If you are new to diving, the best certification to start with is the PADI Open Water Diver. It is the world's most popular scuba course for good reason: it takes you from zero experience to a globally recognized certification that never expires, in just three to four days. Along the way you learn everything you need to plan and make safe dives to 18 meters with a buddy. If you want to test the water first, a Discover Scuba minicourse is the gentle entry point before you commit.
Try it first with Discover Scuba
If you are not sure diving is for you, start with a Discover Scuba experience. In a single guided session, from age 10, you breathe underwater for the first time and explore a shallow reef beside an instructor, with no certification required.
It is the perfect way to feel the magic before deciding to take the full course.
Why Open Water is the right start
Open Water Diver is the true beginning of a diving life. It is internationally recognized, so you can dive and rent gear anywhere in the world, and it never expires.
The course combines eLearning theory, confined-water practice and four open-water dives, teaching buoyancy, safety and confidence at a relaxed, beginner-friendly pace.
What you need to begin
To start Open Water you should be at least 10 years old, able to swim, and in reasonable health. You complete a short medical questionnaire beforehand, and no prior experience is required.
Children aged 10 to 14 earn a Junior Open Water certification with a few depth limits that lift as they grow. That is really all it takes.
What comes after Open Water
Open Water is a beginning, not an end. Once certified, most divers move on to the Advanced Open Water course, adding five adventure dives that extend your range to 30 meters and let you sample specialties like deep, night and navigation.
From there the path is yours: focused specialties in photography or wreck diving, the confidence-building Rescue Diver course, or simply logging more dives around the world. The point is that your first certification opens a lifetime of exploring, at whatever pace suits you.
Start your diving life at Isla Fuerte
There is no better classroom than Isla Fuerte, one of Colombia's best-kept dive secrets. Warm 27 to 29 degree water, gentle beginner reefs like Rosa Vieja and El Museo, small groups and certified instructors make your first steps calm and joyful.
Discover Scuba from age 10, or a full Open Water in three to four days, your certification never expires. See our courses and dives and begin here.
