Your Adventure Starts Here — Get Open Water Certified
Learning to scuba dive is one of those rare experiences that genuinely changes how you see the world. Beneath the surface is a place most people never get to visit — quiet, weightless, and alive with color. Earning your Open Water Scuba Diver certification is the key that unlocks that world, and it is a card that opens the door to dive almost anywhere on the planet, for the rest of your life.
If you are feeling a mix of excitement and nerves right now, that is completely normal. Almost every diver felt exactly the same way before their first breath underwater. Our job is to make sure you feel supported, unhurried, and genuinely safe every step of the way. This page walks you through exactly what to expect, so there are no surprises — just the fun part.
Why get certified?
An Open Water Scuba Diver certification is a lifetime credential recognized at dive centers all over the world. Once you are certified, you can rent gear, fill tanks, join guided dives, and explore reefs, wrecks, and springs with a buddy — no supervision required, within recreational limits. It is your passport to bucket-list destinations and to the quiet local dive site down the road alike.
- Dive the globe. Your certification is accepted at dive operations worldwide, from tropical reefs to freshwater springs.
- Learn from patient, certified instructors. Small-group and private instruction means the pace is set by you, not a crowded classroom.
- Join a welcoming community. Diving is best shared — you will meet fellow adventurers along the way.
- Build real confidence in the water. The skills you learn make you safer and more comfortable, not just certified.
What the course looks like
The Open Water Scuba Diver course is thoughtfully broken into three comfortable phases. You are never thrown in the deep end — figuratively or literally. Each phase builds gently on the last, so by the time you make your open-water dives you already feel at home with your gear and your skills.
1. Learn at your own pace, from home
You begin with eLearning you can complete on your own schedule, from the couch, in your pajamas, with as many coffee breaks as you like. You will cover the fundamentals — how dive equipment works, basic dive physics and physiology, reading dive tables and computers, and how to plan a safe dive. There is no pressure and no clock. If something does not click the first time, you simply watch it again.
2. Build core skills in confined water
Next, you practice in the calm, controlled environment of a pool. This is where breathing underwater stops feeling strange and starts feeling natural. With your instructor right beside you, you will rehearse the essentials — clearing your mask, recovering your regulator, controlling your buoyancy, and sharing air with a buddy — over and over until they feel effortless. Nothing moves forward until you feel ready.
3. Put it all together on open-water dives
Finally, you bring your new skills into open water for four training dives with your instructor. Maximum training depth is a gentle 18 metres / 60 feet, and every dive is planned, briefed, and supervised. This is the moment it all comes together — and the moment most people fall in love with diving for good.
Is it safe?
Let’s be honest: scuba diving takes place in an environment not designed around humans, so like any adventure sport it carries real risks. What helps makes it safer is that we manage many of those risks deliberately. Recreational diving is built around redundancy, careful planning, and the buddy system, and your instructor is trained to teach every skill to first-timers step by step. You will not be required to do something you haven’t already practiced in calmer, controlled conditions. We move at your pace, check in constantly, and would rather add an extra pool session than push you before you’re ready. The procedures you learn here — how to prevent problems, and how to handle them calmly if they arise — can allow you to enjoy this activity with confidence.
What you will learn
- Dive physics, physiology, and how to use dive tables and computers
- Equipment selection, assembly, care, and maintenance
- Confined-water skills: mask and regulator clearing, buoyancy control, and air-sharing
- Controlled descents, ascents, and safety stops
- Emergency procedures and self-rescue
- Dive planning, navigation basics, and buddy procedures
Do I qualify? Prerequisites
- Minimum age 18, or 10 to 17 with written parental consent (ages 10 to 14 earn a Junior Open Water Scuba Diver certification and dive under supervision until they upgrade at 15)
- A simple swim and watermanship evaluation — you should be able to swim without aids and float or tread water
- A short medical statement; physician approval is required only for certain conditions
- No prior certification or experience required — this really is the starting line
What is included
This is the full Open Water Scuba Diver course with a private instructor. The price includes your eLearning code, rental gear, and tanks and weights, plus four open-water training dives. It does not include transportation, food, or lodging. Want to bring a friend or family member? Additional students can be added for $700 each, which includes their eLearning code, rental gear, and tanks and weights.
What comes after
Once you are certified, the ocean is genuinely your oyster. Many divers continue on to Advanced Adventure Diver, pick up specialty courses like deep or drift diving, or join our upcoming trips to put their new skills to work somewhere beautiful. But there is no pressure — plenty of divers are perfectly happy exploring at their own pace with their certification in hand.
Ready to take the plunge? Enroll below.
Reserve your spot in the Open Water Scuba Diver course right here. Choose how many students you would like to enroll, add it to your cart, and we will take it from there. Your adventure of a lifetime is just one dive away.
Open Water SCUBA Diver Course – Private Instruction
Price range: $1,000.00 through $3,100.00
Description
Your first full certification and your passport to dive the globe. You’ll learn the fundamentals online at your own pace, build core skills in the confined-water sessions of a pool, and then put it all together on open-water training dives with an instructor. Along the way you’ll master essential techniques, from clearing your mask and managing your buoyancy to planning a dive and looking out for your buddy. Once certified, graduates can dive independently with a buddy of equal or greater certification within recreational limits, no supervision required. It’s open to divers 18 and older, and to ages 10 to 17 with written parental consent — divers aged 10 to 14 earn a Junior Open Water Scuba Diver certification and can upgrade to the full certification at 15. It opens the door to a lifetime of diving and continuing education.
This is the full Open Water SCUBA Diver Course with a private instructor. Price includes your eLearning code, rental gear, and tanks/weights. It does not include transportation, food, or lodging. If you would like to include more than yourself in the course, additional students may be added below for an additional $700 per student, which includes the additional students’ eLearning codes, rental gear, and tanks/weights.
Dives included: 4 open water dives.
Prerequisites
- Minimum age 18, or 10 to 17 with written parental consent (ages 10 to 14 earn a Junior Open Water Scuba Diver certification and dive under supervision until upgrading at 15)
- Complete a swim/watermanship evaluation (e.g., swim without aids and float/tread water)
- Complete a medical statement — physician approval required for relevant conditions
- No prior certification required
What You Will Learn
- Dive physics, physiology, and dive tables/computers
- Equipment selection, assembly, care, and maintenance
- Confined-water skills: mask/regulator clearing, buoyancy, air-sharing
- Controlled descents and ascents and safety stops
- Emergency procedures and self-rescue
- Dive planning, navigation basics, and buddy procedures
Required Equipment
- Mask, snorkel, and fins
- Exposure suit appropriate to conditions
- BCD with low-pressure inflator
- Regulator with alternate air source and submersible pressure gauge
- Weight system
- Dive computer or depth gauge, timing device, and compass
Course Requirements & Standards (SDI)
- Minimum of 4 open-water training dives with an SDI Instructor
- Confined-water skill development prior to open water
- Maximum training depth 18 metres/60 feet
- Watermanship evaluation required
- Certifies divers to dive independently with a buddy within recreational limits
After This Course
Continue with SDI Advanced Adventure Diver, specialty courses, or the Active Diver Refresher to keep building experience toward Advanced Diver and beyond.
Additional information
| Total students | One student, Two students, Three students, Four students |
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