SSI certification · 3 days · from age 10
Open Water Course
The first full scuba certification, valid worldwide and for life. Three days, four open water dives and 18 metres of ocean waiting for you.
Contact us on WhatsAppWhat is the Open Water course?
The Open Water is the entry door to diving, and the most taken diving course on the planet. In three days you go from never having breathed underwater to being a certified diver who can rent equipment, join a boat and dive with a buddy anywhere in the world, down to 18 metres.
It is built in three parts. First the theory, which you complete digitally at your own pace and review with your instructor. Then the confined water sessions, in a pool or a shallow sheltered bay, where you learn to breathe, control your buoyancy, clear your mask and handle the gear until it stops feeling strange. Finally the four open water dives in the sea, where you put all of it together at depth.
There are no prerequisites. You need to be in reasonable health, be able to swim and be at least 10 years old. Everything else, including the full kit, is on us.
3 days
Total course duration
4 dives
Open water training dives
18 m
Certified maximum depth
What you learn on the Open Water course
Breathing underwater
The first skill and the strangest one. You start in shallow, calm water until breathing from a regulator feels as normal as breathing air, and until being underwater stops taking any effort at all.
Buoyancy and trim
How much weight you need, how to use your BCD and your lungs to hover instead of sinking or floating. Good buoyancy is what separates a tiring dive from an effortless one, and it protects the reef underneath you.
Mask and regulator skills
Clearing a flooded mask, recovering a regulator, sharing air with your buddy. These are the small problems that happen to every diver at some point, and after this course they stop being problems.
Planning your dive
Reading a dive computer, understanding no-decompression limits, planning depth and time, and knowing when to turn the dive around. You finish the course able to plan a dive rather than just follow one.
Diving as a team
Hand signals, buddy checks, staying together and looking after each other underwater. Diving is a two-person sport and the course treats it that way from the very first session.
Your three days, step by step
Day 1
Meet your instructor, go through the theory and get into the water for the first time. The confined water session happens in a pool or a shallow, sheltered stretch of shore, where you learn the basic skills without any pressure.
Day 2
The last theory block, and then your first two dives in the sea, to a maximum depth of 12 metres. You repeat the skills you learned the day before, this time on a real reef with fish getting in the way.
Day 3
Two more dives, now down to 18 metres, plus the final examination. By the end of the day you are a certified SSI Open Water Diver and your card is registered digitally, for life.
Requirements and course data
| Minimum age | 10 years old |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites | None. No experience required |
| Academic sessions | Digital theory plus classes with your instructor |
| In-water training | Pool or confined water session + 4 open water dives |
| Total program duration | 3 days |
| Maximum depth | 18 metres / 60 feet |
| Certification | SSI Open Water Diver, registered digitally and valid for life with no renewal |
Open Water, Scuba Diver or Try Scuba?
If you have three days, take the Open Water. It is the only one of the three that certifies you to dive independently with a buddy, without a professional holding your hand, down to 18 metres. The Scuba Diver course takes two days and certifies you to 12 metres under the supervision of a dive professional, and it can be upgraded to Open Water later with a little extra training. Try Scuba is a single day and a single dive to 12 metres with an instructor beside you: not a certification, but a very good way to find out whether you like it. If you start your Open Water within six months of a Try Scuba, that first dive counts towards it.
About the agency: we teach the SSI programme, and your card says SSI Open Water Diver. It is equivalent to the entry-level certification of the other major training agencies and recognised by dive centres worldwide, so you can rent gear and join dives anywhere with it. There is no renewal, no expiry and no annual fee. If you later want to continue with a different agency, your SSI certification is accepted as the prerequisite in exactly the same way.
Where do you want to take your course?
Every course runs at our five dive schools. Pick your destination and the buttons below will take you to its dates, prices and booking.
Where can you take the Open Water course?
At all five of our SSI schools in Thailand and Indonesia. The course content is identical everywhere, but the sea is not: dates, group availability and price depend on the destination, so each school has its own page with the current details. Pick the island that fits your trip and we will take it from there.
Thailand
Koh Tao
SSI Open Water Diver Course in Koh Tao
Thailand
Koh Phi Phi
SSI Open Water Course in Koh Phi Phi
Indonesia
Nusa Penida
SSI Open Water Course in Nusa Penida
Indonesia
Gili Trawangan
SSI Open Water Course in Gili Trawangan
Indonesia
Gili Air
SSI Open Water Diver Course in Gili Air
100% online booking
Booked with one WhatsApp message
No forms on the website and nothing to print. Everything happens on your phone, from your first message to your last dive.
- Message us on WhatsApp Tell us the course, the destination and your dates, and we reply with availability and prices.
- Confirm your booking You receive your booking code (for example, DPM-2PB4F) and a payment link to confirm your place.
- Register in minutes With that link you fill in the medical form and sign it online, which takes about 4 minutes.
- Follow your course From then on, your course diary shows what's done and what's left: booking, registration, dives, final payment and certification.
All set! Your code: DPM-2PB4F
📝 Complete your registration (medical form + signature):
https://r.dpmdiving.com/en/DPM-2PB4F
🤿 Save this link — it's your day-by-day course journal:
https://r.dpmdiving.com/en/mi/DPM-2PB4F
💳 If you pay by bank transfer, write this code as the reference and send us the receipt:
DPM-PP-1015-37PNXD
See you at the front desk!
Included with your course
Your whole course, organised on your phone
From your first WhatsApp message to your certification, the whole process is 100% online. Our Mareaviva app takes you through your course day by day, before and after every dive.
Course tracker Every day of your course is laid out in the app, so you always know what's planned and what comes next. You know who your instructor is, and they follow your progress in the app from start to finish.
Dive briefing Each dive comes with its briefing: the site map and the dive plan, with time, entry and exit points, maximum depth and expected dive time.
Dive plan Start time, entry and exit points, maximum depth, expected dive time and the safety stop, drawn as a dive profile.
Species logbook See which marine life to look out for on each dive, then tick off the species you actually spot.
Photo pack When you finish, you get a pack of underwater photos from the best sites around your centre: not pictures of your own dive, but a keepsake to take home.
Surprise prize When you rate your instructor you always get a surprise gift: it could be a discount on another course or even a free course, chosen at random.
All of this is included in the price of your course. Send us a message to get started: we reply at any hour.
Chat on WhatsAppFAQ
Frequently asked questions about the Open Water course
What is the Open Water certification?
It is the first full scuba certification: it qualifies you to dive with a buddy, without professional supervision, to a maximum depth of 18 metres anywhere in the world, for life.
How long does the Open Water course take?
Three days. Day one is theory and a confined water session, day two adds two dives to 12 metres, and day three has two dives to 18 metres plus the exam.
How deep can I dive after the Open Water?
Up to 18 metres, which covers the large majority of recreational dive sites. To go to 30 metres you need the Advanced Adventurer or a Deep Adventure dive.
Is the SSI Open Water recognised worldwide?
Yes. The SSI Open Water Diver certification is registered digitally, never expires and is accepted by dive centres all over the world, on the same terms as the entry-level certification of any other major agency.
Do I need to be a strong swimmer or buy equipment?
You need to be comfortable in the water and in reasonable health, and you complete a standard SSI medical statement before diving. All equipment is included in the course, so there is nothing to buy.
Ready to become a diver?
Tell us your dates and which island you are heading to, and we will send you availability, prices and everything you need to know before day one.
