The PADI Advanced Open Water course helps you build confidence and expand your scuba skills through different Adventure Dives. You try out different specialties while gaining experience under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. Log dives and develop capabilities as you find new ways to have fun scuba diving.

Get credit! Each Adventure Dive may credit toward the first dive of the corresponding PADI Specialty Diver Course. If you’ve already taken a specialty diver course, ask your instructor if you’ve earned credit for an Adventure Dive.

PADI (Junior) Open Water Divers who are at least 12 years old are ready to step up and enroll in an Advanced Open Water Diver course. Young divers may only participate in certain Adventures Dives – check with the shop for more details.

If you’re already an Adventure Diver, you only need to complete two more Adventure Dives to earn the Advanced Open Water Diver certification.

Academics

You’ll plan your learning path with your instructor by choosing from a long list of Adventure Dives. There are two required dives – Deep and Underwater Navigation – and you choose the other three, for a total of five dives.
During the Deep Adventure Dive, you learn how to plan dives to deal with the physiological effects and challenges of deeper scuba diving. The Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive refines your compass navigation skills and helps you better navigate using kick-cycles, visual landmarks and time.

The other knowledge and skills you get vary with your interest and the adventures you have – photography, buoyancy control, fish identification, exploring wrecks and many more.

Equipment

Beyond using basic scuba equipment, you’ll need a compass and dive knife or dive tool. You’ll also use specialized gear depending on the Adventure Dives you choose. For example, you’d obviously use a dry suit for the Dry Suit Adventure Dive or a underwater camera system during the Photography Adventure Dive. Your PADI Instructor will explain the equipment that you need and may suggest additional gear, such as dive light for night diving or lift bag for search and recovery diving.

Come by the shop to learn more about the gear you will need to start your adventures in the Advanced Open Water Diver course.

Getting Started

Sign up for Advanced Open Water Diver Online ($204)– PADI’s eLearning option – to get started immediately. The web-based system lets you learn about seven of the most popular Adventures Dives – including the required Deep and Underwater Navigation Adventure Dives, plus Boat, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Underwater Naturalist and Wreck Adventure Dives. You study at your own pace through an easy to use, interactive program. You also have access to an online version of the Adventures in Diving manual and can complete sections for other Adventure Dives as directed by your PADI Instructor.

You can also choose to read the Adventures in Diving manual and watch the Adventures in Diving video (a book and DVD package). To enroll in the course you can sign up online, call or better yet stop by the shop. While you're there you can get your materials and fill out the dreaded paperwork.  Student must provide their own equipment for the course.  Aquanautics will provide tanks and weights.  Students will be responsible for airfills, quarry fees. Your PADI Instructor will contact you about the schedule for knowledge review sessions along with your Adventure Dives.