PADI Open Water Diver

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.

• 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 medical fitness to dive, contact the experts at Divers Alert Network (DAN).

Course prerequisites: able to swim, medically fit for diving, comfortable in the water

During the Open Water Diver course, your instructor will ask you to:

• Float or tread water without aids for 10 minutes
• Swim 200 metres/yards with no aids or 300 metres/yards with mask, fins and snorkel

Minimum age: 10

Divers certified between the ages of 10-14 earn a Junior Diver certification

Junior Open Water Divers automatically become Open Water Divers at age 15. Any replacement certification card or eCard purchased the day after the diver’s 15th birthday will automatically show an Open Water Diver (not Jr. Open Water Diver) certification.

Anyone age 10 years and older can learn to dive and explore the underwater world. PADI knowledge development provides the fundamentals you need to confidently advance to your in-water dive training. With PADI eLearning you can read, watch videos, and take quizzes at your own pace before moving on to the next step. During in-water training, an experienced PADI Instructor will help you learn the necessary dive skills to become a safe and competent diver. Find out the benefits of underwater connection with your PADI Open Water Diver certification!

PADI is the world’s largest scuba diving training organization and the most widely recognized dive certification in the world, with 30,000,000 PADI certified divers and counting. PADI sets the standard for the highest quality dive training, underwater safety, and conservation initiatives while promoting the benefits of underwater connection. With PADI eLearning you can study at your own pace to achieve the dive knowledge and fundamentals required to confidently advance to your in-water training. With over 6,600 PADI Dive Centers and resorts across the globe and 128,000 PADI Professionals worldwide, it’s easy to complete your dive training.

Your scuba diving certification is for life! However, diving regularly is highly recommended to maintain your dive skills and knowledge. Try to avoid long periods without diving (6 months or longer). If you haven’t been scuba diving recently, you should take the PADI Reactivate Scuba Refresher.

After learning basic diving skills in confined water (a pool or pool-like environment), you and your PADI Dive Instructor will make four open water dives, usually over two days. On these dives, you’ll get to apply the dive skills you learned in confined water and explore the underwater world.

With a PADI scuba diving certification, you can explore the underwater world, experience amazing marine wildlife, and learn how to protect our blue planet. With a PADI Open Water Diver certification, you can dive anywhere in the world up to 18m/60ft, book dive excursions with boats or resorts, get air fills and rent scuba tanks, rent scuba gear, and meet fellow ocean lovers from the world’s largest diver community.

PADI dive education and dive certifications fall under recreational diving or professional diving: Beginner, Continuing Education, and Professional.

Beginner: PADI Open Water Diver is the first dive certification. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to dive at home or abroad up to 18m/60ft.

Continuing Education: Expand your knowledge and dive skills after you’re Open Water Diver certified. ConEd dive courses prepare you to explore the underwater world at greater depths, extend your bottom time, discover your unique diving aptitude, and become a better dive buddy. Explore continuing education courses.

Professional: As a PADI Divemaster or PADI Instructor, you’ll learn how to lead dives and help others with their dive education. Explore PADI Pro courses.

Beginner: PADI Open Water Diver is the world’s most popular and widely-recognized scuba diving certification. This is where you will want to begin if you are new to diving. You can become a certified diver in as little as four days, or over the course of a year. With PADI Open Water Diver you can dive anywhere in the world up to 18m/60ft.

Specialty Courses or Continuing Education: Many divers take PADI Specialty Courses to advance their dive skills and become a better dive buddy, improve buoyancy and underwater navigation, dive deeper and extend bottom time, learn how to take underwater photos, explore wrecks and much more. Many PADI Specialty Courses require Advanced Open Water Diver Certification as a prerequisite. Explore all continuing education courses.

Professional: With a professional scuba certification you can travel the world and get paid to do what you love or share your dive knowledge locally. As a PADI Divemaster or PADI Instructor, you’ll learn how to lead dives and help others with their dive education. Explore PADI Pro courses.

PADI Open Water Diver is the world’s most popular and widely-recognized scuba diving certification. You can become a certified diver in as little as four days, or over the course of a year. Once certified you can dive anywhere in the world with a partner (without professional supervision), get air fills or rent scuba tanks, rent scuba gear, book dive excursions with dive boats and resorts, and call yourself a PADI-certified diver.

To complete your scuba diving certification, you must swim 200 metres/219 yards (or 300 metres/328 yards in mask, fins and snorkel) without stopping, and float/tread water for 10 minutes, using any swimming methods you want. There is no time limit.