Open Water Diver

PADI Open Water Diver isn't just a certification, it's the moment everything changes. Recognised in over 180 countries, it's the world's most popular scuba course for a simple reason: nothing else hands you the same lifetime of access to reefs, wrecks and open water anywhere the ocean reaches. At Diving Academy, a PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Centre, you're not just getting certified, you're being trained to the same standard we use to train instructors.

1. Step 1: Knowledge Development. Flexible eLearning you complete in your own time, covering the physics, physiology and safety fundamentals that keep every dive under control.
2. Step 2: Confined Water Dives. Into the pool, where the core skills become second nature in a controlled, confidence-building setting.
3. Step 3: Open Water Dives. The moment classroom theory becomes a real underwater world you can explore for yourself, guided by your instructor.

By the end, you'll know how to set up and manage your own scuba equipment, perform the basic skills every certified diver relies on, and understand how to explore and protect the underwater world responsibly, a value we build into every certification we issue.

Certification day rarely feels like a finish line. Most of our divers are already asking about Advanced Open Water Diver, Enriched Air Diver or Rescue Diver before their kit's even dry, each one a natural next step building on exactly what you'll learn here. Training runs from our Reading centre with flexible dates - the only real question is which weekend you start.