PADI OPEN WATER

Diver certification begins here. Start with PADI's online eLearning course. Move to the pool and practice your new skills. Then experience four open water (ocean/lake) dives.

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Description

If you’ve always wanted to take scuba diving lessons, experience unparalleled adventure, and see the world beneath the waves, this is where it starts. Get your scuba diving certification with the PADI® Open Water Diver course – the world’s most popular and widely recognized scuba course. Millions of people have learned to scuba dive and gone on to discover the wonders of the aquatic world through this course. To enroll in a PADI Open Water Diver course (or Junior Open Water Diver course), you must be 10 years old or older. You need adequate swimming skills and need to be in good physical health. No prior experience with scuba diving is required.

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Academic

The PADI Open Water Diver course consists of three main phases:

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  Knowledge Development ( online, independent study, or in a classroom) to understand the basic principles of scuba diving

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  Confined Water Dives to learn basic scuba skills

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  Open Water Dives to use your skills and explore!

You may be able to get college credit for the Open Water Diver course.

Short on time? The PADI Scuba Diver course might be right for you.

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Equipment

In the PADI Open Water Diver course, you learn to use essential scuba gear, including a mask, snorkel, fins, regulator, buoyancy control device, and a tank. The equipment you wear varies, depending on whether you’re diving in tropical, temperate, or cold water.

Check with your local Aqua Hands Instructors about the gear you’ll use during this course and get advice about everything you need from your PADI Instructor.

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Getting Started

You can also start learning with PADI’s home-study materials – Open Water Diver (available on iOS, Android, and via Web Viewer). Contact Aqua Hands Instructors to enroll in the course, get your materials, and start reading the eLearning and watching the video. Your PADI Instructor will schedule time to check your progress and ensure you understand important scuba diving information.

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Medical Requirements

Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.

To avoid disappointment, download and review the Diver Medical form to ensure you won’t need a physician’s approval to dive before enrolling in a scuba course. Instructors, Divemasters, and dive shop staff are not physicians and should not be asked for medical advice; only medical professionals can give medical clearance to dive.

If you (or your physician) have questions about your medical fitness to dive, contact the experts at Divers Alert Network (DAN).

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