The PADI Open Water Course is a beginner-level training that gets you certified to Scuba Dive for the rest of your life, up to depths of 18 meters anywhere in the world with any fellow-certified diver - in diving terms, we call this a dive buddy.
The course can be done either at an island-based dive center or half in your city and half on the island.
If you're not someone with the luxury of spending too much time on the island, I personally suggest getting half done in the city and the other half on the island.
There are a few parts to this training that can usually be done within 3 days if you're getting yourself certified at an island-based dive center.
- Receive your PADI Open Water Diver manual.
- Watch a video that will explain the chapters in the manual.
- Do a chapter by chapter study-review with your Instructor.
- Get into confined water (shallow water usually kneeling down learning how to do simple things like getting water out of your mask in case water gets in).
- Take ONE fail-proof Exam.
- Start diving with your Instructor - you'll need 4 dives to get your license.
If you're city based, I recommend doing the reading, confined water sessions in a swimming pool with your Instructor on weekends, doing your study-reviews and taking the exam all in the city.
I suggest this because as soon as you reach the beautiful island to complete your certification, the last thing you want to be doing is - sitting in a classroom reading a book, watching a video, kneeling underwater in front of the dive center and doing exams.
I personally did all the necessary in KL over a period of 4 weekends and as soon as I got to the island, I did my 4 required dives and sat in the sun and enjoyed the rest of my trip diving, relaxing on the beach and socializing.
There is a downside to the half city-half island arrangement if you're planning on having 1 instructor teach you in the city and another instructor on the island. There may be different styles between the 2 instructors leaving YOU confused once you hit THE REAL SEA...The half + half structure will also cost you a bit more due to equipment rental and swimming pool usage while in the city.
On an overall the PADI Open Water Course is a breeze and many who think it's tough, discover that the delay in signing-up (due to nerves) was actually quite silly.
As an Open Water Diver, even if you plan a trip out on your own, the dive center will always assign you a buddy (this is how you socialize and often enough, you get hooked up with someone equally fun and usually quite good looking), and if no buddy's around the local Instructor or Divemaster becomes your buddy.
One of the most commonly asked questions is "Must I know how to swim?". No real swimming techniques are required but you must at least be able to float and kick, roll are claw your way from Point A to Point B in order to be able to move around during your training. Once you're in your dive gear, you'd be able to move yourself around - EASY!
Budget to set aside for the whole course (Instructor, manuals, classroom, equipment and your confined & open water sessions) is RM950 (Turtle Bay Divers where I used to teach) and you'll have to allocate enough for your accommodation, transport and food for the trip.
The more exotic the destination, the more you'd need to set aside. Usually your Instructor or your Dive Center will work out this package for you.
Take into consideration, if you have friends that sign up with you, the cost of the trip gets cheaper as the Dive Center or Instructor gets better rates the bigger the group they book hotels, food and accommodations for.
