PADI Courses
Openwater Diver Course
PADI Open Water Diver Course is the most popular diver program in the world – and your ticket to a lifetime of intense adventure. You’ll learn about scuba fundamentals, equipment and techniques. Plus, practice skills by diving in a pool or pool-like body of water; and experience several open water dives with an instructor.
Course Introduction
The PADI Open Water Scuba Diver class is the beginning class for new scuba divers. In this class, you learn all of the skills necessary to make you a safe and skilled scuba diver. This class involves academic study, water skills conductud in a safe confined water environment, and check-out dives in a real open-water setting. Conducted over two weekends, this class is the single most popular diving class in the world. Upon completion of this class, you will be awarded a PADI Open Water Diver certification card, a credential recognized all over the world by dive stores, diving resorts, and dive charter operators. With your C-Card, you will be able to rent scuba diving equipment and tanks, obtain air fills in scuba cylinders, book charter trips on dive boats, purchase scuba diving equipment, and obtain services available only to certified scuba divers. At Dive Buddy, the PADI Open Water Scuba Diver class is comprised of three distinctly different elements.
Course Overview
Home Self-Study at Your Own Pace
- Students learn the basic theory of scuba diving
When you enroll in a Dive Buddy scuba class, you will receive the PADI Go Dive Student Kit, which contains a study book, diving tables, and other materials necessary to complete your class. You also receive a Dive Buddy Student Orientation kit that contains several documents and waivers that must completed prior to attending class, and a pamphlet outlining your home study requirements. Your home study consists of reading the Go Dive book, completion of the knowledge reviews after reading each chapter, and viewing a companion DVD that highlights the topics in the book.
Confined Water Training
- Introduction to scuba equipment
- Confined pool training
This is conducted over a weekend, and requires a full Saturday and Sunday. Class begins at 10:00AM on Saturday morning at our dive shop. You will spend two to three hours in the classroom, reviewing the things you learned during your home study. You then move to the swimming pool, where you spend the remainder of the day learning to assemble you scuba unit and learning a number of important skills under the direct supervision of your instructor. On Sunday morning, you again report to Dive Buddy at 10:00AM for three to four hours of classroom review and completion of the simple final exam on the academic material. You then move to the swimming pool for another afternoon of skills development and practice.
Open Water Training and Check-Out Dives
This is the weekend where you put your newly acquired skills to work in an actual open water diving environment, by completing four different scuba dives under the direct supervision of your instructor. This weekend does not have to be the weekend immediately following the confined water weekend. When you complete your confined water weekend, you choose from a number of open-water checkout opportunities offer by Dive Buddy. Most people choose to complete their open-water checkout dives during one of our weekend trips to Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu. This gives you the opportunity to experience real ocean conditions while diving from a scuba charter boat, and to get to know with other experienced divers who are also joining the trip.
Some people require longer to learn certain concepts than others. At Dive Buddy, you can’t FAIL your dive class; it might simply take you longer to learn all of the concepts. For individuals who have a hard time with any element of the training, our instructors are more than willing to work individually with you to make sure you get the concepts. In fact, we will allow you to completely repeat the entire confined water class if necessary. At Dive Buddy, we will do everything in our power to make you a certified scuba diver once you enroll in a class.
Course Standards
Key Standards
| Prerequsite Certification | None |
| Minimum Age | 15 (10 for Junior Divers)Special Requirements for 10 and 11-year-olds |
- Prior to the start of a Junior Scuba Diver or Junior Open Water Diver course, you must have both a parent (legal guardian) and the child (aged 10-11) watch the Youth Diving: Responsibility and Risks video or thoroughly review the Youth Diving: Responsibility and Risks Flipchart. Both parent and child must read and sign the Youth Diving: Responsibility and Risks Acknowledgment form.
- During any confined open water or open water training dive that includes 10 and 11-year-olds, the maximum student diver to instructor ratio is 4:1. No more than two children aged 10-11 may be included in the group of four student divers.
- Certification dives for 10 and 11-year-olds must not exceed 12 metres/40 feet.
- After certification, a 10 or 11-year-old Junior Scuba Diver must dive with a PADI Professional. Dives must not exceed 12 metres/40 feet.
- After certification, a 10 or 11-year-old Junior Open Water Diver must dive with a parent, guardian or PADI Professional. Dives must not exceed 12 metres/40 feet.
Recommended Course Hours
- Approximately 31
(19 for Scuba Diver), based on a class of 10 students
Minimum open water training
- 4 open water scuba dives (2 for Scuba Diver), Optional Skin Dive, Recommended Adventure Dive.
Paperwork and Administration
The following list identifies all the required and recommended paperwork for the Open Water Diver and Scuba Diver courses.
- Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Agreement must be signed by the student at the start of the course.
- Medical Statement and Divers Medical Questionnaire signed by the student. If the student checks “yes” to any item on the statement, a physician must approve the student for diving before they participate in any inwater training by signing the complete Medical Statement, which you keep in the student’s file.
- Standard Safe Diving Practices Statement of Understanding signed by the student.
- Knowledge Reviews for each Knowledge Development section signed by the student. (This is required for the Scuba Diver course.)
- Quiz for each Knowledge Development section signed by the student, with student initials by missed questions.
- Final Exam signed by the student, with student initials by missed questions.
- Dates of completion for Knowledge Development, Confined Water Dives and skills, Open Water Dives and referral issue dates, initialed by instructor and student diver.
- If referring or receiving a referred student, copies of all required documentation.
Certification Procedures
- The certifying instructor obtains Open Water Diver and Scuba Diver certifications by submitting completed and signed PICs to PADI. The instructor who conducts the student’s final open water dive certifies the diver and signs the PIC. The instructor certifying the student must ensure the student meets all certification requirements.
Junior Open Water Diver
- Certification is open to student divers under the age of 15 through the PADI Junior Open Water Diver and Junior Scuba Diver programs. To enroll, individuals must be at least 10-years-old prior to the start date of the course.
- Junior divers must meet all requirements for Open Water Diver or PADI Scuba Diver certification other than age. Certification depends on competency and student ability to understand dive concepts.
- Students must independently complete written PADI Open Water Diver Quizzes and Exams — oral exams are not permitted for divers under the age of 15 (except when diagnosed with a learning disability.
- A 12 to 14-year-old Junior Open Water Diver or Junior Scuba Diver is qualified to dive only when accompanied by another certified diver who is of legal age. Since Junior PADI Scuba Divers must dive under the direct supervision of a PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Instructor, this meets this standard’s intent. Legal age is defined as an individual who is at least 18 years of age, except where law defines an older age; in this case, the law becomes the guideline.
- It’s recommended that a legal-aged family member accompany Junior students by taking the course with them.
- Junior Open Water Divers or Junior Scuba Divers may upgrade their certification level to PADI Open Water Diver or Scuba Diver when they reach the age of 15 with no additional requirements. If more than one year has passed since the diver earned the Junior certification, when requesting an upgrade, it is recommended that the diver complete a Scuba Review program.
Course Overview
This course is divided into three sections:
Knowledge development
Topics:
- Introduction to Diving
- Adapting to the Underwater World
- The Diving Environment
- Breathing Air at Depth, Introduction to the Recreational Dive Planner
- Continuing Education
Confined water (pool) training.
Confined water training serves two purposes. First, it establishes the basic skills that all divers need (or may need in the unlikely event of a problem) in a relatively low stress environment. Second, it reinforces and supplements Knowledge Development training by having student divers practice and apply what they learn from reading the manual and watching the videos.
There are five Confined Water Dives that correspond to the five Knowledge Development sections.
- Confine water training dive 01
- Confine water training dive 02
- Confine water training dive 03
- Confine water training dive 04
- Confine water training dive 05
Open water dives
The Open Water Dives complete the integration of the principles learned in Knowledge Development and the skills learned in the Confined Water Dives by having student divers apply both in the open water dive environment. By practicing skills mastered in the Confined Water Dives, students continue to learn as they use these skills in the open water.
Prior to certification, the student would need to successfully complete the following FOUR Open Water dives which may be conducted over two days.
Openwater Dives Skills Overview
Open water dive 01
- Briefing
- Equipment preparation
- Don and adjust equipment
- Predive safety check
- Entry
- Buoyancy/weight check
- Controlled descent (max. depth 12m/40ft)
- Underwater exploration
- Ascent
- Exit
- Debrief and log dive
Open water dive 02
- Briefing
- Equipment preparation
- Don and adjust equipment
- Predive safety check
- Entry
- Buoyancy/weight check
- (Cramp removal, self and buddy)*
- (25 metre/yard tired diver tow)*
- (Snorkel/regulator exchange)*
- Controlled descent (max. depth 12m/40ft)
- Buoyance control – fin pivot, low pressure inflator
- Partial and complete mask flood and clear
- Regulator recovery and clearing
- Alternate air source use stationary and AAS assisted ascent
- Underwater exploration and buoyancy control
- Ascent
- Weight removal at surface
- Exit
- Debrief and log dive
Open water dive 03
- Briefing
- Equipment preparation
- Don and adjust equipment
- Predive safety check
- Entry
- Buoyancy/weight check
- (50 metre/yard straight line surface swim with compass)*
- Free descent with reference to 6-9m/20-30ft (max. depth 18m/60ft)
- Buoyance control – neutral buoyancy on bottom, fin pivot-oral inflation
- Complete mask flood and clear
- (CESA)*
- Buddy breathing – stationary and ascent from 6-9m/20-30ft (optional)
- Underwater exploration
- Ascent
- (Remove and replace weight system at surface)*
- (Remove and replace scuba unit at surface)*
- Exit
- Debrief and log dive
Open water dive 04
- Briefing
- Equipment preparation
- Don and adjust equipment
- Predive safety check
- Entry
- Buoyancy/weight check
- Free descent without reference no deeper than 18m/60ft
- Buoyance control – hovering
- Mask removal, replacement and clearing
- (Underwater navigation with compass)*
- Underwater exploration
- Ascent
- Exit
- Debrief and log dive
- Optional Skin Dive
- Briefing
- Equipment preparation
- Suiting up
- Equipment inspection
- Entry
- Buoyancy/weight check
- Surface swim
- Surface dives and underwater swimming
- Displacement snorkel clear
- Underwater exploration
- Exit
- Debrief and log dive
* Dive Flexible Skill – recommended sequencing as shown, but may be conducted on any Open Water Dive at the instructor’s discretion and based on logistics.
Performance Requirement
“The PADI Open Water Diver course builds upon the concept of performance-based learning. This means student divers progress through the course by demonstrating that they meet measurable learning objectives. The course’s instructional design sequences these objectives from simple to complex, so students build upon previous learning as they progress. Attempting to learn something without mastering prerequisite objectives can complicate and interfere with development and learning. For this reason, students must satisfactorily demonstrate meeting knowledge development and water skills performance requirements (objectives) in their required sequences. Satisfactory demonstration is called “mastery,” which, along with sequence requirements,”
Important Note: Some people require longer to learn certain concepts than others. At Dive Buddy, you can’t FAIL your dive class; it might simply take you longer to learn all of the concepts. For individuals who have a hard time with any element of the training, our instructors are more than willing to work individually with you to make sure you get the concepts. In fact, we will allow you to completely repeat the entire confined water class if necessary. At Dive Buddy, we will do everything in our power to make you a certified scuba diver once you enroll in a class.
Equipment
Each participant must be equipped with: fins, mask, buoyancy control device, scuba cylinder, regulator and submersible pressure gauge. Use appropriate exposure protection and weights as necessary for diver comfort.