Open Water Diver

Basic PADI Certification Course

The entry-level scuba course is called the Open Water Course. We do it in two weekends with the help of home study. You view the videos, read the manual and do the knowledge reviews at home. The classroom sessions start on Friday evening at 6pm. We go over what you learned at home and make sure everyone is on the same page. Class is usually over between 8:30 and 9pm. Saturday were back in the classroom from 9 am until noon when we break for lunch. At 1pm were in the pool learning skills and we’re usually out around 5pm. All skills are performance based so class can be a little shorter or longer depending on the size of the class and how fast the students master them. Sunday is the same schedule.

The final weekend is the Open Water check out dives. We meet at the dive shop at 8am and caravan over to Vortex Spring. The spring is like a big clear pond. We’ll do 3 dives in the spring then head down to Panama City Beach, Fl. Saturday we go out on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico and do 2 dives, after which you will be a certified Open Water Diver. Sunday we do 2 more dives in the gulf and those go towards your Advanced Open Water Certification. Options for the Open Water certification trips are provided on another attachment.

The course itself including materials, certification fees and the rental scuba equipment for the pool runs $335.00. This does not include the personal gear that you need for class, which are mask, fins, snorkel, weight belt, weights and booties. If you have them already, you’re welcome to use them, if not we have a wide selection here at the shop. If you have any more questions you can email us at info@diveatcoralreef.com or call 985-641-9888