Earn your Open Water Diver Certification today and open your life to a new world of adventure and discovery with scuba diving!
The Open Water Diver Course is designed to prepare students for safe open water scuba diving. All students receiving certification will possess the knowledge, skills, and habits necessary for safe open water scuba diving with a buddy, independent of an instructor or divemaster.
Who this course is for:
- Persons desiring to obtain a Scuba Diving certification
- Persons interested in underwater exploration
Course prerequisites
- Minimum age 18, 15 with parental consent
What you can expect to learn:
The SDI Open Water Scuba Diver Course will cover all of the necessary skills and knowledge for open water scuba diving, including:
- The aquatic environment: vision, light, sound, heat loss, tides, currents, waves, surge, etc.
- Physics and physiology: buoyancy, pressure, air spaces, breathing compressed air, mixed gases, etc.
- Dive equipment selection, assembly, use and maintenance
- Dive planning
- Basic scuba skills including mask and regulator skills, swimming underwater, buoyancy control, basic rescue techniques, and emergency procedures
- And much more!
What’s in it for you:
Upon successful completion of the SDI Open Water Scuba Diver course, graduates may:
- Conduct open water dives in conditions similar to their training
- dive internationally with a dive buddy
- rent dive gear
- get air fills
- Continue their dive education by enrolling in SDI Advanced Diver and Specialty courses
SDI Open Water Scuba Diver minimum requirements:
- Demonstrate mature and sound judgment concerning dive planning and execution
- Satisfactorily complete the SDI Open Water Scuba Diver knowledge quests or equivalent online learning course
- Complete all open water requirements safely and efficiently
The Open Water Diver course is broken into two parts. The first part is pool or confined water and classroom training and the second part is open water training, where you will go to a lake or ocean with an instructor and complete your skills in an “open water” environment (see below).
Course fees do not include travel, accommodations, air fills during the open water and snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins, boots).
Pool or Confined Water
Course length: 12-18 hours
Cost: $350
Open Water Dives
Upon completion of the pool & classroom training, a minimum of 4 open water dives in a lake or ocean (with an instructor) are required for students to be comfortable and to satisfactorily demonstrate all necessary skills for certification. Upon completion of each open water dive, both the student and instructor should feel comfortable with the training exercises completed. You must complete the open water portion of your training within 6 months of your pool & classroom training. Many different options are available when choosing a location to complete your open water training. Ask about your options.
International Referal
If you’re planning on traveling internationally (like Mexico, Cuba, etc), you may be able to complete your dives at your holiday destination with a Referral Letter.You will take your referral letter to the instructor at your vacation destination who will complete your four required dives with you. We recommend that you arrange the referal well in advance to avoid any problems. The open water training must be completed within 6 months of your pool & classroom training. After completing the dives, bring your signed Referral Letter back to us and we will issue you a permanent certification card. Costs to complete your open water dives internationally will depend on where you go.
