Advanced Open Water Diver

The Advanced Open Water Diver course is all about advancing your skills.

You'll practice navigation and buoyancy, try deep diving and make three specialty dives of your choosing. For every specialty dive you complete, you can earn credit toward PADI® specialty certifications.

Here are a few of the many options: Deep, Digital Underwater Photography, Dive Against Debris, Dry Suit, Enriched Air Nitrox, Fish Identification, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Search & Recovery, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigation, and Wreck Diver.

What to expect

  • 1

    IMPORTANT

    Learn about underwater navigation, deep diving and three types of specialty diving that interest you.

    After some skill practice with your instructor, you'll make five open water dives. There's no exam because this course is truly about having fun and gaining experience.

  • 2

    e-Learning

    Advanced Open Water Diver eLearning includes interactive lessons on 13 popular specialty dives: altitude, boat, digital underwater imaging, drift, dry suit, fish identification, night, buoyancy, search and recovery, underwater naturalist and wreck diving.

    You'll study deep and navigation diving plus three specialties of your choosing.

  • 3

    With Your Instructor

    The course includes five dives: a deep dive below 18 meters, a navigation dive, and three specialty dives.

    Gain experience, build confidence and discover your diving abilities.

What’s inside

Part 1 (e-LEarning)

There are no written exams; instead, your instructor will evaluate your learning by asking questions, having discussions and watching you put what you know into practice.

Part 2

Mandatory Dives

Navigation Dive: You will learn how to navigate underwater using natural references and/or a compass.

Deep Dive: You will make a deep dive below 18 meters.   

Part 3

Adventure Dives

With your instructor, you’ll choose the Adventure Dives you want to experience and learn from. Each builds your abilities, confidence and thinking skills while focusing on a diving specialty. There’s quite a list to choose from. In your e-Learning program, you’ll find a section for:

  • Altitude Diving

  • Boat Diving

  • Deep Diving

  • Digital Underwater Imaging

  • Drift Diving

  • Dry Suit Diving

  • Fish Identification

  • Night Diving

  • Peak Performance Buoyancy

  • Search & Recovery

  • Underwater Naturalist

  • Underwater Navigation

  • Wreck Diving

More Adventure Dives

You may have other Adventure Dives to choose from if you and your PADI Instructor meet additional prerequisites and other requirements. These may include:

  • Cavern Diving

  • Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) Diving

  • Dive Against Debris

  • Diver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV) Diving

  • Enriched Air Nitrox Diving

  • Full Face Mask Diving

  • Ice Diving

  • Rebreather Diving

  • Self-Reliant Diving

  • Shark Conservation

  • Sidemount Diving

Part 4

Completion

Congratulations!

You completed your education and training successfully and earned your Advanced Open Water Diver Certification.

You will receive digital and printed certificates at the end of the course.

Your certificate allows you to dive up to a maximum depth of 30 meters.

After this course, you can enroll in a Specialty Course or Emergency First Response and Rescue Diver courses to further continue your advancement in diving.

Frequently asked questions

  • 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.

  • Course prerequisites: PADI Open Water Diver, Junior Open Water Diver, or qualifying entry-level certification.

  • The minimum age to start the Advanced Open Water Diver course is 12. (Local regulations may vary. For example, in Turkey, you have to be minimum 14 yrs old to submerge with scuba equipment)

    Divers 15 or older earn an Advanced Open Water Diver certification.

    Divers between the age of 12-14 earn a Junior Advanced Open Water.

    Divers 10-11 can earn a Junior Adventure Diver certification. Upon turning 12, they can complete the deep dive and earn a Junior Advanced Open Water Diver certification.

    Divers certified as Junior Advanced Open Water Divers automatically become Advanced 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 Advanced Open Water Diver (not Jr. Advanced Open Water Diver) certification.

  • You just need to bring your swimming suit and a towel. You will be provided all the equipment for diving. In addition to basic scuba gear, you will need a compass, dive knife/tool, dive computer and student slate. If you don't own these items we can provide at no cost.

  • PADI eLearning: 6-8 hours

    Entire course: 2 days

    You can either complete all training in 2 consecutive days or arrange days that suit you best.

  • You can choose one of these locations.

    We can arrange another location if requested. Extra fees may apply.

€500

Advanced Open Water Diver

Education, Training and Certification

Included in the price:

5 dives + e-Learning + digital & printed certificates

You can choose one of these locations for dives.

We can arrange another location if requested. Extra fees may apply.

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