What You Learn
The PADI Open Water Diver course consists of three main phases:
- Knowledge Development (online, home study or in a classroom ) to understand basic principles of scuba diving
- Confined Water Dives to learn basic scuba skills
- Open Water Dives to review your skills and explore!
If you’ve tried diving through a Discover Scuba Diving experience or resort course, the skills you learned may be credited towards a portion of the full PADI Open Water Diver course certification.
Prerequisites
To enroll in the PADI Open Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course, you must
- Be 10 years or older (PADI eLearning requires an extra registration step for students under 13 years due to international internet laws
The Fun Part
The fun part about this course is . . . well, just about all of it because learning to dive is incredible. You breathe underwater for the first time (something you’ll never forget) and learn what you need to know to become a certified diver. During the course, you’ll make at least five pool dives and four dives at local dive sites under the supervision of your PADI Instructor.
Get College Credit
You may be able to earn college credit for the PADI Open Water Diver course!
The Scuba Gear You Use
In the PADI Open Water Diver course, you learn to use basic scuba gear including a dive computer, and standard accessories. The equipment you wear varies somewhat, depending upon whether you’re diving in tropical, temperate or cold water
Check with your local dive shop about the gear you’ll use during this course. You can find most everything at the scuba diving shop in your area.
The Learning Materials You Need
PADI offers a variety of home-study materials for the Open Water Diver course. While eLearning is the most convenient option, you may also chose a book and DVD package or a multimedia DVD-ROM.
PADI’s Open Water Diver materials cover what you need to know about basic scuba diving skills, terminology and safety procedures. For each concept you’ll read a description and watch a video demonstration. Then you’ll jump in the pool (or pool-like environment) to practice these skills with your instructor. Later, as a certified diver, use the course materials as a reference guide for future diving adventures and to review what you learned.
Note: Enroll in the PADI Open Water Diver Course Online for immediate computer-based access to the manual and video integrated into seamless, guided online learning.
To purchase these products, contact your local PADI Instructor, dive shop or resort.
Start Now!
You don’t have to wait to get going. With PADI eLearning and the PADI Open Water Diver Course Online, you can start right now. The PADI Open Water Diver Course Online lets you learn the background information you need before each dive at your own pace through friendly, interactive learning.
Highly Recommended!
I've been diving for 15 years... with dry suits in the San Juan Islands of Washington State to Tee shirts in Bonaire and Roatan, The GBR, The Coral Sea and Poor Knights Island, NZ. My dive with DIve Master Vittoria on the Banco Santa Croce site was a Top Three Dive for me. With Tuna feeding on schools of sardines back dropped to beautiful Mediterranean coral... this dive had it all. The Professional, experienced and fun shore crew at Punta Campanella Diving Center made this a perfect day.