The PADI Open Water Divers course takes place over three days, normally on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The theory part of the course is done online through the PADI eLearning platform and it takes about 12 hours to complete. Once that’s done, you will spend a half day in the swimming pool with your instructor to complete the Confined Water session, which can take up to 6 hours depending on the size and pace of the group.
Once you successfully complete the Confined Water session, you will receive the paperwork that certifies that you are ready for your open water dives. You then have 1 year to make use of your referral to complete the open water dives and get your certification.

Upon successful completion of the PADI Open Water course you will be certified to dive to 18m with a buddy, without direct supervision, anywhere in the world. You will be able to plan, organise and execute dives with a certified buddy, dive with dive centres and resorts around the world, receive air fills for scuba tanks, register and participate in the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course, register and participate in selected PADI Specialty Courses and in the PADI Scuba Review.

The PADI Referral Program allows you to complete the theory and the confined water session before you get to the place where you want to dive. This program is especially advantageous for those people that are planning to travel to a popular diving destination, as it allows them to dedicate as much time as possible to the actual dives, having completed the first part of the course at home.

The PADI Referral Program allows you to complete the first part of the course in your country of residence and then do your open water dives pretty much wherever you want. The main advantage of the referral program is that you can start the course at home and then, once you are ready to dive, you don’t have to waste any precious vacation time on the theory. You will be able to just enjoy the dives, having completed all the study material at home.

Day 1 of the course takes place at a local swimming pool, where you will complete your Confined Water Dives 1-5 as well as your swimming and floating tests.
During day 2 and 3 you will complete a total of four open water dives at dive sites that will be selected by your instructor depending on weather, tides and general conditions.