About the Course

If you’re new to boat diving or want to learn more about diving from different types of boats, enroll in the PADI® Boat Diver course. 

During two dives with an instructor you’ll learn nautical terminology, boat diving etiquette and may practice using lines and/or deploy a surface marker buoy (SMB).

Take This Course If You Want to
  • Learn boat diving etiquette
  • Understand boat terminology
Learn How to
  • Pack for a boat trip
  • Properly stow your gear
  • Manage seasickness

Why Take the PADI Boat Diver Course?

If you love to travel, the PADI Boat Diver Specialty course will prepare you to dive from small inflatables all the way up to large liveaboards. Learn how to enter and exit the water, use current lines and manage seasickness.

The PADI Difference

For over 50 years, PADI has undeniably been the Way the World Learns to Dive®, setting the standard for the highest quality dive training, underwater safety and conservation initiatives while evolving the sport of diving into a passionate lifestyle.

30,000,000+

(and counting) PADI certified divers to date!

6,600

PADI dive centers and resorts across the globe

128,000

PADI Professional members worldwide

More Info

 
Gifting and Sharing Courses

Want to share the experience or give the gift of endless adventure? You can now purchase PADI eLearning® and share it with a recipient of your choice! Whether you are purchasing the course as a gift or need to assign it to family members – it’s super easy.

  1. Purchase an eLearning course.
  2. Follow the link in your confirmation email or sign into your account to go to your Dashboard.
  3. From your Dashboard go to 'Manage Your Courses' section.
  4. Select the course you'd like to gift and enter the email of the gift recipient.
  5. The recipient will receive an email to start the eLearning course.
 
Medical Requirements

Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.

Avoid disappointment, download and review the Diver Medical form to ensure you won’t need a physician’s approval to dive before enrolling in a scuba course. Instructors, divemasters and dive shop staff are not physicians and should not be asked for medical advice; only medical professionals can give medical clearance to dive.

If you (or your physician) have questions about medical fitness to dive, contact the experts at Divers Alert Network (DAN).

 
Prerequisites & Minimum Age

Minimum Age: 10

Course prerequisites: (Jr.) Open Water Diver or equivalent entry-level certification

 
Choosing a Dive Shop

Choosing a Dive Shop
You can complete this course locally or while travelling. 

Choose a dive shop close to home to:

  • Support your local diving community
  • Meet dive buddies in your local area
  • Learn about your local ecosystem
 
Other Costs & Equipment

This course requires both knowledge development and inwater training for certification. When you purchase PADI eLearning from our website, the cost covers the knowledge development portion only.

There is an additional cost to complete your certification with a PADI Instructor. The cost depends on class size, environment, and whether or not you need to rent equipment. Contact a PADI Dive Center or Resort for more information and pricing. 

In addition to basic scuba gear, you will need a surface signaling device, such as an inflatable signal tube also known as a surface marker buoy or SMB. A spare parts kit is also a good idea. Your PADI Instructor or local dive center staff may suggest additional equipment depending on where your boat diving adventures take you.

 
Time Commitment

PADI eLearning: 2-4 hours

Entire course: 1-2 days

 
Available Languages
English
 
System Requirements

PADI’s online courses are designed to work on the browsers listed below. For the best experience, make sure your browser is up-to-date.

Chrome
Safari
Edge
Firefox

If you plan to be somewhere without internet access, use the PADI Training app to download course content and study offline. Content can be downloaded in small sections with a total file size of approximately 182 MB. When you get back online, upload your progress so you can resume your training right where you left off. 

The PADI Training app is available for Android™ and Apple® iOS devices. For the ideal experience, devices should be no more than three models old and running with the most current OS (operating system).

 
After this course

The first dive of your Boat Diver Specialty course may count toward your Advanced Open Water Diver certification – ask your instructor about earning credit.

Every PADI Specialty certification you earn gets you one step closer to becoming a Master Scuba Diver™. This elite rating is achieved by only two percent of divers.

More Courses

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Peak Performance Buoyancy
Find the perfect balance: Dive with less weight, and improve your buoyancy control and air consumption.
Continuing-Education
Night Diver
See the underwater world after sundown and learn how to navigate, ascend and descend, and use your dive light to communicate at night.
Continuing-Education
Underwater Navigator
Find the boat without surfacing, learn how to use a diving compass, and improve your navigation and underwater observation skills.