Open Water Diver | East Coast Scuba & Watersports

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PADI Open Water Course

Earn your scuba diving certification with the PADI Open Water Diver course. The world’s most popular and widely recognized scuba course!

Course Details

Duration: Approx 4 days - 5 days* (Extra time for Drysuit course or practice time)

Requirements: Completed Dive Medical Form, completed e-learning record, towel, swimsuit, mask, fin and snorkel

Requirements for certification: 2 days in confined water for 5 or 6 Confined Water sessions (number varies if completing drysuit course), 2 days at the ocean for 4 Open Water Dives. Once completed you'll be qualified to a max of 60ft or max depth reached on course.

Supplied Items: full kit, without mask & snorkel*

*mask and snorkel available for rent

East Coast Scuba & Watersports, Bedford, Nova Scotia (Halifax) is here to introduce divers to the underwater world, our goal is to ensure you have fun, learn and are comfortable in the water. If you’ve always wanted to take scuba diving lessons, experience unparalleled adventure and see the world beneath the waves, this is where it starts. Millions of people have learned to scuba dive and gone on to discover the wonders of the aquatic world through this course.

Prerequisites: To enroll in a PADI Open Water Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course

10 years old or older.
You need adequate swimming skills
Need to be in good physical health (See attached PDF medical form)
No prior experience with scuba diving is required.

Our Open Water Course is divided into 3 parts:

Knowledge Development (Elearning or Classroom)
Skill Development: Short classroom session to complete Quick Review and 5 Confined Water Dives
Open Water Dives in the Ocean over two days (4 or 5 dives)

What is icluded in our course cost?
Elearning, use of full scuba equipment (weight, tank, regulator, BCD, exposure protection) not inclused in our course fees is Mask/Snorkel.

We cap class sizes to no more than 6 students, this allows more one on one time with the PADI Instructor/Dive Master.

We offer courses all year round. We can offer one on one or semi-private or private courses. We conduct referral only courses as well (Pool/Ocean).

Email or call us if you don't see a date that works for you, East Coast Scuba & Watersports is here to grow the dive community. Stop by the shop at 1440 Bedford Hwy, Bedford, Nova Scotia to ask us more about the course!

If you don't see dates in this table that work for you, just email us we have max amount of flex!!!

Referral Option:

We always recommend completing your full course here but if that is not an option East Coast Scuba & Watersports can certainly assist you.

Its as easy as 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Knowledge Development (complete your elearning thru us)
Step 2: Confined Water Training
Step 3: Referral Package. Let us know the PADI Dive shop you're heading to and we will send them the following documents (Referral cover letter, elearning record, medical, confined water training document).

Step 1: Elearning

Step 2: Quick Review/ Equipment Sizing

Step 3: Confined Water Session

Step 4: Open Water Ocean with Drysuit

Prior to step 3 you'll drop by the shop to be sized for your equipment and complete a quick knowledge review.

You'll bring your completed:

Medical and Non-Agency Liability Forms
Elearning Forms

Time to head on over to the pool for skill development and learn more about the life support equipment needed for diving.

You'll complete:

Scuba equipment orientation.
Scuba skills development and practice (in wetsuit and drysuit)
5 confined water dives
Drysuit Orientation

Ocean certifiaction dives over two days of diving! You will demonstrate to your instructor the skills you've developed in the pool in an ocean enviroment!

You'll complete

Open water dives with your instructor.

You'll achive:

PADI Certification upon successful course completion

Once you've made a deposit for your course, we will register you with PADI and send you an online code via email.

PADI's academic e-learning component is completed by you in your own time, usually taking approx. 8 to15 hours of dedicated time. We monitor your progress and we can always chat if you run across something that you need explained in a different way

You'll complete:

Medical and Non-Agency Liability Forms
Open Water Diver Elearning with all Knowledge Development Session
Online Quizes, Exam and Optional Tables/ERDP Section
You'll always be able to access your PADI Open Water Diver Elearning Materials even after completing your course.

Diver Medical Form

The World Recreational Scuba Training Council/DAN (Diver Alert Network) and Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society worked together to produce the Diver Medical form.

Before any training can take place divers are required to fill out this Diver Medical Form. Please read thoroughly and answer honestly. If you can answer "Yes" to question 3, 5, or 10, OR any question on page 2, then you are required to obtain a physician's release on this form.

Diver Medical Form

Training Refund Policy

To sign up for a course a 50% non-refundable deposit is required at time of booking. Elearning codes transferred to another student if the e-learning code has not been sent.

Rescheduling Fee: $150 rescheduling fee for missed courses or last minute changes, within 1 week of the start date. This fee must be paid before rescheduling to the next course date.