The PADI Open Water Diver certification is the entry-level scuba diving qualification recognized worldwide. It's the ticket that opens up diving in Raja Ampat, liveaboards, and the broader world of underwater wildlife encounters. Here's what the course actually involves and what to expect.

What the Certification Covers

The Open Water course trains you to dive independently to a maximum depth of 18 meters with a buddy. The course covers the theory of how diving works (pressure, buoyancy, breathing gas behavior), the equipment and how to set it up, the skills needed to manage common situations underwater, and supervised open water dives that put those skills into practice.

It does not make you an expert diver. It gives you the foundation to continue developing through experience. Most experienced divers describe their Open Water certification as the point where they understood enough to start learning. The real education happens in the dives afterward.

Course Structure

The standard PADI Open Water course has three components. The knowledge development portion covers theory, either in a classroom with an instructor or through PADI's eLearning platform, which you can complete at home before the course starts. The confined water sessions (pool or shallow, calm water) teach the skills: buoyancy control, clearing your mask, regulator recovery, controlled ascents. The open water dives (typically four, in two sessions of two dives each) put everything together in real diving conditions.

Total course time varies by provider but expect 3-4 days minimum. Many resorts in popular dive destinations offer the course in combination with a holiday, which lets you complete the certification while spending time somewhere you actually want to be.

What It Costs

Open Water certification ranges from roughly €200-€500 depending on location. Completing it in a dive destination like Thailand, Indonesia, or Egypt is typically cheaper than at a local dive center in Europe and has the advantage of better conditions for the open water dives. The eLearning component through PADI costs around €175 and can be done separately, reducing the in-water portion of the course.

Before You Start

You need to be able to swim 200 meters and float or tread water for 10 minutes. That's the physical requirement. You complete a medical questionnaire before the course, and if you have any of the listed conditions (heart issues, certain respiratory conditions, ear problems) you'll need a doctor's clearance. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, masks are available that accommodate this.

After Certification

Your Open Water cert lasts a lifetime. It doesn't expire. If you haven't dived in more than 6 months, most dive operators will want to see a refresher session before putting you in challenging conditions. This is standard practice and takes about an hour. From Open Water, the most useful next qualification is the Advanced Open Water, which adds skills like navigation and deep diving and increases your maximum depth to 30 meters. Most serious dive destinations and liveaboards require Advanced for their more demanding sites.