Home / Education / Courses / Discover Scuba Diving
Beginner

Discover Scuba Diving

About the Course

Want to find out what scuba diving is like before deciding to get your PADI Open Water Diver scuba diving certification? During a Discover Scuba® Diving experience, you can try scuba diving for the first time in a pool or calm water environment.  

A highly-trained PADI® Professional will provide scuba gear, explain basic scuba diving skills and answer any questions you may have.

Available Languages
Take This Course If You Want to
  • Find out if you like scuba diving
  • Connect with the underwater world
  • Take your first breaths underwater
  • Decide if you want to be a certified diver
Learn How to
  • Use scuba gear
  • Use hand signs to communicate
  • Perform basic scuba skills

Try Scuba Diving

If you’re interested in scuba diving, but unsure if you want to enroll in a scuba certification class, Discover Scuba Diving is the perfect way to test the waters. In a very short time, you’ll learn basic scuba skills and take your first breaths underwater.
Instructor with students at a table in a thatch hut.
Independent Study
1
PADI eLearning®

Prepare for your Discover Scuba Diving experience with PADI DSD eLearning™. Use your computer or mobile device to learn diving safety fundamentals before you get in the water.

Contact a PADI Dive Shop or PADI Professional for access to DSD eLearning and to schedule your first scuba diving experience.

  • eLearning time commitment: 20-30 min
Student and instructor sitting at a desk reviewing.
At The Dive Shop
2
With Your Instructor
A PADI Professional will fit you with scuba gear and explain how to use it. In a pool or calm water environment. You’ll practice basic diving skills followed by free time to play underwater or go on a guided open water dive.
  • Prerequisites: None
  • Total time commitment: 2-3 hours
  • Minimum age: 10

More Info

 
Gifting and Sharing Courses

Want to share the experience or give the gift of endless adventure? You can now purchase PADI eLearning® and share it with a recipient of your choice! Whether you are purchasing the course as a gift or need to assign the it to family members – it’s super easy.

  1. Once you purchase your eLearning course, you can log-in to your PADI account to access the course.
  2. From your Dashboard go to Student Details and Manage Your Courses.
  3. You can then decide to Start the eLearning yourself or ‘Share the course’.
  4. To share the course, simply click on ‘Share the Course’ and enter the email address of the recipient you wish to share the course with.
  5. The recipient will receive an email to create or log-in to their PADI Account to start the course.
 
Medical Requirements

Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.

Avoid disappointment, download and review the Diver Medical form to ensure you won’t need a physician’s approval to dive before enrolling in a scuba course. Instructors, divemasters and dive shop staff are not physicians and should not be asked for medical advice; only medical professionals can give medical clearance to dive.

If you (or your physician) have questions about medical fitness to dive, contact the experts at Divers Alert Network (DAN).

 
Prerequisites & Minimum Age

Minimum Age: 10

Course prerequisites: None

 
Choosing a Dive Shop

You can try scuba diving at a local dive shop or while traveling. 

Choose a dive shop close to home to:

  • Support a local business
  • Meet dive buddies in your local area
  • Learn about your local ecosystem

Choose a dive shop away from home if you:

  • Plan to travel to a dive destination on holiday
  • Like to meet new people when traveling
 
Other Costs & Equipment

The dive shop or PADI Professional will likely provide all the equipment you'll need. Just bring a swimsuit and a towel. 

The total cost depends on class size (private versus group) and whether your Discover Scuba DIving experience includes an open water dive. Contact a PADI Dive Center or Resort for more information and pricing. 

 
Time Commitment

PADI eLearning: 20-30 min

Entire program: 2-3 hours

 
System Requirements

DSD eLearning is designed to work on Android™ and Apple® iOS devices and on the computer browsers listed below:

  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Edge
  • Firefox

For the best laptop or desktop computer experience, make sure your browser is up-to-date.

For the ideal mobile experience, devices should be no more than three models old and running with the most current OS (operating system).

 
After this course

Discover Scuba Diving isn’t a certification, but you can apply what you learned toward a PADI Open Water Diver certification. Ask the dive shop or your PADI Professional for more information.

More Courses

Beginner
Open Water Diver
Your first scuba diving certification opens the door to a lifetime of adventures.
Beginner
Freediver
Your first step toward discovering why freediving is becoming a popular way to explore beneath the waves. No previous freediving course is required.
Beginner
Discover Mermaid
Try mermaiding and discover why its becoming a popular way to explore any underwater environment in this highly flexible, and brief program to see how you like it!

Come Explore With Us!

Get (not too frequent) emails about incredible dive destinations and more, plus 10% OFF* an eLearning dive course.