Open Water Diver is the first scuba certification level. A highly-trained Instructor will teach you how to scuba dive in a relaxed, supportive learning environment.
By the end of the course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to dive at home or abroad and be an ambassador for the underwater world.
Take This Course If You Want to
- Explore the other 70 percent of our planet
- Support ocean protection
- See things you’ve never seen before
- Learn from a scuba diving expert
- Carry the world’s most recognized scuba certification
Learn How to Be
- a confident and skilled diver
- Assemble and use scuba gear
- Manage your buoyancy
- Respectfully approach marine life
- Handle common problems
Download the interactive SSI training app or digital PADI training manual and study at your own pace. Once completed, you will come into the dive centre to learn how to assemble your dive kit, have interactive time with your instructor learning more about dive planning and safety before getting in the water.
During the first phase of your scuba lessons, you’ll learn the basic principles of scuba diving such as
- What to consider when planning dives.
- How to choose the right scuba gear for you.
- Underwater signals and other diving procedures.
You’ll learn this valuable information through the Open Water Course Manual through the online training system.
Dive Beyond’s Instructors are there if there is anything you don’t understand and at the end of the course, you’ll take a final exam that ensures you have thorough knowledge of scuba diving basics.
Confined Water Dives
This is what it’s all about – diving. You’ll develop basic scuba skills in the pool (just next door). The basic scuba skills you learn during your course will help you become familiar with your scuba gear and become an Open Water Diver. Some of the essential skills you learn include:
- Setting up your scuba gear.
- How to get water out of your mask.
- Entering and exiting the water.
- Buoyancy control.
- Basic underwater navigation.
- Safety procedures.
You’ll practice these skills in the pool until you’re comfortable that you can do them with confidence. When you’re ready, it’s time for your underwater adventure to begin in the sea!
Open Water Dives
After your confined water dives, you’ll head to the sea where you will do four or five dives, usually over two days.
On these dives you’ll get to explore the underwater world seeing wrecks, marine life and probably other divers! You’ll apply the skills you learned in the pool while enjoying ‘proper’ diving.
When diving in the UK you may choose to combine your Open Water Course with the Dry Suit speciality. Dry suits keep you dry, using a base layer and air to keep you warmer during the dive. This means that you can dive all year round and often extend the length of your dives as you stay warmer for longer. Think of it as learning to drive a car: If you learn to drive a manual car, you can drive an automatic car without further training. It doesn’t work the other way round. The same thing applies in diving. If you learn to dive in a Dry Suit you can convert to Wet Suit at any time. If you choose to combine the Dry Suit and Open Water courses it will cost an extra £150 rather than the £230 for the full course.
Please note all our course fees include all kit hire, registration fees, training manuals dives and air fills. There is nothing else to pay unless you go significantly over the allocated/expected dive times for a course.
