ISO 24801-1:2014

Overview

ISO 24801-1:2014 - Recreational diving services - Part 1: Level 1 - Supervised diver - defines the minimum competencies, evaluation criteria and training conditions required for a recreational supervised scuba diver. The standard sets baseline requirements for training organizations and instructors to certify divers who can dive under direct supervision of a dive leader, with practical limits (recommended maximum depth 12 m, groups up to four Level 1 divers per dive leader, and no decompression dives). ISO 24801-1 is one part of the ISO 24801 series and complements general service requirements in ISO 24803.

Key Topics

• Scope & purpose: Competency requirements and evaluation criteria for Level 1 (Supervised diver) certification; applies to training and evaluation in recreational scuba diving.
• Competencies and limits: Dive depth, group size, no-decompression limitations, requirement for surface support and equivalent or better dive conditions than training.
• Prerequisites: Parental consent for minors and documented medical screening (questionnaire or physician referral) before training.
• Theoretical knowledge:
  • Diving equipment use and care
  • Physics of diving (pressure effects, equalization, buoyancy)
  • Medical issues (pressure effects, decompression illness awareness, stress, temperature, medication/alcohol)
  • Local diving environment and diver impact
  • Separation procedures and basic gas considerations (including non-air breathing gases used during training)
• Practical skills:
  • Confined-water skills (mask, fins, snorkel use; assembly/disassembly; entries/exits; regulator recovery; buoyancy control; basic hand signals)
  • Open-water skills (application of confined-water competencies in natural settings)
• Evaluation & training parameters: Defined in clauses covering knowledge and skills assessment; minimum training conditions and quality-management expectations for training organizations.

Applications

Who uses ISO 24801-1 and why:

• Scuba training organizations and dive centers - to design Level 1 course content, assessments and quality systems that meet an internationally recognized baseline.
• Scuba instructors and dive leaders - to understand required competencies, legal/medical screening expectations and supervision limits.
• Regulators and accreditation bodies - to compare or align national qualifications and safety practices with international norms.
• Consumers and travel operators - to verify that training or entry-level certifications meet recognized standards for supervised recreational diving.

Related Standards

• ISO 24801-2 (Level 2 - Autonomous diver)
• ISO 24801-3 (Level 3 - Dive leader)
• ISO 24802-1 / ISO 24802-2 (Scuba instructor training)
• ISO 24803 (Recreational scuba diving service providers)
• EN 250, EN 12628 (equipment and accessory requirements)

This standard provides a practical, internationally harmonized foundation for scuba training, diving safety, and entry-level certification for supervised recreational divers.