Searching for “Kraken Scuba” of world-class dive centers and equipment manufacturers sharing a legendary name. But which Kraken is right for your underwater adventure?
A handful of independent operators use the Kraken name across the UK and Mexico, plus one imaging-equipment company with nothing to do with diving lessons. Maybe you’re after WWII wrecks off Scotland, whale sharks in the Mexican Caribbean, or just a friendly first certification. Need better vision underwater first? Check their dive masks at See The Searx — either way, the right Kraken for you comes down to what you’re actually chasing in the water.
This guide walks through the different Kraken operators, what certification looks like at each level, and how to pick the right fit for your experience and interests.
Understanding the Kraken Scuba Network
It isn’t one company — a few separate dive schools and a gear manufacturer just happen to share the name.
Kraken Diving Orkney is the only PADI school running trips inside Scapa Flow, the sheltered harbour in Scotland’s Orkney Islands where the scuttled German WWI fleet still sits alongside several WWII wrecks. Instructors hold both PADI and TDI credentials and cap classes at two students per instructor — far tighter than most schools bother with. Add Scotland’s first PADI Eco-Center title and a stack of TripAdvisor awards, and it’s easy to see why wreck divers make the trip.
Kraken Scuba Mexico sits in Playa del Carmen and runs SDI and FRTI training across Cozumel’s reefs, nearby cenotes, and seasonal encounters with whale sharks and bull sharks. Water hovers around 27–29°C with visibility often past 30 metres — about as forgiving as conditions get for a new diver.
Kraken Dive Team Essex is a Scout-run programme built around ocean conservation for younger divers, not a place adults go for certification. Kraken Sports isn’t a dive operator at all — it’s a Canadian company making underwater camera gear, with no connection to any school here. Worth knowing before you email the wrong Kraken.
Certification Courses: Beginner to Professional
Discover Scuba Diving is where most people start — a supervised, shallow-water taster session, usually half a day, and not an actual certification. It’s just a chance to see if breathing underwater feels right.
Open Water Certification is the real starting point, recognised worldwide under PADI or SDI. Expect three to four days mixing skills work with open water dives to 18 metres. You’ll need to be 15 or older, swim 200 metres unaided, and clear a basic medical form — gear is provided.
From there, Advanced Open Water pushes you to 30 metres and adds navigation and specialty skills. Rescue Diver comes next, and many divers say it’s the course that changes them most — the focus shifts from your own diving to looking out for others. Orkney offers Wreck and Dry Suit specialties; Mexico leans toward Cenote and Cave introductions.
Divemaster is the first professional step, typically a four-to-eight-week course. Technical diving through TDI goes further still — depths past 40 metres, mixed gas, rebreathers — and Orkney’s deeper wreck interiors make for particularly good training ground.
Choosing Between Orkney and Mexico
These two locations couldn’t be more different. Orkney sits at 8–14°C, demands a dry suit, and rewards cold-water wreck work between May and September — not a gentle first dive location. Mexico offers 24–29°C water, dependable visibility, and a year-round season built around reefs, cenotes, and the occasional shark encounter. For someone just starting out, Mexico removes a lot of the guesswork.
Your interests matter as much as your experience. Wreck lovers will find Scapa Flow’s sunken fleet spans recreational to technical depths. If marine life is the draw, Mexico’s reefs and seasonal shark aggregations are hard to beat. Cenote diving offers something the ocean can’t — haloclines, shafts of light, water so clear it barely looks real. Photographers need strong lighting in both spots, since wreck interiors and deeper cenote passages lose natural light fast.
Equipment: What to Bring vs. What’s Provided
Most beginner courses hand you everything — BCD, regulator, wetsuit or drysuit, fins, mask — so there’s nothing to buy before your first certification. One thing is worth sorting out early, though: a leaking rental mask will wreck your focus on every skill you’re trying to learn. If you wear glasses or contacts, a custom prescription dive mask from See The Searx (linked above) solves that before it starts.
Thermal needs shift depending on where you go. In Mexico, a 3–5mm wetsuit covers most of the year comfortably. At Orkney, a drysuit isn’t optional — it’s part of the training itself for anyone new to cold water. And for a dedicated dive trip, a basic dive computer is becoming less of a luxury and more of an expectation.
What Sets Kraken Centers Apart
That two-to-one student ratio at Orkney is genuinely unusual — most schools run four to eight students per instructor during busy stretches. With only two people to watch, instructors catch things a bigger group would miss, especially while you’re juggling buoyancy and navigation in cold water. Both Orkney and Mexico lean heavily on local knowledge too: how currents move through a specific wreck, where a cenote system gets tricky, or the right timing to catch migrating wildlife without disturbing it.
Conservation isn’t an afterthought at either location. Orkney’s Eco-Center status and Essex’s anti-plastic work both go beyond marketing language — good buoyancy habits and respectful wreck etiquette help keep these sites intact for the next diver who shows up.
Planning Your Kraken Scuba Trip
Orkney’s season runs May through September, with visibility peaking in late spring before summer plankton blooms muddy things up. Mexico is year-round — whale sharks near Isla Mujeres from June to September, bull sharks off Playa del Carmen from November through March. If migratory wildlife is part of the draw, that timing is worth building a trip around. Reef and cenote diving in Cozumel stays solid regardless of season.
Open water certification generally runs £250–£500, with Orkney’s small-group setup sitting toward the higher end. In Mexico, bundled accommodation-and-diving packages often work out cheaper than booking everything separately, especially for a longer trip.
Kraken Scuba FAQs
- Do I need to be a strong swimmer to dive?
Not really. Most courses ask for a 200-metre swim and a few minutes of treading water — nothing extreme. - Are PADI and SDI interchangeable?
Pretty much. Both are recognised everywhere, so it usually just depends on which one your instructor is certified through. - Can beginners dive Scapa Flow?
You can, but the cold and drysuit learning curve makes it easier to certify somewhere warmer first, then save Orkney for later. - What gear should I buy before my first course?
Almost nothing — the one exception is a prescription mask, if you need one.
Conclusion
The Kraken name covers two very different diving experiences: Scapa Flow’s cold, dramatic wrecks, and Mexico’s warm reefs, cenotes, and marine life. Pick based on what you want to do underwater, not just the name — both are excellent, just not at the same thing.
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