About This Course
The PADI Open Water Diver certification is the single most valuable credential you can earn as a traveler. Recognized at every dive center in every country in the world, it opens up the 70 percent of our planet that lies beneath the surface — coral reefs, shipwrecks, underwater caves, kelp forests, and marine ecosystems that most people will never experience. Your certification never expires, and once you have it, you can dive anywhere on Earth for the rest of your life.
Getting certified in Mexico's Riviera Maya gives you an advantage that students in other locations simply do not have: your classroom is one of the most spectacular diving destinations on the planet. While other students practice skills in cold, murky quarries and lakes, you will learn in crystal-clear cenote water with visibility exceeding 100 meters and warm Caribbean reefs teeming with marine life. Your four certification dives take place in an open-air cenote and then in the ocean or another cenote, where you may see sea turtles, nurse sharks, and tropical fish. These are experiences that certified divers travel from around the world to enjoy — and they are your training ground.
Our PADI Open Water course follows the standard curriculum: knowledge development (theory), shallow-water skills practice, and four open water certification dives. We send you the theory materials — instructional videos and quizzes — to complete at your own pace from home before you arrive in Mexico, which saves 1-2 days of your vacation. When you arrive, we jump straight into the water.
Your course is taught by one of Seth's instructors, who are patient, experienced, and multilingual. They understand that learning to dive can feel intimidating, and they create a supportive, no-pressure environment where you can learn at your own pace. Class sizes are kept small — never more than 4 students per instructor — to ensure you receive the attention and feedback you need to become a confident, competent diver.