Open Water Certification - Tropical Traveler
Your First Step Toward the Underwater World. Begin your certification with us then complete your open water skills at any PADI shop in the world.
Availability: Contact us for booking information
We believe every customer deserves to be treated fairly. That includes among many other things, being given the information required to make a fully informed decision about your investment in dive training. We commit to giving you our best estimate of all your expenses before you sign up for one of our courses. There should be no surprises, hidden fees or additional charges.
This section is intended to help you ask the right questions when comparing prices. Here are some examples you may wont to consider and the answer you would get from SOS Diving.
The PADI Open Water Diver (OWD) course includes three sections: knowledge development, confined water dives and open water dives. The knowledge development portion includes eLearning which covers all the theoretical background material, safe practices and an introduction to the standard equipment used in scuba diving.
The confined water portion is focused on learning and mastering the skills required for safe and enjoyable diving.
Finally, the open water portion is focused on you demonstrating your mastery of the skills in the ocean, a lake or a quarry. This last portion is often referred to as check-out dives.
The advertised price for the entire course is $850, which includes the knowledge development, confined water and open water sections. We call the full course offering “The Vacation Maximizer Package” because it enables you to arrive at your destination with the world’s most recognized and respected certification card. You can dive a beautiful reef the day you arrive at your location!
Some guests prefer to complete the check-out dives during a vacation to a tropical location. In this case, we offer our “Tropical Traveler Package,” which includes the first two portions and we give you a referral which you can take to almost any dive shop in the world to finish your check out dives. This option costs $650. We can not guarantee a cost at the location where you’ll finish your certification, but we’re happy to reach out to the shop ahead of time and get you an estimate.
Other guests may not have plans for travel and wish to stay local. To accommodate these guests, we offer “The Polar Bear Club” which gets you your full certification, as well as teaches you to use a dry suit. This option costs $1,050.
If you are a veteran, first responder, or member of Merritt Clubs, we will give you a 10% discount off any package.
Yes! SOS Diving includes all expected costs in our upfront pricing. Many shops list eLearning as a separate charge which is normally $220.
Nothing! SOS Diving includes all expected costs in our upfront pricing. While we believe you will eventually want to own your own gear, we provide everything you need except a bathing suit. We also let you try different gear before you purchase anything so that you end up with gear you will use for years to come.
Many shops require you to purchase a mask, snorkel, fins, and sometimes dive boots before you get in the water. This can add up to $300 or more.
Nothing! SOS Diving includes all expected costs in our upfront pricing. While we believe you will eventually want to own your own gear, we provide everything you need except a bathing suit. We also let you try different gear before you purchase anything so that you end up with gear you will use for years to come.
Many shops require you to purchase a mask, snorkel, fins, and sometimes dive boots before you get in the water. This can add up to $300 or more.
Again, nothing! Like most shops, we include the cost of using our gear in the price of the course.
However, some shops charge gear rental fees which can add up to $50 or $100 over the length of the course.
At SOS Diving, we plan for 3 pool sessions, each 3 hours long, to complete the confined water sessions. The pool is in our facility, and the price of admission is included.
Some shops, but not many, require students to pay admission fees for pool sessions. These fees add about $50 to the total cost of certification.
At SOS Diving, we allow an extra pool session at no additional charge. However almost all of our students finish in the planned sessions. Many shops charge additional fees for extra sessions.
At SOS Diving, we plan for 2 open water sessions, each 4 hours long to complete the open water session. We use a quarry which is about an hour west of our shop and the price of admission is included.
Most shops require the students to pay admission fees for pool sessions. These fees are usually about $40-$50 per day for two days. Plus, many shops use quarries that are 3 or 4 hours away, requiring an overnight hotel expense as well.
At SOS Diving, like most shops, we include tank fills with our classes.
