The PADI Open Water Diver course is the world’s most popular scuba course, and has introduced millions of people to the adventurous diving lifestyle

What You Learn:
The PADI Open Water Diver course consists of three main phases:

- Knowledge Development (online, home study or in a classroom ) to understand basic principles of scuba diving
- Confined Water Dives to learn basic scuba skills
- Open Water Dives to review your skills and explore!

If you’ve tried diving through a Discover Scuba Diving experience or resort course, the skills you learned may be credited towards a portion of the full PADI Open Water Diver course certification

Prerequisites:
To enroll in the PADI Open Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course, you must be 10 years or older (PADI eLearning requires a minimum age of 13 years due to international internet laws).

The Scuba Gear You Use:
In the PADI Open Water Diver course, you learn to use basic scuba gear including a dive computer, and standard accessories.

The Learning Materials You Need:
PADI offers a variety of home-study materials for the Open Water Diver course.

PADI’s Open Water Diver materials cover what you need to know about basic scuba diving skills, terminology and safety procedures. For each concept you’ll read a description and watch a video demonstration. Then you’ll jump in our pool to practice these skills with your instructor. Later, as a certified diver, use the course materials as a reference guide for future diving adventures and to review what you learned.