As the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) marks six decades as the world’s largest and most trusted scuba diving organisation, its journey in India offers a compelling lens into how adventure, education, and conservation can move in tandem. Introduced to the country in the late 1990s, PADI’s presence has grown alongside India’s evolving relationship with its oceans, shifting from niche recreational diving led by international travellers to a steadily expanding domestic dive community that increasingly recognises the urgency of marine conservation.
In this interview, TheCSRUniverse speaks with Mr. Vinod Bondi, Regional Manager, PADI Andhra Pradesh, to understand how India’s diving and ocean conservation landscape has transformed over the years, where critical gaps remain, and how PADI is positioning itself as a catalyst for purpose-led change. From tackling marine debris and coral stress to empowering local communities and shaping responsible dive tourism in ecologically sensitive regions like Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands, the conversation highlights how education-driven action can create measurable impact. It also reflects on PADI’s vision for India as it works towards building the next generation of ocean advocates, one diver, and one ecosystem, at a time.
Read the full interview below.
Q&A
Q. PADI has been present in India since the late 1990s. How has the diving and ocean conservation landscape in the country evolved over the years, and what have been the major gaps?
A. In the early years, recreational diving in India was still in its infancy, and conversations around marine conservation were scarce. The marine environment was largely underexplored, and plastic pollution was not yet a visible concern. Most people diving in India were international travellers, whose primary focus was observing marine life and enjoying the new dive sites.
Over time, this scenario began to change. The impacts of global warming, coastal development, and the rapid increase in plastic use started to affect coral reef health and overall marine ecosystems. Reefs that were once pristine began showing signs of stress, bleaching, and degradation, while pollution became increasingly evident at several dive locations. With a steady rise in the number of Indians becoming PADI-certified divers over the last couple of decades, the ocean health issues felt closer to home. This growing domestic dive community helped spark greater awareness of conservation challenges and the need for responsible diving practices.
Q. What are PADI’s current conservation priorities in Indian coastal and island ecosystems such as Lakshadweep and the Andaman Islands?
A. PADI’s conservation efforts in India focus on two key areas: education and action. Through its extensive network of dive centres and instructors, PADI integrates marine conservation and responsible diving practices into diver training courses. For instance, the PADI Dive Against Debris course encourages hands-on action by cleaning up dive sites and reporting data to support marine research. On the action side, PADI also works closely with dive centres to organise beach clean-ups and webinars that address marine debris issues and highlight the urgent need for ecosystem protection. Together, these efforts aim to tackle pollution, engage local communities and tourists, and promote sustainable interaction with India’s coastal and island environments. By empowering both divers and non-divers to take part in conservation initiatives, PADI is helping build a strong culture of ocean advocacy across the country.
Q. Can you share specific programmes or initiatives implemented by PADI AWARE™ in India over the past 3–5 years, and the outcomes they have delivered on the ground?
A. Over the past few years, PADI AWARE has driven several conservation initiatives in India, and the most notable being the AWARE Week. It is a global movement that unites divers and ocean advocates every September to take meaningful action above and below the surface. During the past few AWARE Weeks in India, PADI dive centres in regions such as Pondicherry, Kochi, the Andaman Islands, Goa, and Lakshadweep have organised beach clean-ups in partnership with local communities, schools and government bodies. Dive site clean-ups in the region involved removing over 21,000 pieces of marine debris from the ocean, recorded via more than 600 Dive Against Debris surveys. In addition, numerous petitions were signed to protect vulnerable marine species and habitats. PADI AWARE is also collaborating with the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to establish Adopt The Blue sites around India’s coastline to collect real-time data to ensure the government is reaching its conservation goals.
Q. How does PADI work with local dive operators and coastal communities in India to balance tourism growth with marine conservation?
A. PADI's mission has created a growing community of divers in India equipped to build a realistic picture of what goes on beneath the surface through community events, social media, and word-of-mouth. PADI courses educate divers to dive responsibly with the welfare of the ocean in mind, naturally turning them into advocates for marine conservation.
PADI Instructors and Divemasters act as role models, demonstrating eco-friendly behaviour, such as converting routine dives into meaningful contributions toward cleaner oceans, reciprocated by the wider dive community. Local dive operators play a key role in nurturing this community all over the country. To encourage the local dive operators to be involved in more conservation-related activities, PADI has introduced the PADI Eco Center label for dive centres that demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental care and sustainable practices. This PADI accreditation showcases these members as trustworthy and consistent in ocean conservation efforts; they are a great choice for divers looking to dive and learn with PADI professionals who are dedicated to ocean change and provide an elevated level of environmental education.
PADI has and continues to work with the local governments on conservation initiatives. For example, PADI's recent collaboration with ATOAI (Adventure Tour Operators Association of India), a regulatory body for Indian adventure tour operators, is aimed at promoting responsible and sustainable dive tourism in India.
Q. How does PADI measure the impact of its conservation efforts at a local level, and what indicators are most relevant in the Indian context?
A. PADI measures the impact of conservation efforts through structured data collection, citizen science participation, and long-term trend tracking. A key tool is the PADI Dive Against Debris survey, where dive centres, instructors and individual divers systematically record all debris they collect during dives using the Conservation Action Portal. The most relevant local indicators include the number of surveys completed, the quantity and type (e.g. plastic, fishing net, etc.) of debris removed, the participation rate of dive centres, etc. Next in India is to expand the citizen science framework into the area of shark and ray census, which aims to monitor threatened species populations and support habitat protection.
Q. India faces growing marine challenges such as plastic pollution, coral stress, and pressure from tourism. What gaps do you see in India’s marine conservation landscape, and how does PADI see its role evolving?
A. One of the key gaps in India’s marine conservation landscape is that ocean conservation education is still not widespread beyond the dive community. This is largely because what happens beneath the surface is neither seen nor understood from above. PADI hopes to change this by enabling people to experience the underwater world firsthand. The growing popularity of the introductory PADI Discover Scuba Diving course in India allows individuals, both swimmers and non-swimmers alike, to gain a deeper understanding of marine ecosystems and the importance of protecting them.
Q. Education has always been central to PADI’s work. How does PADI encourage long-term behaviour change among divers, beyond organised clean-ups or short-term campaigns?
A. Education is how PADI drives lasting behaviour change, and it’s intentionally built into the entire diver pathway—not treated as a one-time activity. Through PADI AWARE and our conservation-focused courses, environmental responsibility is integrated into diver training from entry level through professional education.
PADI courses focus on building knowledge, skills, and awareness that divers apply on every dive. Topics such as buoyancy control, reducing marine debris, protecting vulnerable species, and understanding human impacts on marine ecosystems are reinforced through structured learning and practical application. This approach helps sustainable behaviours become routine, not situational.
Specific conservation courses like Dive Against Debris, Shark Awareness (soon to be the brand-new updated Shark & Ray course) and PADI AWARE Specialty give divers in-depth knowledge about the issues the oceans are facing and tangible ways to help protect them.
Beyond individual diver education, PADI supports local communities and conservation partners through the PADI AWARE Foundation. Grants and community-led initiatives fund long-term projects such as marine debris removal, vulnerable species protection, habitat restoration, and local conservation capacity building. By empowering local dive centers and NGOs, these efforts ensure conservation action continues well beyond short-term campaigns and drive local action for global impact.
PADI also emphasises role modelling and consistency. Instructors and dive professionals are trained to embed responsible practices into everyday diving operations, helping normalise sustainable behaviours across the global dive community.
Q. As PADI marks 60 years globally, what does a successful, purpose-led future in India look like for the organisation over the next decade?
A. While PADI has many plans for the next decade, the core focus in India is to welcome lakhs more people as certified PADI divers trained to seek adventure and save the ocean. A key priority is training the younger generation, inspiring them to explore the underwater world responsibly and empowering them to become lifelong ocean advocates. PADI’s future in India is aimed at building stronger collaboration with local communities, regulatory bodies, and local tourism departments to promote responsible dive tourism, especially in remote ecosystems such as the Andaman Islands and Lakshadweep. By supporting education, local employment, and conservation-led dive tourism practices, PADI aims to ensure that growth benefits both the local communities as well as the marine ecosystems. Exploration and conservation go hand in hand. PADI hopes that diving creates not just memorable experiences, but a measurable positive impact for the ocean and the communities that depend on it.
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