Open Water Diver: the entry-level certification

Who it is for

Anyone who wants to dive independently with a buddy rather than beside an instructor. No previous experience is required, though a try-dive first is the sensible way to find out whether you enjoy it before committing several days.

Requirements

• Minimum age per the agency's standards — 10 for a junior certification with PADI, with depth limits until 15; adult certification from 15.
• Medical fitness to dive: a medical statement, and a doctor's clearance where the statement asks for one.
• Basic water skills: a swim and a float, assessed by the instructor.

Duration

Typically three to four days when run in one block — sometimes longer, depending on the student, the weather and how the theory is done. Courses are planned individually, which is why no fixed schedule or price is published here.

Training stages

Theory

How pressure affects the body and the equipment, how to plan a dive, the tables or computer, what can go wrong and how it is prevented. Often done as self-study before the course, with a review and exam with the instructor.

Confined or shallow-water training

The skills, learned where standing up is possible: clearing a mask, recovering a regulator, controlling buoyancy, sharing air, the emergency ascent. Repeated until they are calm and automatic.

Open-water training dives

Four dives in the sea, applying the skills at depth under the instructor's supervision and with progressively more independence.

Certification and international recognition

On completion you receive a certification card recognised by dive centres worldwide. PADI Open Water Diver and CMAS One Star are mutually recognised as entry-level qualifications; either lets you book the certified experience here and equivalent dives anywhere.

Safety requirements

The agency's standards set the instructor-to-student ratios, the depth limits for each training dive and the skills that must be demonstrated. An instructor cannot certify a student who has not met them — which is the point of a standard.

In Alanya

The certification courses we organise ourselves are CMAS courses, on request. If you want the Open Water Diver certification specifically, tell us: we will say honestly what we can offer for your dates, and at what price.

Want to plan a course? Tell us your dates and level.