PADI Advanced Open Water Diver

About the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course

The Advanced Open Water Diver course is all about advancing your skills. You'll practice navigation and buoyancy, try deep diving and make three specialty dives of your choosing (it's like a specialty sampler platter). For every specialty dive you complete, you can earn credit toward PADI® specialty certifications.

Here are a few of the many options: Deep, Digital Underwater Photography, Dive Against Debris, Dry Suit, Enriched Air Nitrox, Fish Identification, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Search & Recovery, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigation, and Wreck Diver.

What You'll Learn

• Explore below 18m/60ft
• Use a compass
• Improve your buoyancy

Certification Requirements

• Able to swim; medically fit for diving
• Good physical health
• Expect shallow dives (12m/40ft), the maximum allowed depth is 18m/60ft

How to Become an Advanced Open Water Diver

Learn about underwater navigation, deep diving and three types of specialty diving that interest you. After some skill practice with your instructor, you'll make five open water dives. There's no exam because this course is truly about having fun and gaining experience.

Step 1

PADI E-learning®

Advanced Open Water Diver eLearning includes interactive lessons on 13 popular specialty dives: altitude, boat, digital underwater imaging, drift, dry suit, fish ID, night, buoyancy, search and recovery, underwater naturalist, and wreck diving.

You'll study deep and navigation diving plus three specialties of your choosing.

• e-learning time commitment: 6-8 hours

Step 2

With Your Instructor

ADDITIONAL COST: Your Dive Shop will charge fees for training and gear rental.

The course includes five dives: a deep dive below 18m/60f, a navigation dive, and three specialty dives. Gain experience, build confidence, and discover your diving abilities.

• Total time commitment: 2-3 days

Course Prerequisites & Minimum Age Requirements

PADI Open Water Diver, Junior Open Water Diver, or qualifying entry-level certification.

The minimum age to start the Advanced Open Water Diver course is 12.

• Divers 15 or older earn an Advanced Open Water Diver certification
• Divers between the age of 12-14 earn a Junior Advanced Open Water
• Divers 10-11 can earn a Junior Adventure Diver certification. Upon turning 12, they can complete the deep dive and earn a Junior Advanced Open Water Diver certification.
• Divers certified as Junior Advanced Open Water Divers automatically become Advanced Open Water Divers at age 15. Any replacement certification card or eCard purchased the day after the diver's 15th birthday will automatically show an Advanced Open Water Diver (not Jr. Advanced Open Water Diver) certification.

After this Course

During the Advanced Open Water course, you'll try different types of specialty diving and discover your diving aptitude and interests. As an added bonus, each dive you make may be credited toward the related specialty certification.

For example, if you try wreck diving during your Advanced Open Water course and like it, you can credit that dive towards Wreck Diver specialty certification.

Here are some other courses to consider:

• If you like making multiple dives in one day, or taking multi-day dive trips, getting Enriched Air Nitrox certified will unlock longer, deeper dives and shorter surface intervals.
  
• Want to improve your confidence and become a better dive buddy? Sign up for the PADI Rescue Diver course.
  
• With each certification you earn, you'll be one step closer to earning the elite Master Scuba Diver™ rating.

Available Languages

English, Espanol, Français, Nederlands, Deutsch, Italiano, 한국어, اللغة العربية, 日本語, 中文繁体, 中文简体, Ελληνική γλώσσα, Dansk, Hrvat, Čeština , Português, Bahasa Indonesia, Suomi, Norsk, Svenska, Bahasa Melayu, Polski, Magyar nyelv, Русский язык, Türkçe, עִבְרִית, ไทย, Tagalog

Visit the PADI Website

Visit the PADI website for detailed course pricing, more information or to book this course.

Related Content

• Diving courses
• Academic & Personal Development courses
• Sport & Fitness courses
• Teaching & Childcare courses

Breathe In, Chill Out. Learn How To Dive And Explore An Amazing World Beneath The Waves. Start Today At PADI.com

PADI is the world's largest scuba diving training organisation. For over 50 years, PADI has enabled people around the world to seek adventure and save the ocean through underwater education, life-changing experiences and travel.

For accredited courses a certificate will be sent directly to you from the appropriate awarding body.

For short courses a completion certificate is available at the end of the course.

PADI’s online courses are designed to work on the browsers listed below. For the best experience, make sure your browser is up-to-date.

• Chrome
• Safari
• Edge
• Firefox

If you plan to be somewhere without internet access, use the PADI Training app to download course content and study offline. Content can be downloaded in small sections with a total file size of approximately 182 MB. When you get back online, upload your progress so you can resume your training right where you left off.

The PADI Training app is available for Android and Apple iOS devices. For the ideal experience, devices should be no more than three models old and running with the most current OS (operating system).

After you purchase this course you will be contacted by PADI.

Envico Limited is an independent intermediary working with PADI in an affiliate program. Envico is not accredited by or associated with PADI or any other examination body or institution in any way. All courses promoted on this website are delivered by independent and established accredited or approved training providers.