When it comes to scuba diving in your upcoming vacation it can be exciting to imagine beforehand all the amazing things you’ll get to see underwater, we take you on unforgettable experiences where you get to witness the majestic marine life that the Caribbean Sea has to offer. Nonetheless, you still have to come fully prepared before diving in, there is so much information out there and most likely the last thing you want to do is spend your time outside the water studying the manuals.
Don’t worry too much about it, you can learn everything you need to know before jumping into the crystal clear waters. And when you’re ready to dive, we’ll show you the impressive underwater world of the Riviera Maya.
The PADI eLearning program is a great place to begin, you can prepare from the comfort of your own home before your next vacation! This program is part of a three-module course where you’ll be able to get certified for The PADI Open Water Course, by the end of it you’ll be able to dive autonomously with a certified buddy to a depth of a maximum of 60ft (18 m)!
1. Where to start?
Imagine you travel to the beautiful Caribbean beaches of Mexico, ready to dive in, and at that moment the instructors inform you that before getting into the water you have to complete a 5-chapter long course.
A vacation is meant to be enjoyed, you can prepare beforehand with the PADI eLearning program. This great option allows you to study at your own pace before getting to your diving destination.
This method of training for The PADI Open Water course costs 319 USD, and it includes the PADI certification fees, all necessary diving gear during the time of your course, and all the training. You’ll have to access separately to the training materials (make sure to register using our shop number S22400).
The eLearning program consists of a 5-chapter course, each with a knowledge review that must be completed before moving on to the next one. To finish, you have to complete an online test.
Once you're done with your course and you get to our diving center, you have to do a quick review which contains 25 multiple-choice questions. This will be the only “written” part of the course.
From the moment you register for your course, we’ll have access to all your progress, this will let us know that you are ready to continue with your training and certification!
Let´s dive into the adventure together
2. Other options
Manual
You can choose to complete the theoretical part of your course with a traditional book manual, which you’ll receive upon your arrival at our diving center in Akumal. With this method also comes added time after your diving practices so that we can do the knowledge reviews of the 5 chapters you studied and allow you to do a final exam before getting your certification.
The price for getting your certification by using the book method is 485 USD, this price includes all learning materials, PADI certification fees, all necessary diving gear during your course, and
Referral
This is a good method to get to know the diving centers in your city, find your nearest PADI center and begin training with them! You can complete the theoretical part with your eLearning or study by the manual. If you come from a cold climate, you can do the confined water practice in a pool with your local diving center so that after, you get to do your open water dives in the warm Caribbean waters.
This option of completing your certification can cost from 200 to 230 USD depending on the method you choose for completing the theory.
3. Dive In
If you come to us with your eLearning program all done, we can solely focus on the underwater part of your course!
Depending on your eLearning outcome, we can follow with the confined water portion (pool-like conditions). You’ll mostly focus on practicing underwater skills, you’ll be in limited waters meaning that you can easily reach the surface if needed.
Here you’ll learn and practice different abilities to guarantee that as a new diver you’ll feel safe and confident with your diving skills. We’ll teach you how to clean your mask underwater, control and improve your diving, to do air checks and different safety drills that guarantee you are safe during your training (all of our training methods follow the PADI standard training and are internationally approved).
4. Open water
Ready to dive into the ocean?
Your certified PADI program includes 4 dives in the wonderful reefs of Akumal, where you’ll apply the abilities previously learned, all under the supervision of one of our multilingual PADI instructors, in Blue Experience we can teach your course in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian or Portuguese. By the end of this course, once you’ve picked up on all the skills necessary, we can of course plan more dives together so you gain experience and can freely enjoy the majestic underwater world of the Riviera Maya!
Remember that this certificate allows you to dive with a certified dive buddy to a maximum depth of 60ft (18 m) and it’s valid worldwide.
5. What else can you do with this certification?
Here is one tour you can take once you’ve gotten your PADI open water certification and are ready to dive in!
Cozumel diving tour | Blue Experience
Cozumel is an Island in the Caribbean Sea just opposite the city of Playa del Carmen. We cross over to the Island by ferry where get on our way to the first dive site. This tour is a full-day trip to the reefs of Cozumel, where you’ll experience something completely different from the usual dives. The Cozumel reefs can have astonishing deep walls dropping to 200 ft (60.96 m), there is also the chance for encounters with different types of marine life!
6. Cenotes too?
The town of Akumal is not all white sand and warm waters, it is also blessed with magical Cenotes within a short 10-30 min car ride, cenotes are these underground river and cave systems that Mayans considered sacred places.
Good news! All certified divers have the chance to do these incredible Cenote diving tours. Once you reach your tenth logged dive and you feel comfortable with your buoyancy and air consumption, Cenotes will be waiting for you.
All cenote tours are always strictly controlled and accompanied by a fully qualified full cave diver, there are no narrow passages to squeeze through. Most spaces are big and open and not that far from the natural lighting.
There’s a special calm and serenity that comes with diving into these crystal clear waters and discovering the mythical underwater world of the cenotes. Don’t miss out on this experience!
7. If you want to go further…
If you are looking to increase your knowledge and diving skills, then the Advanced Open Water is your next big step! This advanced course allows you to dive 100 ft (30 m), it includes 5 adventure dives, each one focussing on an individual specialty. Two of them a deep dive and an underwater navigation dive are mandatory, after which you get to choose 3 other dives from a long list of PADI adventure dives.
You’ll witness marine life and dive sites you couldn’t see before. This is the step where you learn how to think and act like a diver! Plus, enjoy other adventures like diving through a shipwreck in Puerto Morelos, bull shark dives & deeper more complex Cenotes at 90ft (27.43 m) and live the submarine sea closer than ever.
Thanks for reading through!
As you now know, the Open Water certification is the way to get started in the underwater world of the Riviera Maya, and you can start preparing from home, so don’t miss out on getting your certification before your next vacation!
We’ll be more than happy to dive into the adventure together!
