PADI Open Water
The PADI Open Water Diver course is the most sought out and exciting learn to dive program in the world. Having a PADI certification means that you will be recognised and respected as a scuba diver at more dive centres than any other dive certification on the globe.
1. Course overview
The PADI Open Water Diver course consists of three main phases:
- Knowledge development – to understand basic principles of scuba diving.
- Confined water dives – begin diving in our pool to learn & master the basic scuba skills.
- Open water dives – use your new skills and explore deeper underwater. See wrecks & amazing aquatic life!
To participate, you must be at least 10 years old. Check out our PADI Bubblemaker and PADI Seal Team programmes if you’re under 10.
2. What you'll learn
You learn what you need to dive with other qualified divers to a depth of 18m.
The course gives you both the background information and practical skills you need to dive safely. You’ll learn about the equipment we use, as well as how easy and enjoyable it is to breathe underwater on scuba. It’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.
If you want to give scuba diving a try first, consider the PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience to get a taster beforehand. It counts towards the Open Water course if you decide to continue with us.
3. Equipment
We’ll provide everything you need for the duration of the course.
You’ll use a mask, snorkel, fins, buoyancy compensating jacket (BCD), scuba regulator to breathe, and the instrumentation to monitor your depth and air supply. Your BCD will also carry a scuba cylinder for your air supply.
We’ll also provide you with the exposure protection (wetsuit or drysuit) needed to keep you comfortable on your dives, including any additional training required for it.
4. Learning materials
We will send you PADI Open Water e-Learning materials, which will take you to the registration area of the PADI site. This teaches you the background information you need, and allows you to study at your own pace.
You can complete this on pretty much any device with an internet connection.
Once you’ve completed this, you are ready for your dives with us!
5. Course options
You can do the full course with us right here in UK waters, and benefit from some of the best instruction and quality standards possible. This also teaches very valuable skills diving in a range of environments. Most of our divers choose this option.
If you don’t want to dive in UK waters, that’s fine too. You can complete the course on a referral basis, where you learn and practice the full range of skills in a pool setting with our fabulous staff. You then complete the remaining 4 deeper open water dives within the next 12 months with any other PADI training centre, typically abroad.
We also offer a few additional options to tailor your learning experience. Prices for all options are displayed on the booking page.
We include the PADI Enriched Air Diver speciality, which enables you to breathe EAN, or ‘nitrox’, up to 40% oxygen content. This extends your diving times, and often allows you to dive with less fatigue. Many dive resorts around the world encourage you to have this certification. You just need to be 12 years old or over to participate.
We include the PADI Dry Suit Diver specialty, which enables you dive safely and more comfortably in cooler water climates. Dry suit diving is one of the most common ways to enjoy the UK waters, and the fantastic array of sea life and underwater beauty unique to our little island. Our divers often remark how much additional confidence and skill this course provides when diving abroad in warmer water, too.
This is an exclusive package: spoil yourself! We provide you with 1:1 tuition with your own instructor throughout the entire course, receiving the absolute and individual attention from one of our highly qualified team.
Ready to start?
You can book and pay for your course with us online, either for yourself or someone else. We’ll send over any e-Learning content to your email, and we can then work with you on suitable dates and times for any practical sessions.
We have 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 complete the PADI Open Water course, you’ll most likely want to check out our PADI Advanced Open Water diver certification course.
This course expands upon your experience level, giving you more freedom to explore your personal interests – including wreck diving, underwater photography, and more! You’ll also learn how to safely dive even deeper than your existing 18m limit.
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.