CMAS 1, 2 and 3 Star Diver: PADI and SSI Equivalents by Level

What are the CMAS star levels?

CMAS numbers its diver grades in stars. One Star is the entry course, Two Star and Three Star are the next two diver courses, and Four Star is an experience rating with no fixed course. Your card comes from a national federation that CMAS has approved, so the course may carry a local name. French law puts FFESSM Niveau 1, 2 and 3 on the same rows as CMAS One, Two and Three Star. In Germany VDST calls them GDL*, GDL** and GDL***, and in Turkey TSSF issues bir, iki and üç yıldız dalıcı cards. Other courses are compared under Training & Certification.

The level is also coded in the card number. CMAS numbers follow the pattern country, federation, level, year, serial. The level codes are P1, P2, P3 and P4 for the four diver stars, DM for Divemaster and M1, M2 and M3 for instructors. The example in the CMAS rules, ITA/F00/P3/24/000169, is a Three Star card from the Italian federation issued in 2024.

CMAS One, Two, Three and Four Star requirements

The table follows the CMAS international standards. National federations can add to them, and several do, as the last two sections show.

• The One Star limit of 20 m depends on your buddy: it applies when you dive with a diver of the same level or equivalent.
• The Three Star standard says the diver is not qualified to lead divers or to teach. The same CMAS rule book, however, defines a sport diving Dive Leader as a Three Star Diver or a CMAS Divemaster, and national federations go further. VDST calls its Three Star the GDL*** Dive Leader, and the TSSF instruction lets a Turkish Three Star diver lead divers of every level.
• Leadership now has its own CMAS course. The Divemaster standard asks for Three Star, 80 logged dives with 10 as dive leader, and current CPR, first aid and oxygen training. It qualifies you to lead certified divers and to assist CMAS instructors.
• Instructor grades use stars too (One, Two and Three Star Instructor). They are separate from the diver stars. The Four Star Diver standard on the CMAS site is still the 2002 version.

CMAS vs PADI and SSI: the closest course for each star

No CMAS standard names a PADI or SSI course, and we found no equivalence chart published by CMAS itself. The most detailed comparison comes from VDST, the German CMAS federation. Its 2023 rule book contains a crossover list with PADI, SSI, NAUI and ISO 24801 columns, and the ISO column below is taken from it. Dive centres use their own shorthand, which does not always agree.

• Two Star is where the views split. Diving Around, a dive centre in Hurghada, writes that PADI Advanced Open Water is recognised as CMAS Two Star, and many centres use the same rule when they choose sites. VDST puts Advanced Open Water at One Star level and expects Rescue Diver plus navigation, group leading, CPR and 25 dives before a PADI diver counts as Two Star. The dive centre answers how deep you may go; VDST compares training content.
• SSI is harder to line up. VDST's list puts SSI Advanced Adventurer at One Star and SSI Advanced Open Water Diver at Two Star, while SSI's current Advanced Open Water Diver page describes five specialty dives with no logged-dive minimum. Ask which course a given SSI card stands for.
• For Three Star, the non-professional ratings with similar prerequisites are PADI Master Scuba Diver (Rescue Diver, five specialties, 50 logged dives) and SSI Master Diver (Stress & Rescue, Deep Diving, three more specialties, 50 logged dives). Neither agency claims that match; it is our reading of the requirements.
• ISO 24801-3 asks a dive leader for at least 60 logged open water dives, or 50 with 25 hours underwater. The CMAS Three Star minimum of 50 dives meets it only if those dives add up to 25 hours.

Where CMAS and PADI courses differ

Matching course names hides four differences that show up when you switch systems.

• Logged dives before the next course. CMAS wants 10 logged dives after One Star before Two Star training, and TSSF in Turkey asks for 20. PADI and SSI let you start Advanced Open Water straight after Open Water. Our Advanced Open Water guide looks at what those five dives give you.
• Number of course dives. Two Star includes at least 8 open water dives of 20 minutes or more. PADI Advanced Open Water has 5: deep, navigation and three you choose.
• Rescue content. The Two Star syllabus covers diver rescue procedures, you demonstrate rescue assistance on a training dive, and CMAS strongly recommends oxygen and CPR training at this level. PADI keeps rescue in a separate course that needs Advanced Open Water, or Adventure Diver with the navigation dive, plus CPR and first aid training from the past 24 months. See when to take the Rescue Diver course.
• Depth and age. One Star allows 20 m, PADI Open Water 18 m. Two Star reaches 40 m only after extra training and three dives at 30-40 m, and PADI's Advanced Open Water FAQ puts the 40 m recreational limit behind its Deep Diver course. Three Star can add planned decompression dives. CMAS starts One Star at 14 and Three Star at 18, while PADI Advanced Open Water is open from 15, or from 12 as a junior card.

Will a PADI or SSI dive centre accept my CMAS card?

For the next PADI course, yes. PADI's Advanced Open Water FAQ says a qualifying entry-level certification from another training organisation is enough to enrol. The Rescue Diver page accepts a PADI or other qualifying Advanced Open Water card, and the Divemaster requirements accept a certification that meets each prerequisite. SSI's course pages list an Open Water Diver certification as the prerequisite and do not say how other agencies' cards are handled, so ask the centre before you book.

For fun dives, the centre decides which sites you can join. VDST places One Star and Two Star at ISO 24801-2, the level PADI and SSI cite for Open Water, and our PADI vs SSI vs CMAS comparison explains what that ISO match does and does not guarantee. Bring your logbook, because logged dives are what separate a new Two Star from one with 100 dives. The back of a CMAS card carries the issuing federation's name and the card number with its level code, which is what a centre checks if your card is unfamiliar.

Crossing over between CMAS and PADI or SSI

Moving from CMAS to PADI or SSI is not a conversion. You keep your CMAS card and enrol in the next course it qualifies you for, under the prerequisites above.

Going the other way, the national federation decides. VDST runs a formal crossover. You show your original cards, the theory for One and Two Star can be checked orally, Three Star needs the full written exam, and the practical part is two dives at the target level (20-40 m for Three Star). A PADI Open Water diver can also skip the crossover and start VDST Two Star training directly.

In Turkey, TSSF converts CMAS One, Two and Three Star cards issued abroad into the equivalent TSSF card, and holders can go straight on to the next level. How cards from other systems compare is decided by the federation, case by case. Turkish citizens diving in Turkey on a non-CMAS card need a TSSF dive permit ID (dalış izin kimliği), while foreign divers dive on their own cards.

Inside CMAS, every member federation must recognise a CMAS International card, both for diving within its limits and for entry to the next CMAS course. That matters if you dive mostly with federation clubs in different countries.

Which depth limits travel with your card?

Your card carries the limits of its standard, and the country you dive in can set different ones. France and Turkey name CMAS levels in their rules. Our post on how deep you can scuba dive compares agency limits in general.

• In France, a Two Star diver trained for 30 m may dive without a guide only to 20 m, while Three Star opens the 60 m zone. PADI and SSI cards are not on the French list: you show a card and logbook, and without them the dive director assesses you on one or more dives.
• Turkey's 2008 diving regulation bans planned decompression stops on sport dives, so the Three Star decompression privilege does not apply there. The TSSF figures come from its October 2025 instruction.