PADI Open Water Course - What's Involved
Congratulations you have now taken the first step into an amazing world that will captivate and excite you. The Stellar Divers Dive Team will be your guides & mentors as you progress through all of the elements of the course. Our goal is to ensure that you are completely happy, have achieved mastery of all of the knowledge, skills and diver etiquette that you need to be a certified PADI Open Water Diver. Of course not forgetting a vital part, we will ensure that you have a lot of fun along the journey. We are excited and looking forward to sharing our knowledge, love of scuba diving and showing you what the oceans have to offer you. Now please watch Drew’s video.
1. the induction
This is a very unique experience that we are proud to offer you. We will invite you to come along to the Hub where our full time PADI Course Director will meet you & give you a comprehensive overview of what you can expect from your PADI Open Water Course, Stellar Divers & answer any questions that you may have. You will also be introduced to the Scuba kit you will be using & have a practical hands on session so you become familiar with the equipment you will be using. It is also an opportunity for us to complete the necessary course paperwork and introduce you to the PADI ePortal.
2. Critical Steps
The PADI registration & eLearning: We will issue you your PADI Activation Code for the eLearning. You will need to keep an eye out for an email from PADI Support (these sometimes end up in junk mail so check there too) it will have a “Get Started” link in the email. Simply click the link and follow the registration process, create an account, upload a photo of yourself and complete the required eForms “Safe Diving Practices”, “Liability & Assumption of Risk” & the “Medical Form” if you get any problems give us a call or contact PADI directly via email to: customerservices.emea@padi.com
Knowledge Development: Either Desktop, Tablet & Smartphone via the PADI eLearning portal. You will be asked to complete 5 interesting sections each with a knowledge check at the end of the section. On completion of all 5 sections you will be asked to complete a final exam, the pass rate is 75% and if you don’t first succeed you will have a chance to do it again. A small tip for you, please be careful with the questions in the knowledge checks and final exam they may on occasion seem ambiguous, this is not to catch you out, it is simply designed to make you think.
3. help is always on hand
As you progress through the course you are always welcome to email the team at hello@stellardivers.co.uk we will give guidance and any coaching you need. You are always welcome to come and see us at any time, there is always a friendly welcome at the Hub and the coffee is always on. We will always be on hand to offer help and guidance.
Once you have successfully completed the final exam we will receive an email telling us of your success, your virtual scorecard will be updated and you are ready to get cracking with the in water part.
Oh all the course materials and resources will be available for the rest of time, so no losing anything, no getting workbooks soggy and the best bit you have a refresh anywhere you want.
4. the pool
The pool skills development is split into 5 separate yet interconnected sessions which are spread over five 2 hour pool sessions at Christ’s Hospital School Swimming Pool.
Please bring swimwear and a tee shirt to wear in the water (If you have a shortie wetsuit or rash vest you can bring those too) remember a towel.
We will teach you many scuba diving skills, each skill and set of skills will be explained for you then one of our highly qualified instructors will demonstrate exactly what we want you to do. You will then get plenty of time to practice the skill or set of skills until you and we are happy before moving on to the next. You will master each and every skill at your own pace and there will be plenty of time to put the skills into practice as we always finish the sessions with a dive around the pool to help you consolidate and have some fun. Once you have finished your pool sessions it is then time to go to Open Water.
5. open water
This is where it gets really exciting; if you are finishing the course with us in the UK we will take you to either; 8 Acre, Stoney Cove or Capernwray. If you have chosen a PADI Open Water Referral you will finish this section at your holiday/travel destination (please seek out a PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre like us). Over the two days (either weekend or weekday depending on your flexibility) we will complete four dives, the dives will allow you to expand your skills into the Open Water environment and the best bit, you will actually dive with fish life, see some fantastic wrecks and start to see how amazing diving really is. We will also teach you how to navigate underwater using a compass so you can easily then find fantastic wrecks and points of interest when you dive. At Capernwray for instance there are many interesting things to see; a helicopter, sunken boats, submarine and some great fish life. Incidentally the “interesting” things have been deliberately sunk for your pleasure 
Once you finish the last dive and have visited 18m (12m for juniors) you will then be a fully certified PADI Open Water diver with all of the prestige and opportunities that it brings.
6. equipment
All of the scuba equipment & air fills that you need to complete the course is included in the price of all Open Water packages (unless you are diving in a Dry Suit or doing the Dry Suit Speciality as part of the PADI Open Water Premier UK Edition then dry suit hire is extra). We do encourage you to buy a mask, snorkel and fins as you get going, we have a huge selection at the Hub and we will be only too pleased to help you get the best ones to suit you
Ready to start?
You can book and pay for your course with us online, either for yourself or someone else. You can also do this at the induction if you wish. If this is a gift please tell us in the additional information box when you purchase, we can then issue a gift voucher. We’ll send you over an invite for an induction.
We have course availability throughout the year, although if you have specific dates or a timeline in mind, please check with us first.
Your next adventure...
Once you certify as an Open Water diver the world is yours to dive. You will have learnt an abundance of skills and seen some amazing things so why stop there? Why not take the next step and learn how to apply those skills to real diving situations? Let us teach you how to expertly navigate to and properly dive on wrecks, how to enhance you buoyancy skills, how to dive to 30 meters and perhaps take pictures of the amazing things you see! Interested? Then the PADI Advanced Open Water. Most of our Open Water divers make the natural step to Advanced Open Water level and become much better divers who have much more fun in the process. Please have a look at these fantastic courses and enrol to take the next exciting step, all of the theory is as before via eLearning, just visit our eLearning hub or contact us to see how.
The Club
As part of doing the Open Water course with us we include a huge bonus. You will be given lifetime membership to our Dive Club. Enjoy the benefits of this membership at the Hub where we give our club members special deals on equipment & servicing. You will also be able to join us at the pool on Sundays and keep your precious skills alive. We charge our club members £10 to use the pool if you have all of your own kit, £15 if you just need air or £25 per person for all equipment and pool time, just give us a few days notice so we can arrange your equipment.
We have a Facebook Club page where you can visit for dive information, weekly updates and see all that we have going on.
Please keep up with us on our corporate Facebook, Instagram & YouTube pages.
dive trips
As a qualified diver you will be eligible to come with us on our many trips both UK & abroad and enjoy our social events. We want you to stay part of Stellar Divers and enjoy diving as much as we do. Have a look through our Trips & Events page, we’d love you to come along, why not join us in the Philippines or Egypt? Let us be your guide, we will do all of the organising so all you have to do is simply enjoy.
The Stellar Crew
We have a very straightforward philosophy; we are totally committed to ensuring you – our customer – have the best, safest and most enjoyable experience possible. It’s as simple as that!
Here at Stellar, we all love to scuba dive, and we love to have fun doing it. We absolutely want you to feel the same way when you dive with us.
We can very proudly boast that we’re a PADI 5-star Instructor Development Centre. Put simply, this means we also train the trainers – so naturally we take our education of safe diving very seriously. You’re in safe hands, and you’ll have a lot of fun in the process too.