The PADI Open Water Diver Course is the most popular and recognized diver course in the world!
You’ll learn about scuba diving fundamentals, equipment and techniques. We start our classes with learning skills in the pool/confined open water and then you will dive on 4 open water dives in the ocean. Our courses are conducted with 1 beach dive and then 3 boat dives out at the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.
All of our public courses are limited to approximately 4 divers to ensure that you get the safest/highest quality instruction and to improve your overall experience. This is compared to 8 or more students per class at other facilities.
Your certification will allow you to dive anywhere in the world and it is good for your lifetime!
All of students do 3 of the 4 check out dives at the Channel Islands, we just charge the cost of the boat ticket. We conduct our courses with these boat dives to allow for the best possible dive conditions and so you will see a larger variety of wildlife compared to beach-only dives.
Our standard Open Water course will usually take place on two consecutive weekends (Fridays are used sometimes too). However, if you are going on a trip and need it faster, we have private courses available.
Private classes are scheduled around your schedule, as well as our already scheduled classes. Our Private PADI Open Water Course costs $995. If you are interested in private lessons and you see a Public course on the dates you wanted, let us know and we can see if there is availability for those dates with one of our other instructors.
Public courses are available for $695
The course price includes:
· PADI eLearning
· PADI class materials
· The Instructors time
· Pool Fees
· Certification Card processing fee
· Free Scuba Rental for the class (when you buy your personal gear from Dive Santa Barbara; fins, mask snorkel, boots and gloves). We do have a head-to-toe rental option for the course as well if you didn’t want to purchase the basic gear.
Additional Costs:
· $199 - $260 - Boat trip fee for 1-day Channel Islands Dive trip. The dive boat operator’s cost varies depending upon what day of the week that the boat trip is on.
All Open Water students are required to have their own SCUBA quality personal gear (fins, mask, snorkel, boots, and gloves), unless selecting the head-to-toe rental option; all available at Dive Santa Barbara.
We use PADI eLearning so you can get the classroom material online and work in the comfort of your own home. The PADI eLearning product is an online classroom which allows you to develop your knowledge of diving – including facts, principles, concepts, and dive skill techniques / methods, all at your own pace. The eLearning must be completed prior to your first in-person class.
Your first session will consist of a short review of the eLearning material and then we go to the pool to learn the necessary skills. The second and third time we meet, you will be doing the ocean dives. One of the ocean days will be off the beach and the second will be on a boat trip out to the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.
All of the ocean dives are for practicing/demonstrating the skills you will have learned in the pool sessions.
After completing your 4th ocean dive, you will be a PADI Certified Open Water Diver. This certification allows you to dive anywhere in the world down to a depth of 60 feet and it is valid for your lifetime.
Once you complete our PADI Open Water course we give you 1 complimentary SCUBA rental and we offer 10% off of gear purchase (Exclusions apply for Scubapro Gear) and rentals from our shop for 1 year.
Click here to download the medical questionnaire to ensure that you are medically fit to dive. If you answer yes to any questions, it does not necessarily disqualify you from diving. We would just need your physician to review the forms and sign you off before your first day in the pool.
All of our students are covered by our DAN Insurance policy, provided at no extra cost to you. It covers up to $25,000 in coverage for medical expenses. We have not had to use this on any of our students but we provide it as a service to you. This covers you for up to 180 days during training dives. It is then up to you to join the DAN community, which provided high level insurance to divers at a very affordable cost.
We can teach students starting at age 10 but we have to limit the number of students we have in those classes, so private courses are required for ages 10-11. The minimum age for our Public Open Water Course is 12 years old and the parent/guardian must be onsite during training.
* Free rental gear is included when you buy your own fins, mask, snorkel, boots, and gloves from Dive Santa Barbara.
Please send us an email if you are interested private courses or have general question before signing up!
