Whether you are a PADI certified scuba diver or have a certification from other agencies, the PADI APP is an easy and free solution to keep track of all your dives. If you are taking a PADI certification, you can also easily log your training dives as well and have your PADI Instructor verify them.
The PADI APP is easily downloadable in the App Store if you are an IOS user, or in the Google Play store if you are an Android user.
In this step-by-step guide, I will walk you through the full process of logging both recreational and training dives in the PADI APP. I will be using the IOS version of the APP, but the steps are substantially the same in the Android version.
How To Log Recreational Dives In The PADI APP
Logging recreational dives in the PADI APP is quick and easy and provides you with a nice alternative to the classic paper-based logbook.
Step 1: open the PADI APP
After having installed the PADI APP on your smartphone, simply tap on its icon to open it. Upon opening the PADI app, you will land directly on the homepage, which provides an overview of the available PADI courses, the PADI Club, Certification Cards and PADI Gear.
Depending on the time of the year, this is also the best place to check out if there are some special offers and discounts on PADI courses.
From the APP’s home, you may access the logbook function either by tapping the “Log A Dive” link on the top left hand side of your screen, or by clicking on the “Dive” icon at the bottom of your screen.
Step 2: Click on the Dive icon
By clicking on the “Dive” icon, you will be directed to a page displaying plenty of useful diving related functions such as eCards, ProCheck, Dive Shop Locator, Diving Checklists and Logbook.
As next step Click on the Logbook icon to access PADI’s logbook.
Step 3: Click on the Logbook icon and choose the type of dive
Once you have clicked on the Logbook icon, you will be directed to the PADI Logbook home. All your logged dives will appear in this page.
To start logging a dive, click on the “Log a Dive” icon and choose between recreational or training dive. Click on “Recreational” to start logging a recreational dive.
Step 4: Insert your Dive details
After clicking on “Recreational”, you will be directed to the recreational dive logbook, where you can input all details of your dive.
The recreational dive logbook in the PADI APP consists of five pages. In the IOS version of the APP, you can move across pages by sliding your finger horizontally on your smartphone screen.
In the first page, you can insert the dive title, dive site, date, and type of dive.
In the second page you can enter the max depth and bottom time. In the third page you can log additional details about your dive such as the weather conditions, the temperature, the water type, the body of water, visibility, and water conditions (waves, current or surge).
As you will notice, all details in pages 1 and 2 are required, whereas the dive data in pages 3 to 5 is optional.
In the fourth page, you can log details about your equipment such as the type of exposure, weight, cylinder, gas mixture, cylinder pressure and additional gear (for example hood, gloves, boots).
If you want to know why these are essential details, check out my post on how to keep a dive log.
In the fifth and last page, you can log details about the dive experience. These include your feelings about the dive, free format notes, dive buddy and dive center.
Step 5: Save your dive data
Once you have filled in all your dive details, you may click on save on the top right corner of your smartphone’s screen.
The APP will then give you the option to log the dive or to save it as draft. I strongly recommend clicking on the “log dive” option as saving as draft does not always work and you might loose all your logged data.
All your logged dives will appear in your PADI APP logbook home.
How To Log Training Dives In The PADI APP
Just like logging recreational dives, logging training dives on the PADI APP is quick and easy. To log your first training dive, I suggest you ask for your instructor’s assistance to make sure you input all data correctly.
Once your instructor has shown you how to log your first training dives, logging the next ones will be super easy.
Before opening the app, make sure you have your PADI Instructor’s number with you as you will need to insert it in one of the fields while logging each training dive.
Steps 1, 2 and 3 are essentially the same as the ones for logging a recreational dive. You should open the PADI APP in the first place, tap on the Dive Icon, tap on the Logbook icon and subsequently choose Training as dive type.
For a quick walkthrough on steps 1, 2 and 3, I recommend that you scroll up or click here.
Step 4: Visualize How the Dive Verification Process Works
Once you have chosen to log a training dive, you will be redirected to a screen showing how the verification process works. In fact, as opposed to recreational dives, the PADI APP requires your training dives to be verified by your PADI Instructor.
Once you have taken a look at the verification process, click on Next to start logging your training dive.
Step 5: Select the Scuba Course relevant for your Dive
As you can see, you might have different courses to choose from. This can be the case if you have signed up for multiple PADI courses at the same time. Assuming you need to log training dives for the PADI Open Water course, click or tap the Open Water Diver row.
Step 6: Log your Training Dive and Submit For Verification to Your PADI Instructor
As last and final step, after selecting the relevant course, you should log all the details of your training dive. These include Dive Site, Date, Instructor Number, Type of Dive, Depth and Time as well as the skills you have learnt. If you don’t remember all the skills, ask your Instructor for guidance.
Once you have inserted all the details, click on save in the top right corner of your screen. Once you have saved all the details, your Instructor will receive a notification asking to approve your dive.