PADI Open Water Diver Course (OW)

Why the PADI Open Water Diver Course?

As a certified PADI Open Water Diver, the most widely recognized and respected entry certification in the world, you have the freedom to dive with a buddy independent of a professional. If you already splashed about doing a PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience or are PADI Scuba Diver certified, you are able to gain credits with continuing on to the open water program.

What do I need to start a PADI Open Water Scuba Course?

Virtually anyone who is in good health, reasonably fit, and comfortable in the water can earn a PADI Open Water Diver certification. You must be older than the age of 14 to begin the PADI Open Water Diver program. For those of you who are not above the age of 15 and would like to participate in the PADI Open Water Diver Program, then the PADI Jr. Open Water Diver program is available to you. If you are between 10 and 14 or have a child between these ages, there is a PADI Junior Open Water Diver program available.

A PADI Jr. Open Water Diver between the ages of 10 and 11 years may only dive with a PADI Professional, a parent or certified guardian to a maximum depth of 12 metres/40 feet.

What will I do on a PADI Open Water Scuba Course?

Throughout the course, you’ll learn fundamentals of scuba diving, including dive equipment and techniques. You earn this rating by completing five pool dives and five knowledge development sessions followed by making four open water dives.

How long will it take to do a PADI Open Water Scuba Course?

PADI programs are performance based not time based. You proceed as you demonstrate mastery of all 20 course skills. This allows you to work at a pace that is comfortable for you. Generally allow yourself four full days to complete the course comfortably. Generally it is a four day comprehensive course.

What will I need on a PADI Open Water Scuba Course?

• PADI Open Water Crew-Pak
• PADI Open Water Video or DVD
• Log Book

What’s the price and what does this include?

12 000 Thai baht, Open Water Manual, pool dives, theory sessions, open water dives.

The adventure begins……

You have always wanted to take the scuba diving plunge, your friends are always talking about scuba and your best mate keeps raving about their amazing scuba diving trip. The discovery channel shows some awesome footage of divers in the amazing openness. So, how do you start this adventure? Who's out there to lead you into the sport and who's around to help you?

The skill of being able to scuba dive, survive and actually enjoy the underwater experience is a life changing experience and it is also incredibly rewarding!

Your first venture below the surface is one you'll never forget. To enjoy your diving experiences and make sure you remain safe, it is strongly recommended you complete a certified diving course. These courses are designed to teach you to understand the concepts of breathing underwater, recognize, realize and know how to use your dive equipment and protect and respect the marine environment. The general pecking order of dive training gets going with the Open-water course, Specialties, Advanced Diver, Rescue Diver, Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, Dive Instructor and Master Scuba Trainer courses follow this.

Upon course completion you are awarded with a certification or C-Card. The C-card is important proof of your qualification and reputable diving centres will need to see this before signing you up on dive trips.  

PADI Open Water Scuba Course

The Open Water Diver certification (O/W) is a full entry level certification you earn by successfully completing the entire Open Water Diver course. The PADI Open Water Diver certification qualifies you to:

Dive independently (with a certified diving buddy) while applying the knowledge and skills that you learned in this course, within the limits of your dive training and experience. You shall be licensed to dive to a depth of 18 meters.

Procure air fills, scuba equipment and other service for scuba diving.

Plan, conduct and log open water no stop (no decompression) dives when equipped properly and accompanied by a buddy in conditions which you have training and or experience.

Continue your diver training with a specialty dive in the PADI Advanced Open Water program, and/ or in PADI specialty course.

To become a scuba diver you need to be comfortable in the water and have basic swimming skills, so your instructor will have you do some swimming and floating (nothing extreme & 200 meter swim at you leisure or a 400 meter snorkel swim and a 10 minute float on the surface. This is just enough to determine you have the basic swimming abilities. You don’t need to be an athlete, but you should be generally in good health particularly your respiratory and circulatory systems. Mentally you need a mature attitude and the self-discipline to follow the guide-lines and principles required for safe diving.

Before any confined water dives (in the swimming pool or an environment similar to a swimming pool i.e. an enclosed and sheltered bay) or skills, your instructor will have you complete a medical statement.

The information that you put on this shall be entirely confidential. Because the statement identifies conditions that may be affected by diving, for your safety it is important to complete it entirely and accurately. If any of the conditions apply to you, as a prudent precaution, your instructor will ask you to consult a physician before participating in any of the water activities.

The minimum ages for scuba certification are 10 for the Junior Open Water or Junior Scuba Diver certification (adult supervised diving), and 15 for the Open Water Diver or Scuba Diver certification. These certifications show that you successfully completed the course according to the training standards and requirements established by PADI. Dive centers and reports require a person to be a certified diver or in training before they will rent or promote scuba equipment, fill scuba tanks for you, or let you participate in scuba activities. There is a “Discover Scuba Diving” (DSD) program which allows you to dive one day under the direct supervision of an instructor for the experience without the certification but the diving is extremely limited.

Open Water Diver SCUBA Course Structure: