shark preservation is paramount to the health of our reefs.”
Eric R. – PADI Club Member
“Very informative in a relaxed environment. Great photos that sparked our interest in knowing more about sharks and conservation in general.”
Michelle H. – PADI Club Member
“Enthusiasm was contagious – liked the linking of top predators like the Yellowstone wolf to a general view of these animals in ecosystem-based management.”
Bill O. – PADI Club Member
“The conversation was very easy to follow ( no big scientific terms ) and there was a lot of valuable information!”
Victoria H. – Club Member
Sign up for PADI Club before January 22nd, 2024 to join the next PADI Club Speaker Series live from Monterey Bay with Iris Flores and Zach Hellmuthat (5pm PST):
If you aren’t a cold-water diver or California resident, you may not know much about the unique underwater ecosystem that is Monterey Bay. Join the PADI Club Speaker Series on January 24th and listen in as Ph.D. student of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz, Iris Flores, and filmmaker Zach Hellmuth speak about the beauty and diversity of the bay. Zach has been kind enough to share his short film documenting the wonders of the kelp forest in Monterey Bay and the wildlife calling it home. As a major bonus, you will also receive a link to the film after your registration.
Time to start planning your questions for the live Q&A session!
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