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Advanced Open Water Diver is the usual next step after Open Water Diver. PADI structures it as five Adventure Dives in open water, not a classroom-heavy repeat of your first course. You build experience by actually diving: deeper, navigating, and trying three more specialties you and your instructor choose.
Two dives are fixed. Every PADI Advanced Open Water course includes a Deep dive below normal Open Water limits and an Underwater Navigation dive. The other three might be night diving, peak performance buoyancy, enriched air, drysuit, photography or whatever the centre and conditions allow.
Most people finish in two to three days after eLearning at home. There is no big final exam. Your instructor watches how you plan, brief and execute each dive. When you qualify, certified divers aged 15 and over may dive to 30 metres with a buddy in conditions similar to their training.
Syllabus
What is enables
Prerequisites
Duration
Assessment
- Deep Adventure Dive: Planning and executing a dive below Open Water depth limits with your instructor. You practise managing gas, narcosis awareness and ascent discipline at depth you have not used before.
- Underwater Navigation: Natural navigation cues plus compass work underwater. Finding your way back matters more when the site is bigger or visibility drops.
- Three elective Adventure Dives: Chosen with your instructor from options such as Night, Dry Suit, Enriched Air Nitrox, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Digital Underwater Photography, Wreck, Drift or others the centre offers.
- Dive planning per adventure: Briefings, objectives and debriefs for each dive type rather than one generic skill list repeated five times.
- Specialty credit: Understanding how an Adventure Dive can count toward a full specialty course if you want to go deeper on that topic later.
- Dive with a certified buddy to a maximum depth of 30 metres once certified at age 15 or older.
- Junior Advanced Open Water divers aged 12 to 14 may dive to 21 metres with appropriate supervision limits until they upgrade.
- Broader recreational experience across deep diving, navigation and three additional specialty areas.
- Each Adventure Dive may credit toward the corresponding PADI specialty certification if you complete that full specialty later.
- Stronger foundation for Rescue Diver, specialty courses and more demanding dive sites within recreational limits.
- Prior certificate: PADI Open Water Diver, Junior Open Water Diver, or qualifying entry-level certification from another agency. Leave a comment when you book if your card is not PADI.
- Age: 12 years or older for PADI Advanced Open Water. Divers aged 12 to 14 earn Junior Advanced Open Water with a 21 metre depth limit until they upgrade at 15. PADI allows divers aged 10 to 11 to earn Junior Adventure Diver first and complete Advanced Open Water from age 12.
- Health: Medically fit to dive. Update your medical questionnaire if anything has changed since Open Water.
- Experience: You do not need dozens of logged dives, but you should be comfortable with basic Open Water skills. If your last dive was years ago, consider ReActivate or a few fun dives first.
PADI eLearning is typically six to eight hours at home. The full course usually takes two to three days of diving once theory is done.Knowledge development: eLearning covers topics for each Adventure Dive. Finish before you meet your instructor so dive days stay in the water.Five Adventure Dives: All in open water with your instructor. Centres may spread these across a weekend or a longer holiday block depending on weather and boat access.Elective dives: Three dives chosen with your instructor from available specialties. Not every option runs at every site.Do not assume all five dives happen back-to-back. Rough seas or poor visibility may reorder the schedule.
Advanced Open Water is assessed in the water through five Adventure Dives. There is no separate classroom final exam.
- eLearning: Knowledge reviews completed for each adventure topic. Your instructor discusses anything unclear before the matching dive.
- Deep and Navigation: Both required dives must meet PADI performance requirements before certification.
- Electives: Three additional Adventure Dives signed off when you demonstrate the skills and awareness for each dive type.
- Practical focus: Buoyancy, situational awareness and dive execution matter more than memorising facts under exam conditions.
Certification FAQs
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It is the next recreational certification after Open Water Diver. You complete five instructor-supervised Adventure Dives in open water, including mandatory Deep and Underwater Navigation dives plus three electives.
It is experience-focused: you learn by diving different types of dives rather than sitting through another full classroom course.
You need Open Water certification, not a thick logbook. Many students take Advanced Open Water soon after their first certification.
You should be comfortable with mask clearing, buoyancy and buddy procedures. If you are rusty, refresh before you start.
PADI requires a Deep Adventure Dive and an Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive. You and your instructor choose the other three from specialties the centre can offer locally.
Leave a comment when you book if you hope to do a specific elective such as night or drysuit. Availability depends on site and season.
eLearning is typically six to eight hours at home. In-water training usually spans two to three days for the five Adventure Dives.
Weather, boats and elective choice can stretch the schedule. Build a buffer day on holiday if you can.
No formal sit-down final exam. You complete eLearning knowledge reviews and your instructor briefs each dive topic before you enter the water.
Assessment is how you perform on the five Adventure Dives: planning, skills and awareness under real conditions.
Certified Advanced Open Water divers aged 15 and over may dive to 30 metres with a buddy in conditions similar to their training. Junior Advanced Open Water divers aged 12 to 14 are limited to 21 metres until they upgrade at 15.
Always dive within your training, experience and comfort, regardless of the card in your wallet.
Yes. Each Adventure Dive may credit toward the matching PADI specialty certification if you complete the full specialty course later. Your instructor or centre confirms how credit works for the specialties you choose.
It is a useful way to sample topics before committing to a full specialty such as Deep Diver or Night Diver.
Standard open water kit for most dives. Electives may need extras: a torch for night diving, a compass for navigation, or drysuit hire for cold water.
Centres usually list what is included. Leave a comment when you book if you are unsure about specialty gear.
Twelve years old for PADI Advanced Open Water. Divers aged 10 to 11 may earn Junior Adventure Diver and complete Advanced Open Water from age 12.
Junior depth limits apply until 15. Ask your centre about supervision rules for teenage divers.
Many divers choose specialty courses, Rescue Diver, or simply dive more often with extra depth and experience.
Advanced Open Water is not the end of training. It is the point where recreational diving opens up beyond entry-level sites.
adventuro lists PADI centres running Advanced Open Water on coasts, quarries and holiday destinations. Compare elective options, boat access and whether eLearning is included.
Completing Advanced abroad and logging dives at home is common. PADI standards travel with the card.
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