How Much Does a Scuba Diving Course Cost? Open Water Prices Compared

What does a scuba course price include?

Two things: the agency's learning materials and the dive centre's in-water training. SSI lists the parts of a course as training materials (its Digital Kit), tuition for theory and in-water training, the open water training dives and certification, and says each centre charges them separately or as a package. Our Training & Certification section explains the course itself.

PADI is explicit that its eLearning fee covers theory only. The in-water part is paid to the dive centre, and PADI says that cost depends on class size, location and whether you need to rent equipment. It also warns that most dive shops expect you to bring your own mask, fins and snorkel, that the regulator, BCD, dive computer and cylinder may or may not be included, and that you may need to buy or rent a wetsuit or drysuit.

So two quotes for the same course can differ by hundreds without either being a rip-off. One may include the materials, a dive computer and a boat. The other may not.

How much do PADI and SSI course materials cost?

PADI sets a separate eLearning price for each country store, and SSI sells its Digital Kit through its own site. Many centres build this fee into their course price, so check before you buy it yourself, or you may pay twice.

• Blue Note Scuba in Cozumel shows how a split price works: about US$250 goes to PADI for eLearning and US$400 to the shop for the in-water training.
• Since 10 January 2023, PADI certifications come with an eCard as standard. A plastic card is no longer automatic and costs extra.
• Dive Wimbledon in London notes that the eLearning it sells includes the certification card, and says this saves £45-85 compared with paying for certification at a holiday centre.

Open Water course prices around the world

These are the prices each dive centre lists on its own site (or, for Pro Dive Cairns, on its booking agent's), in local currency. They are examples, not averages. Prices change, vary by season and country, and the inclusions differ, which matters as much as the headline number.

The pattern is clear enough. Busy warm-water training resorts in Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia and Thailand sit at the low end. Courses that include a liveaboard (Cairns) or run at home around evenings and weekends (London, the US) cost more. For the difference between the agencies behind these courses, see PADI vs SSI vs CMAS.

What costs extra on a scuba course?

The headline price rarely covers everything. These are the extras that appear in the listings above, and they are worth asking about by name.

• Personal gear. Diventures requires every student to own a mask, snorkel, fins and boots, plus a surface marker buoy and reel. Resort courses such as those at ABC Diving and Aquanaut include full equipment. Cold-water courses may also need a suitable exposure suit; our wetsuit thickness guide covers what to wear.
• Park, reef and port charges. Gili Trawangan adds a one-off marine park fee of IDR 100,000. Pro Dive Cairns adds A$100 reef tax (including a A$10.50 government Environmental Management Charge) and a A$25 fuel levy paid at check-in. Aquanaut includes Egypt's national park fees in its price.
• Transport. Blue Note Scuba does not include transport to its shore site or the marina.
• Certification. PADI now issues an eCard as standard, and a plastic card costs extra.
• A doctor's appointment. If you answer yes to a question on the diver medical form, you need a doctor's sign-off before training. Pro Dive Cairns requires the medical to be done within 90 days of the course start.
• Dive insurance. ABC Diving includes student dive insurance only in its standard and private options. Aquanaut sells hyperbaric insurance at €9 for three weeks, valid only in Hurghada.
• Accommodation. Bay Islands College of Diving includes it; Black Turtle Dive does not.

Do referral dives save money?

Usually not, but they save holiday time. On a PADI referral you do the eLearning and pool training at home, and your instructor gives you a referral form. Any PADI centre can then run your four open water dives, and the referral is valid for up to 12 months. SSI centres take referrals too: Manta Dive on Gili Trawangan finishes other centres' students after a short pool skill check.

You pay two centres. Dive Wimbledon lists its Part A (theory and pool) at £429, or £349 on offer, and Aquanaut in Hurghada charges €270 for the referral dives. The whole course at Aquanaut is €350. Blue Note Scuba charges US$350 plus PADI eLearning for referral dives, against US$400 plus eLearning for its full course.

The case for a referral is time and water. You spend the holiday diving instead of studying, which is how PADI itself pitches it. If your home centre trains in cold lakes, you also get to do your four qualifying dives somewhere warm. Check the deadline, though: Diventures in the US requires its open water dives within six months of pool training, half PADI's 12-month referral window.

Private or group lessons: how much more is private?

At centres that list both, private teaching costs from about a quarter more to more than double the group price. At Dive Wimbledon the group course is £629 and the private course £869. The private Part A referral is £549 against £429.

ABC Diving in Malta shows what the extra buys. Its €495 budget course runs over two and a half days with up to four students, pool sessions and four open water dives. The €595 standard course, still up to four students, adds a fifth open water dive, student dive insurance and extra buoyancy and finning workshops over three days. The €1,190 private option includes everything in the standard course, spread over four days, with private tuition and private transfers. Book with a friend and ABC gives 10% off for two or more divers.

Class size is the number to ask about even on a group course. Black Turtle Dive on Koh Tao caps groups at four students per instructor, and the CMAS One Star standard sets the same limit of four for open water training dives.

Questions to ask a dive shop before you pay

Put these to two or three centres and compare the answers, not the headline prices.

• Which agency, and are the learning materials in the price, or do I buy them from PADI or SSI myself?
• How many students per instructor in the pool and on the open water dives?
• How many open water dives, from shore or boat, and over how many days?
• Which gear is included? A dive computer? A wetsuit or drysuit? Do I need my own mask, fins and boots?
• Are park fees, reef tax, fuel levies and transfers included?
• Is the certification card included, and is it digital or plastic?
• Is dive insurance included for the course?
• If weather cancels dives or I can't finish, what happens? Will I get a referral form so another centre can complete the course?
• Do I need a doctor's form, and by when?
• Is there a discount for booking online or for two people? Aquanaut takes 10% off online bookings made a week ahead, and ABC Diving gives 10% to groups of two or more.