SSI Certification Levels and Depth Limits: How Deep Can You Go?
Try Scuba 12 m, Open Water 18 m, Advanced 30 m, Deep Diving 40 m: every SSI level, junior age limits, PADI and CMAS equivalents, and which level dives which Kaş site, in one table.
- Try Scuba, Basic Diver and Scuba Diver: 12 m, always with an SSI Professional
- Open Water Diver: 18 m. Advanced Open Water Diver (formerly Advanced Adventurer): 30 m
- Deep Diving specialty: 40 m, the recreational ceiling
- Ages 10-11: 12 m, ages 12-14: 18 m; CMAS/TSSF one star 18 m, two and three stars 30 m
At a glance: levels and depths
"How deep can I dive with my certification?" is answered in the SSI training standards. The table below shows the whole recreational ladder, the depth standard for each step and who you dive with. The figures are training standards: on the day, your guide may decide to stay shallower, never deeper.
| Level | Depth standard | With whom | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Try Scuba / discovery dive | 12 m | With an SSI Professional | No certification, a first taste |
| SSI Basic Diver | 12 m | With an SSI Professional | Short program, fits a holiday |
| SSI Scuba Diver | 12 m | With an SSI Professional | First half of Open Water |
| SSI Open Water Diver | 18 m | Independent, with a buddy | International entry-level certification |
| SSI Advanced Open Water Diver (formerly Advanced Adventurer) | 30 m | Independent, with a buddy | 5 adventure dives, deep + navigation required |
| Deep Diving specialty | 40 m | Independent, with a buddy | The recreational ceiling |
| Advanced Specialty Diver (recognition) | 40 m | Independent, with a buddy | 4 specialties + 24 logged dives |
The levels, one by one
Try Scuba and Basic Diver: the first taste, 12 metres
If you've never dived, the journey starts here. A discovery dive (Try Scuba in SSI terms) gives no certification; it's one-to-one with an instructor at a shallow, sheltered site no deeper than 12 metres. Basic Diver is one step further: a short program of confined-water practice plus an open-water dive, again to 12 metres and again with an SSI Professional. In Kaş we run Basic Diver as a two-dive program; our first-dive guide describes how the day goes.
Scuba Diver: half an Open Water, 12 metres
An intermediate step designed for people who don't have time to finish Open Water. Part of the theory and dives are completed, and the card is issued with a 12 m limit and professional supervision. The remainder counts toward Open Water later, even at a different centre.
Open Water Diver: an independent diver, 18 metres
The first full, internationally recognised certification. You can now dive independently with a buddy; the standard is 18 metres, and the first two open-water training dives are kept to 12. The course fits into about 3-4 days in Kaş; the whole process is in our how to get scuba certified guide.
Advanced Open Water Diver: 30 metres (formerly Advanced Adventurer)
The step after Open Water. You complete five different "adventure dives"; Deep Diving and Navigation are required, the other three are your choice (wreck, night, perfect buoyancy and so on). The standard is 30 metres and the program fits into about 2 days. SSI recently renamed the program from Advanced Adventurer to Advanced Open Water Diver; older cards remain valid. The options are compared on our Kaş dive courses page.
Specialties and Deep Diving: 40 metres
Specialty courses are where you branch out by interest: Deep Diving, Wreck, Night, Nitrox, Boat Diving, Navigation and more. The Deep Diving specialty teaches you to plan dives in the 18-40 m band, and 40 metres is the generally accepted ceiling of recreational diving. Four specialties plus 24 logged dives earn the Advanced Specialty Diver recognition; beyond that lie Diver Stress & Rescue and the door to the professional path, Divemaster.
Age and junior limits
- Ages 10-11: junior certifications are possible; the ceiling in every program is 12 metres.
- Ages 12-14: 18 metres on training dives; 21 metres on the Advanced program's deep adventure dive.
- 15 and over: adult standards apply.
- With us: the minimum age for a discovery dive is 12; courses follow SSI's age rules.
Why depth limits exist
The limits aren't arbitrary; they rest on four physical facts. Air consumption: at 30 metres every breath uses four times the air it does at the surface, so a tank empties fast. Nitrogen loading: the deeper and longer you go, the more nitrogen dissolves into the body and the tighter the no-decompression limits become. Nitrogen narcosis: past 30 metres, judgement and reaction time slow noticeably; Deep Diving training exists precisely to teach you to recognise it. Light and temperature: colours vanish, the water cools and the margin for error shrinks. Each step gives you the knowledge and reflexes for the next depth; the point is not to beat the limit but to earn it.
SSI, PADI and CMAS equivalents
All three systems recognise each other worldwide and the depth steps largely line up: SSI Open Water = PADI Open Water = CMAS/TSSF one star, all 18 metres. SSI Advanced Open Water Diver ≈ PADI Advanced Open Water ≈ CMAS two stars, 30 metres. In Turkey's TSSF system the three-star diver's recreational limit is also 30 metres; 42 metres applies only on training dives under an instructor. For help choosing a system, see the SSI, PADI, CMAS section of our certification guide.
Which level dives where in Kaş
Kaş's strength is that every rung of the ladder has a matching site, and all our scuba diving in Kaş leaves from the same harbour. Depths are from the notes on our dive sites page:
- Discovery and Basic Diver (12 m): sheltered, shallow bays such as Hidayet Bay and Limanağzı.
- Open Water (18 m): the Blue Cave (≈5-18 m), the upper parts of the reefs and the Canyon, the Uluburun replica at Hidayet (18 m).
- Advanced (30 m): the Dakota plane wreck at 22 m, the Tank Wreck (14-20 m), the Canyon's deep line, Oasis Reef (18-27 m).
- Deep Diving specialty (40 m): the Big Cave (27-44 m) and the floor of Thirteen Reef; experience and a torch required.
- Beyond the recreational limit: the Italian bomber at Flying Fish lies at 55-71 metres; that is technical-diving territory, not part of the recreational ladder.
If you're certified, sites on our two-dive Kaş diving day trip are chosen to match your level. The sea decides where we dive on a given day; the depth your card allows is a ceiling, not a target.
