PADI Open Water Diver Course in Hurghada

The PADI Open Water Diver course in Hurghada is where diving starts. No experience needed — if you can swim a little and you're comfortable in the water, you can do it.

It has three parts: knowledge development (with your instructor or through PADI eLearning at home), confined-water training where you practise skills like mask clearing and buoyancy in calm, controlled water, and open-water training dives in the Red Sea under your instructor's supervision.

Pass the skills and you earn the PADI Open Water Diver certification, recognised worldwide. It lets you dive with a buddy, without an instructor, to 18 m / 60 ft — on your next holiday, or on our full-day diving trip before you fly home.

The schedule depends on your progress, the sea and the course format you choose, so we confirm it with you when you book.

What happens on a PADI Open Water course in Hurghada

Think of it as theory, practice, then the real thing.

Theory. You learn why divers equalise, how pressure affects air in your body and your kit, and how to plan a safe dive. You can do this at home with PADI eLearning — PADI estimates about eight hours — or with your instructor in Hurghada.

Confined water. In calm, controlled water you breathe underwater for the first time and practise the skills you'll rely on later: letting water into your mask and clearing it, finding a dropped regulator, getting neutrally buoyant, going up and down slowly.

Open water. PADI requires at least four open-water training dives. In Hurghada these happen in the Red Sea, where you repeat the skills on a real reef, usually with fish watching. Your instructor chooses the site for the conditions on the day.

PADI says many students finish in three or four days when they do the theory through eLearning first. It is performance-based, though: you move on when you can do the skill comfortably, not when a timetable says so.

Can I join? Swimming, age and medical requirements

Swimming. You don't need to be a strong swimmer. PADI asks you to swim 200 metres without stopping — any stroke, no time limit — or 300 metres with mask, fins and snorkel, and to float or tread water for 10 minutes.

Age. The minimum age is 10. Students under 15 earn the Junior Open Water Diver certification, which carries depth limits: 12 m / 40 ft for ages 10–11 and 18 m / 60 ft for ages 12–14. It can be upgraded to the full certification at 15.

Medical. Every student completes PADI's diver medical questionnaire — ten yes/no questions about conditions that can be a problem underwater. Answer "yes" to any of them and you'll need a physician's signed approval before diving. Download the form and check it at home before you travel; arranging a doctor's visit on holiday is much harder.

Not sure if you qualify? Send us a message on WhatsApp before you book.

After Open Water: what your certification lets you do

As a PADI Open Water Diver you can dive with a buddy, without an instructor, to a maximum of 18 m / 60 ft — or the depth you reached in training, if that was shallower. If you haven't dived for a while, ask us about a refresher before your next trip.

In Hurghada, the obvious next step is to use it straight away on our full-day diving trip (€60), or on a private diving trip if you want your own guide.

If you want to go deeper than 18 m, dive wrecks or learn to navigate with a compass, take the PADI Advanced Open Water course — you can start it as soon as you're certified. See all our PADI courses in Hurghada.

Prefer to stay near the surface with non-diving friends or family? Our Hurghada snorkeling trip visits the same kind of reefs and is an easy way to share the day with people who don't dive.