A Naturalist is someone who is versed in Natural History (This is not to be confused with a “naturist” who is someone who sunbaths naked). The Underwater Naturalist module of the PADI Advanced Open Water Course teaches you about aquatic natural history and not how to dive in the nude.

The Underwater Naturalist module of the PADI Advanced Open Water Course is about building your basic knowledge of the aquatic environment, how to differentiate between plants and animals, vertebrates and invertebrates. This is a fun course, (not as much fun as the nude diver’s course but almost) where you will improve your observations skills, overall scuba diving skills building on what you had just learnt in the Peak Performance Buoyancy Module.

During the Underwater Naturalist module of the PADI Advanced Open Water Course you will need to locate and identify at least 2 aquatic plants, 4 aquatic invertebrate animals and 5 aquatic vertebrate animals. After the dive you will go through marine life reference books with your instructor and identify the creatures you observed.