The Professional Scuba Association International is oldest technical / extended range scuba certification agencies in the world. PSAI was the first agency to offer certification at the diver and instructor levels in both recreational sport and technical diving, almost three decades before anyone else.
PSAI was first founded in 1962 as Florida Divers Supply (FDS) by Hal Watts. In 1969 the name was changed to Florida State Skindiving Schools (FSSS). FSSS at the time was one of the largest dive schools in the world, with four locations in Florida and one in St. Lucia. It was as FSSS where the Golden Triangle originated and later evolved into the PSAI logo used today. As the organization had expanded well beyond the borders of Florida the name was again changed to the Professional Scuba Association (PSA) in 1988. The tenants, upon which PSA training was built, were so successful they led to further expansion into the international diving arena. Thus, in 1995 the “I” was added to PSA to make it the Professional Scuba Association, International (PSAI).
Hal Watts is the founder of the Professional Divers Association International (PSAI). His first experience with DIVING was in 1955, when he was preparing to obtain his law degree in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1967, he achieved a world record with an air depth dive of 119 meters, with which he entered the Guinness Book of Records. Hal holds the world record for cave air depth diving at a depth of 127 meters (415 feet). Six other air divers have passed through his hands, including his own daughter, Scarlett Watts, who in 1999 set the Women’s world air depth record of 129 meters (425 feet). Hal took 55 divers to depths between 100 (300 ft) and 127 meters (415 ft) WITHOUT ACCIDENTS. In the 1960s, Hal Watts introduced and named the “octopus” second stage and coined the oft-used saying, “PLAN THE DIVE – DIVE ACCORDING TO THE PLAN”.
Gary Taylor has written numerous manuals for three different rating associations: NASDS, IANTD, and PSAI. He had his first scuba diving experience in 1969. In the 1970s, Gary completed countless deep dives and cave exploration dives that took him beyond the general standards of light recreational diving to what we now call extended range diving. Gary pioneered the use of Nitrox at higher altitudes and developed the TOAD (Theoretical Ocean Air Depth) process for using EANx at higher altitudes and co-developed the SRF (SAC Ratio Factor) gas matching process. . Gary has trained thousands of sport and technical divers, instructors and instructor trainers around the world.
Hal and Gary have been good friends for decades. Both are among the world’s first Trimix instructors/instructor trainers, having completed their courses together. Due to their similar views on diving education and training, it was natural for them to join forces. During PSAI’s global expansion, Gary and Hal both saw an opportunity to develop PSAI’s forward-looking educational/training materials. Shortly thereafter, Gary became PSAI’s head of the Americas. Within a year, Hal named Gary PSAI’s Director of International Education. Since Hal and Gary share such a similar vision for PSAI’s future, it was only natural that they take the next step by joining forces and making PSAI the first technical certification organization. PSAI is actively developing the next generation of sport diving training materials. We may not be the biggest, but we have the biggest history, and there is no one better than us!