The PADI Open Water Diver course is flexible and performance based, which means that Indigo Elite Divers can offer a wide variety of schedules, organised according to how fast you progress. It’s possible to complete your confined and open water dives in three or four days by completing the knowledge development portion via PADI eLearning, or other home study options offered by your us.

Your PADI Instructor will focus on helping you become a confident and comfortable diver, not on how long it takes. You earn your certification based on demonstrating you know what you need to know and can do what you need to do. This means that you progress at your own pace – faster or slower depending upon the time you need   to become a competent scuba diver.

Compared with other popular adventure sports and outdoor activities, learning to scuba dive isn’t expensive. For example, you can expect to pay about the same as you would for:

• a full day of surfing lessons.
• a weekend of rock climbing lessons.
• a weekend of kayaking lessons.
• a weekend of fly-fishing lessons.
• about three hours of private golf lessons.
• about three hours of private water skiing lessons.
• one amazing night out at the pub!

  Learning to scuba dive is a great value when you consider that you learn to dive under the guidance and attention of a highly trained, experienced professional – your PADI Instructor. What’s more, you receive a certification to scuba dive at the end of a PADI Open Water Diver course (few other activities can offer that).

If you have a passion for excitement and adventure, chances are you can become an avid PADI Diver. You'll also want to keep in mind these requirements:

The minimum age is 10 years old (in most areas). Student divers who are younger than 15 earn the PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, which they may upgrade to PADI Open Water Diver certification upon reaching 15. Children under the age of 13 require parent or guardian permission to register for PADI eLearning. and require a parent or guardian to be present during all activities (not under water).

All student divers complete a brief scuba medical questionnaire that asks about medical conditions that could be a problem while diving. If none of these apply, sign the form and you’re ready to start. If any of these apply to you, your doctor must, as a safety precaution, assess the condition as it relates to diving and sign a medical form that confirms you’re fit to dive. Download the scuba medical questionnaire.

Some swimming ability is required. You need to have basic swim skills and be able to comfortably maintain yourself in the water. Your PADI Instructor will assess this by having you:

• Swim 200 metres/yards (or 300 metres/yards in mask, fins and snorkel). There is no time limit for this, and you may use any swimming strokes you want.
• Float and tread water for 10 minutes, again using any methods you want.

Any individual who can meet the performance requirements of the course qualifies for certification. There are many adaptive techniques that allow individuals with physical challenges to meet these requirements. People with paraplegia, amputations and other challenges commonly earn the PADI Open Water Diver certification. Even individuals with more significant physical challenges participate in diving.

You can dive practically anywhere there’s water – a swimming pool, the ocean and all points in between, including quarries, lakes, rivers, springs or even aquariums. Where you can scuba dive is determined by your:

• Experience level
• Dive site access and conditions
• Interests

For example, if you’ve just finished your PADI Open Water Diver course, you probably shouldn’t dive under Antarctic ice on your next dive. However, don’t limit yourself. Some of the best diving is closer than you think.

Your local dive site can be anything from a purpose-built site, like a large aquarium, or a more natural site like Belize’s Blue Hole or Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It may be a manmade reservoir or a fossil-filled river. It’s not always about great visibility because what you see is more important than how far you see.

The only truly important thing about where you dive is that you have the training and experience for diving there, and that you have a dive buddy to go with you.