Continue Your Adventure
Reach new depths and take your diving to the next level with peak performance buoyancy, improved underwater navigation and extended bottom times.
Expand Your Horizons
Your Open Water Diver certification introduced you to a new realm of exploration and made you keenly aware that you've only just scratched the surface of the underwater world. Continue your scuba journey with The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course.
Experience new adventures with a PADI Instructor by your side. Fine-tune your buoyancy skills, build confidence in your navigation abilities, and try new activities like wreck diving, night diving or underwater videography. An Advanced Open Water Diver certification also opens the door to dive sites deeper than 18m/60ft.
Find Your Next Course
Dive deeper into blue planet exploration with advanced dive skills and specialty scuba certifications. Whether you want to expand your dive knowledge or experience a new scuba specialty, our courses will prepare you for underwater adventure.
- Must-Haves
- Safety Focus
- Special Interests
- Advanced Skills
- Cold Water
- Conservation
- Photography
- Discovery
- Freediving
- Technical Diving
Learn more about PADI Specialty courses
Learn more about freediving or check out the available courses.
Learn more about tec diving or check out the available courses.
Diving is More Fun Together
Open the door to adventure for your family and friends. Share everything they need to know about becoming PADI® Open Water Diver-or gift the eLearning course to them! Live Unfiltered.
Maintain Your Diver Status and Connect With Fellow Divers!
If you’re a diver, you’re in! PADI Club™ not only keeps you connected to the world’s largest dive community, but it’s a resource you can use to maintain your dive skills and become a more competent and prepared diver. Club is your place to Meetup with divers, ask Celebrity Speakers your questions, and chart your next dive adventure. Many divers are already doing this, are you?
Stay connected and keep an active diver status with free online courses, 20% off select PADI eLearning courses + invites to exclusive events, dive travel, Meetups, and more!
Need a quick refresher?
Haven’t been diving lately and want a quick scuba refresher? PADI ReActivate is the perfect way to update your dive skills and knowledge from the PADI Open Water Diver course before jumping back into the water.
Whether you want a few reminders or need to go over the basics, ReActivate ensures you’re prepared for your next PADI course or diving holiday. Brush up on scuba fundamentals using the interactive online program, then meet up with a PADI Professional to review your in-water skills.
Get ReActivate for free when you join PADI Club.
PADI Master Scuba Diver™
Fewer than two percent of divers ever become Master Scuba Divers. The Master Scuba Diver rating denotes significant experience and expertise, some call it “the black belt of diving.
Start Your Scuba Career
Continuing your dive education allows you to explore new places and deepen your knowledge of the ocean. Along the way, you may discover a passion for sharing your experiences and knowledge with others.
If you like helping people and want a meaningful job that supports ocean conservation, becoming a PADI Divemaster is the first step.
More Information
Your questions, answered
Your PADI certification does not expire. Enrolling in PADI’s scuba refresher course (ReActivate) is recommended if you haven’t been diving in awhile, but not mandatory. Dive shops appreciate seeing a recent ReActivated date on your certification card because it means you’re ready to dive in.
Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and more than a dozen of PADI’s most popular specialty courses are available online. You can start your training at home and finish with a dive shop near you, or on vacation. The choice is up to you.
Earning a certification while traveling is a great way to have an authentic local diving experience. Ask the local dive center or resort what their destination is known for (drift, wreck, night, etc.) and if they offer any distinctive specialties.
Or, show your support for your local diving community by earning a certification close to home. Learn about your local ecosystems by taking an Underwater Naturalist or Fish Identification course, or prepare for your next trip by taking PADI’s most popular specialty - Enriched Air Nitrox.
More than 75 percent of new divers say they want to improve their scuba skills by taking additional classes, but fewer than 40 percent ever do so. When asked why, many say, “I didn’t feel ready.”
What these divers don’t realize is, the Advanced Open Water Diver course is designed to help new divers improve their skills and build confidence. In this course, you’ll get better at the skills you learned in your Open Water Diver course as you try new diving experiences (photography, wreck diving, etc.) with a helpful instructor by your side. If the word “advanced” seems intimidating, think of it as a specialty course sampler instead.
Speaking of specialties, many new divers get a lot out of the Peak Performance Buoyancy class and the Underwater Navigator course. You could try one or both of these specialties first, and earn credit towards your Advanced Open Water certification along the way. Ask your PADI Instructor for more information.
Any certified diver who would like to refresh their scuba skills before enrolling in a class or taking a dive trip should ReActivate. The online program is completely personalized. You’ll move quickly through familiar concepts you understand well and dive deeper into things you may have forgotten.
After reviewing scuba fundamentals online, schedule an in-water session with a PADI Professional who will help you brush up your underwater skills and answer any questions you have. Divers who complete both the online knowledge review and in-water skill refresher receive a replacement certification card with a ReActivated date on it.