PADI® Open Water Diver is the first scuba certification level. Our highly-trained PADI Instructors 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.
The PADI Open Water Diver Course is the way the world learns to dive. If you wish to become a diver, this course is the first entry level certification to the diving world. The theory is done online, while the practice part takes only 3 days to complete.
Pracitice dives
Learn, practice and acquire dive skills in the pool. Doing so, will build your confidence as a diver and prepare you for your first open water dive. Once you have mastered these skills and you are confident it is time to practice them in deeper water, on your first and second Open water dives to 12 meters. Once all is well, we will be heading out for two dives to 18 meters.
When getting back, you will be logging your dives with your instructor. In the next days, you will receive your PADI certification eCard by email.
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
How to Earn your Scuba Diving Certification
Learn about scuba diving principles and terminology (either offline or online), then learn basic scuba skills in a pool (or pool-like environment) with a highly trained PADI Instructor. When you’re ready, make four dives in an open water environment (the ocean, a lake) with your instructor supporting you every step of the way.
INDEPENDENT STUDY
PADI eLearning®
PADI eLearning makes it easy to fit scuba lessons into a busy schedule. Learn about scuba diving principles and terminology whenever, wherever it’s convenient for you.
It’s your course on your time. Study offline, or online using a computer or mobile device. Connect with your instructor whenever you have a question.
- eLearning time commitment: 5 – 10 hours
AT YELLOW FINS DIVING KENYA
With Your Instructor
Practice using scuba gear in a pool (or pool-like environment) until you’re comfortable. PADI training includes practice “mini dives” to help you build confidence in your new abilities before making four dives in open water.
- Prerequisites: Able to swim; medically fit for diving
- Total time commitment: 3 days
- Minimum age: 10 years or older
- Depth: expect shallow dives (12 m/40 ft), the maximum allowed depth is 18 m/60 ft
More Info
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.
Children eight or older can try scuba diving in a pool (or pool-like environment). Ask your PADI Dive Shop about a Bubblemaker experience or birthday party. Children who are comfortable in the water can participate in the PADI Seal Team program, a multi-day pool diving experience.
PADI eLearning: 5-10 hours
Entire course: 3 days