By Emily Clarke

It’s hard to describe the first time you descend beneath the surface of the ocean. There’s a strangeness … a flood of sensations unlike anything you’ve ever known. Apprehension, confusion … and then awe. Yes, that’s what it is, awe, wrapped in an unfamiliar, otherworldly silence. The clatter and distraction of the world above the surface vanish, replaced by the rhythm of your, at first urgent, and then studied and controlled breath. Down here, every breath feels deliberate. Among swirling seagrass, and beneath unexpected and astonishing dancing shafts of light that seem to belong to another Universe entirely, you begin to move with the sea’s own rhythm – witnessing a breathtaking, ancient and timeless ecology as though it is being illuminated for the very first time.

Diving is often described as exploration, but it’s also a kind of homecoming. In the weightlessness of the water, in the presence of life at its most elemental, we find ourselves rethinking what strength, wonder, and belonging really mean. The ocean asks only for our full attention, and in exchange it provides mystery, perspective, and empowerment. Here, curiosity becomes courage, and confidence blooms, carried gently by the enveloping swell into moments more magical than we ever imagined.​

Photography: ©PADI/Jay Clue

For the eleventh year in a row, PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®), the world’s largest scuba diving organisation, is calling on their 6,600 dive centres and resorts, 128,000 professionals, and more than 30 million certified divers around the globe to join them for the annual PADI Women’s Dive Day that sets the standard for gender inclusivity in scuba diving on 19 July 2025.

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Committed to “Our Blue Planet”, PADI makes the wonder of the underwater world accessible to all, empowering people around the world to experience, explore and take meaningful action, as “Ocean TorchbearersTM”, to protect the world beneath the surface. For over 50 years, PADI is undeniably “The Way the World Learns to Dive®”, setting the standard for dive training, underwater safety and conservation initiatives while evolving the sport of diving into a passionate experience that welcomes everyone.

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Over the past decade, PADI dive centres and instructors have created a powerful movement that has inspired more women of all ages to discover the transformative power of diving. More than 1,500 events in over 100 countries have encouraged scuba divers, freedivers, and mermaids to come together to continue their dive education, plant new coral nurseries, perform beach and underwater cleanups, set a world record for the longest underwater female human chain, fundraise for breast cancer research and local women’s shelters, and take their first breaths underwater as the newest PADI Divers.