Continue Your Adventure
Expand Your Horizons
Your Open Water Diver certification introduced you to a new realm of exploration and made you keenly aware that you've only just scratched the surface of the underwater world. Continue your scuba journey with The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course.
Experience new adventures with a PADI Instructor by your side. Fine-tune your buoyancy skills, build confidence in your navigation abilities, and try new activities like wreck diving, night diving or underwater videography. An Advanced Open Water Diver certification also opens the door to dive sites deeper than 18m/60ft.
Find Your Next Course
Dive deeper into blue planet exploration with advanced dive skills and specialty scuba certifications. Whether you want to expand your dive knowledge or experience a new scuba specialty, our courses will prepare you for underwater adventure.
- Must-Haves
- Safety Focus
- Special Interests
- Advanced Skills
- Cold Water
- Conservation
- Photography
- Discovery
- Freediving
- Technical Diving
Learn more about freediving or check out the available courses.
Learn more about tec diving or check out the available courses.
Capture Stunning Photos: Take the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Specialty Course
Bring your scuba diving adventures to life! The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Specialty course teaches you how to use camera settings, lighting, and composition techniques to take vibrant images beneath the surface, whether you're using a compact camera or a DSLR.
Special Offer: For a limited time, enjoy 15% off your Digital Underwater Photographer eLearning! Use code PHOTOPEAK15 at checkout.***
Level Up Your Diving – Earn the Master Scuba Diver Rating
Join the best of the best in recreational scuba diving. The Master Scuba Diver™ rating is the highest non-professional level a diver can achieve — and it’s your chance to prove your dedication, skill, and passion for the underwater world.
To become a Master Scuba Diver, you’ll need to:
- Be a certified PADI Rescue Diver
- Complete 5 PADI Specialty Diver courses
- Log 50 dives
Once you've met the requirements, submit your application and claim your place among the elite.
Master Scuba Diver applications are FREE through the end of 2025.
NEW Limited Edition Certification Card Designs Are Here!
Show off your PADI diver status with a limited edition certification card featuring a great hammerhead, whale shark, or Costasiella. Available as a digital eCard or a physical card made from recycled materials.
Keep Your PADI Certification Active
Not in the Club yet? You should be! Join PADI Club for access to free and discounted eLearning courses, an annual subscription to Scuba Diving magazine, a free annual Club certification card design, exclusive Club invites and more!
More Information
Your questions, answered
PADI is offering 15% off online sales of Digital Underwater Photographer and Peak Performance Buoyancy eLearning Courses. Use code PHOTOPEAK15. Cannot be combined with any other offers. This promotion is valid until 11:59pm PDT on 31 October 2025.
Your PADI certification does not expire. Enrolling in PADI’s scuba refresher course (ReActivate) is recommended if you haven’t been diving in awhile, but not mandatory. Dive shops appreciate seeing a recent ReActivated date on your certification card because it means you’re ready to dive in.
Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and more than a dozen of PADI’s most popular specialty courses are available online. You can start your training at home and finish with a dive shop near you, or on vacation. The choice is up to you.
Earning a certification while traveling is a great way to have an authentic local diving experience. Ask the local dive center or resort what their destination is known for (drift, wreck, night, etc.) and if they offer any distinctive specialties.
Or, show your support for your local diving community by earning a certification close to home. Learn about your local ecosystems by taking an Underwater Naturalist or Fish Identification course, or prepare for your next trip by taking PADI’s most popular specialty - Enriched Air Nitrox.
More than 75 percent of new divers say they want to improve their scuba skills by taking additional classes, but fewer than 40 percent ever do so. When asked why, many say, “I didn’t feel ready.”
What these divers don’t realize is, the Advanced Open Water Diver course is designed to help new divers improve their skills and build confidence. In this course, you’ll get better at the skills you learned in your Open Water Diver course as you try new diving experiences (photography, wreck diving, etc.) with a helpful instructor by your side. If the word “advanced” seems intimidating, think of it as a specialty course sampler instead.
Speaking of specialties, many new divers get a lot out of the Peak Performance Buoyancy class and the Underwater Navigator course. You could try one or both of these specialties first, and earn credit towards your Advanced Open Water certification along the way. Ask your PADI Instructor for more information.
The Master Scuba Diver rating places you in an elite group of respected divers who have earned this rating through both significant experience and scuba training. Fewer than two percent of divers ever achieve this rating.
The path starts with earning a PADI Open Water Diver certification, followed by PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and PADI Rescue Diver (or qualifying certifications). You also need to earn five PADI Specialty Diver certifications
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