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. During the PADI Open Water Diver course, you’ll learn what you need to know to explore the underwater world using scuba. 

The PADI Open Water Diver course includes three parts: Knowledge Development, Confined Water Dives, and Open Water Dives. Knowledge Development covers the principles, concepts and terms you need to know for dive safety and enjoyment. During the Confined Water Dives, you learn and practice scuba skills in a pool or water with pool-like conditions. You’ll enjoy making one or more minidives, which take you through the same steps you follow when you make open water dives. To complete training you practice, apply, and demonstrate what you learn during four Open Water Dives at a local dive site.

Earning a PADI Open Water Diver certification shows that you met the course requirements. Dive centers and resorts require proof of certification before they will rent scuba equipment, fill scuba cylinders or book dive excursions. As a PADI Open Water Diver, you’ll be trained to a maximum depth of 18 metres/60 feet, and are qualified to dive in conditions as good as, or better than, those in which you trained. It’s just the beginning of a lifetime filled with dive adventures.

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

PADI’s Junior Open Water Diver course is similar to the adult certification program and prepares kids to become full-fledged divers when they are of age. Students as young as 10 years old can utilize the eLearning program Open Water Diver course online (minimum age requirements may be higher in some locations due to local laws and regulations). This course allows kids to get their first PADI scuba certification. Children can learn how to scuba dive, discover new adventures, or simply see the wondrous world beneath the waves, this is where it starts.

The PADI Junior Open Water Course is typically run over five days and is a fun-filled course designed to qualify kids to dive to a maximum depth of 12m. The fun part about this course is . . . well, just about all of it because learning to dive is incredible. Kids get to learn to breathe underwater for the first time (something they’ll never forget) and learn what they need to know to become a certified diver. During the course, children will first train in the pool and then get to explore wondrous reefs, under the supervision of a PADI Instructor.

The PADI Junior Open Water Course consists of three main phases:

- Knowledge development to understand basic principles of scuba diving.
- Confined water dives (pool training) to learn basic scuba skills.
- Open water dives to review skills and explore!

In the PADI Junior Open Water Course, children will learn to use basic scuba gear and standard accessories.

Can’t decide whether to get your scuba certification while on holiday or at home before you travel? With a PADI Open Water referral, you don’t have to choose. A PADI referral allows you to complete most of your scuba training at home and finish your certification dives anywhere in the world. Avoid studying during your vacation and support your local dive shop at the same time. 

Becoming a certified diver has three phases: Phase one: knowledge development, Phase two: confined water, Phase three: open water. With an open water referral, you’ll complete some or all of the two phases (knowledge development and confined water) before leaving home. You can finish the final part of your scuba course, the open water dives, anywhere in the world. The final portion of the course typically takes a day and a half to complete. 

To put it another way, instead of spending 4-5 days on your holiday studying and practicing skills in a pool, you’ll arrive with the majority of your open water course done. Once certified, you can spend the rest of your time exploring with your dive buddy and gaining additional dive experience.

An open water referral is valid for up to 12 months, but it’s better to complete your training as soon as possible (while your knowledge and skills are still fresh). Your local PADI Instructor will fill out an official student referral form and check off which skills you’ve completed and the date. You can give this form to any PADI Instructor worldwide and pick up where you left off. PADI eLearning allows you to start your knowledge development online, whether you plan to do a referral or complete your course from start to finish in the same place. PADI eLearning is the most popular option for knowledge development, but you can also study with a book and DVD and attend classroom sessions instead. The instructor at the receiving dive shop will have you gear up and review scuba skills in a pool (or pool-like environment) before taking you to open water. If you have any questions or aren’t feeling comfortable, let the instructor know.

With a PADI referral course, you can take as much time as you need to complete your knowledge development and pool work. You won’t feel rushed or like you’re “cramming” for a test. You’ll also support the nice people at your local dive shop and become part of your local diving community.

What are the disadvantages of an open water referral? Sometimes students allow too much time to pass before finishing their course. You can take up to a year to complete your certification, but it’s better to complete your knowledge development and pool training as close to your holiday as possible. Also, you’ll probably end up using different brands of diving gear. If you’ve gotten comfortable with a certain gear configuration, using different gear can be an adjustment – just like riding someone else’s bike or borrowing someone’s car. It’s basically the same, but the handling and placement of certain things will be unfamiliar at first.

In many dive resorts the best dive sites are close to the shore so there is no need for boat diving, shore entry dives are used. Normally this will mean walking into the sea from the beach, from a jetty, or sometimes walking over rocks. It is best not to do shore diving if you have any back problems as it can be stressful on your body when entering and exiting the water. From day to day the dive centre may offer the option to join a boat dive, or do a trip to a further away dive site, which will require a supplement to be paid locally.

This dive service is guided by a divemaster, instructor or similar. It includes full equipment (tanks, Weight, Mask, short suit (3mm), Snorkel, Fins, BCD, Regulator, dive computer).