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The course involves completing five adventure dives over a few days. Two dives are mandatory: a deep dive that takes you beyond 18 metres, and an underwater navigation dive where you'll learn to orient yourself using a compass and natural references. These dives build your ability to manage deeper dives safely and navigate confidently underwater.
For the remaining three dives, you can choose from several specialty options, including night diving, wreck diving, peak performance buoyancy, search and recovery, or underwater photography. Each dive focuses on different techniques and challenges, giving you hands-on experience and helping you decide if you want to pursue further specialty training. Throughout the course, an experienced instructor will guide you, ensuring safety and providing tailored feedback to improve your skills.
Theory study is completed online through PADI eLearning, allowing you to learn at your own pace before practical sessions begin. Practical dives take place at carefully selected UK dive sites, chosen for their suitability to training and varying conditions.
Training takes place primarily at Vobster Quay, a well-equipped inland dive centre located in Somerset. The site offers controlled conditions ideal for training alongside access to deeper water suitable for advanced dives.
Additional dives occur at nearby UK coastal locations, providing a variety of environments and challenges to enhance your diving experience. The mix of inland and coastal sites gives a well-rounded range of underwater settings.
Participants must be at least 12 years old and hold a PADI Open Water Diver certification or an equivalent qualification from another recognised diving organisation. Good general health is essential, and some medical conditions may require a doctor’s approval before diving. It is important to be reasonably fit and comfortable in water to complete the course safely.
The training team consists of qualified PADI instructors with extensive experience in teaching divers at all levels. Their professional approach focuses on building confidence and skills in a supportive environment. The flexible course options make it easy to fit training around your schedule, whether you prefer weekdays or weekends.
This course benefits from access to a variety of dive sites selected for their safety and training suitability. The mix of inland and coastal locations provides diverse experiences, ensuring you develop the skills needed for different underwater conditions. The PADI certification you earn is internationally recognised and respected, opening doors to diving worldwide.
The Open Water Diver course introduces the basics of scuba diving, focusing on safe entry-level skills such as equipment use, basic underwater communication, and controlled buoyancy. The Advanced Open Water Diver course builds on these fundamentals by introducing deeper dives and more specialised skills like underwater navigation and night diving, offering a broader range of diving experiences.
While the Open Water course prepares you for recreational diving in familiar, shallow environments, the Advanced course is designed to increase your confidence and ability in more challenging conditions. It also helps you develop skills needed for specialty courses and deeper dive sites.
The course duration varies depending on your availability and how quickly you complete the online theory and practical dives. Typically, you can expect to spend around two to three days completing the five required dives once you have finished the eLearning portion.
The flexible scheduling options allow you to complete the course over consecutive days or spread it out across weekends or weekdays to fit your personal timetable. The online theory can be done at your own pace before practical sessions begin.
Basic scuba equipment such as a mask, snorkel, fins, regulator, buoyancy control device (BCD), wetsuit, and tanks are usually provided as part of the course. This means you won’t need to purchase your own gear to get started.
However, if you have your own personal equipment, you are welcome to bring it. Owning your own mask and snorkel can improve comfort and fit, but it’s not a requirement. Detailed advice on equipment use and maintenance is part of the course instruction.
After completing the mandatory deep and underwater navigation dives, you have the option to select three specialty dives from options like night diving, wreck diving, peak performance buoyancy, search and recovery, or underwater photography. Each speciality provides unique skills and experiences to expand your diving knowledge.
Your instructor will discuss which specialties suit your interests and local dive conditions. These specialty dives offer practical training that can help you decide if you want to pursue further specialist certifications in the future.
Participants must be in good general health and comfortable in water. Certain medical conditions, such as respiratory or cardiovascular issues, recent surgery, or medications affecting balance or consciousness, may require written approval from a doctor before you can dive.
A medical questionnaire is typically completed before the course starts to assess fitness to dive. It’s important to disclose any health issues honestly to ensure your safety during training and dives.
Yes, upon successful completion, you will receive the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification. This qualification is widely recognised by dive centres and operators around the world, allowing you to dive independently at greater depths than the Open Water certification permits.
The certification demonstrates your ability to handle more complex dives and underwater navigation, making it a valuable step if you plan to dive regularly or pursue professional dive training.
About the centre
Vobster Quay, Upper Vobster, Radstock BA3 5ZG
Operated by UK Diving Academy, a partner of adventuro.
Surrey, East and West Sussex, United Kingdom
From £382
Surrey, East and West Sussex, United Kingdom
From £425
