Course overview

Earn the world's most popular diving certification with the PADI Open Water Diver course in Key Largo, set in the warm, clear, calm waters of the Florida Keys. Across confined-water sessions and four open-water dives on the protected reefs of John Pennekamp, you learn every core scuba skill and finish certified to dive to 18 metres anywhere in the world. It's the ideal place to begin a lifetime of diving.

What you’ll learn

• Assemble, use and care for scuba equipment
• Master all essential underwater skills
• Equalise, clear your mask and recover the regulator
• Control buoyancy and conserve air
• Plan dives with tables or a computer
• Handle common problems and dive safely with a buddy

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 10 (Junior Open Water 10-14)
• No prior certification required
• Able to swim and float comfortably
• Complete a diver medical questionnaire

What's included · What's not

Probability of sightings · month-by-month

What you're likely to see each month, based on historic operator logs.

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1
   Theory and confined water

   Knowledge development sections and the first confined-water skill sessions in sheltered water.
2. Day2
   Confined-water skills

   Complete the remaining confined-water dives and the final exam.
3. Day3
   First open-water dives

   Open-water training dives one and two on a shallow Pennekamp reef such as Molasses Reef.
4. Day4
   Final dives and certification

   Open-water dives three and four, skill assessment and certification.

Verified through iDive

Every partner school in the iDive network is vetted on safety, instructor credentials, equipment standards and student feedback. Talk to a iDive dive pro on WhatsApp for current availability and reviews specific to Key Largo.

Frequently asked questions