What is the PADI Advanced Open Water Course?

The PADI Advanced Open Water Course is a globally recognized course designed to help certified divers build confidence, expand their abilities, and advance their diving through practical experience in a variety of underwater environments. By completing a series of adventure dives, including Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation, you will develop greater competence, awareness, and versatility as a diver.

Set in the vibrant marine environment of South Africa’s South Coast, our PADI Advanced Open Water Course allows you to refine your skills while also seeing various species of shark on the famous Protea Banks.

The Lookout Guesthouse:

If needed, we offer optional accommodation at our on-site guesthouse for the duration of your course, making your training experience more convenient, comfortable, and stress-free so you can focus fully on your diving. A peaceful retreat where you can relax, making it the perfect place to be after the high-energy morning dives.

Course Overview:

Apon Purchase – eLearning package.

A flexible package that allows you to complete your knowledge at your own pace before you begin the course.

Day 1 – Welcome to South Coast Diving Co

Meet the team, get introduced to your gear and be informed about the diving plans for the next days.

You will embark on two dives starting with a deep dive followed by a drift dive (to be decided by the student).

Day 2 – More Adventurous Dives

You will have two dives starting with the navigation dive followed by a shark conservation dive (to be decided by the student).

Day 3 – Even more Adventurous Dives

One last dive, with the student choosing between an Underwater Naturalist dive, Search and Recovery dive or Enriched Air dive.

Requirements:

Open Water or Adventure Diver certification.

Chad Ikin

I recently completed my Padi Instructor Development Course with South Coast Diving, and I had an amazing experience with the team. They conducted the training in a very professional manner while keeping it fun and exciting. Their experience and knowledge is exactly what anyone would want when being trained to become a professional! If you’re interested in doing a dive course, whether it be an entry level or pro level course, this is the place to go. Big thanks goes out to Nina, James, Tyrone and Daniel for their support throughout the course as well as the IE!

Tia Evans

I spent four months diving with South Coast Diving Company, starting with my Advanced Open Water and working my way through to my Divemaster, and I genuinely enjoyed every single moment of it. From day one, I felt welcomed by the team and quickly became part of the dive centre’s community. James was an amazing instructor who was always patient, encouraging and completely committed to helping me improve. He created such a positive learning environment and made every dive a valuable and memorable experience. Nina is one of the kindest and most considerate people I’ve met, and she’s incredibly hardworking, always ready to tackle every challenge, and her dedication is evident in every detail when you visit. The people at South Coast Diving Company make the whole place feel welcoming for anyone who comes to visit, dive, or complete a course. You don’t just learn how to scuba dive here — you learn how to dive with respect for the ocean and the incredible marine life around you. And then there’s Protea Banks! 🦈🌊 I had the incredible privilege of diving with oceanic blacktip sharks, bull sharks, tiger sharks, copper sharks, ragged-tooth sharks, blue sharks, scalloped hammerheads, great hammerheads and even a shortfin mako shark — (which was definitely a favorite). Every dive brought something different, and no dive ever disappointed. You will never be bored on a dive at Protea Banks. Protea Banks isn’t just about the incredible marine life either. The caves and reef formations give you so much to explore, while the conditions can challenge and test your skills as a diver. It’s the kind of diving that pushes you to become more confident, aware and capable in the water, while teaching you to respect the environment and the animals you’re privileged to encounter. I’m so grateful for the four months I spent diving here. I’ve made unforgettable memories, learned so much, grown enormously as a diver, and met people who I’ll never forget. Whether you’re starting your scuba diving journey or you’re an experienced diver wanting to experience the incredible Protea Banks, I couldn’t recommend South Coast Diving Company more. If you’re considering diving with them, do it — you won’t regret it! 🤿🦈💙

Rowen Walkley

The owners and staff where amazing , they created a comfortable environment full of fun memories and laughter. Exceptional and astonishing dives. And i was greated by the owner and her puppy because no good diving shop doesn't have a dog❤️ all in all 5 star + highly recommend and will 100% dive there again. Safety is also there top priority all divers where given gps emergency beacons incase something happened which is a very comforting touch, these guys are awesome

jagdpanther 1602

chante schiferli

Had an amazing experience this Tuesday they were extremely professional and were utterly sweet and kind 10/ 10 definitely will visit again to join them

Nick van Oudheusden

Absolutely fantastic experience with South Coast Diving Centre! Nina, Daniel and James are amazing people and went out of their way to help me achieve my PADI Open Water certification. As someone new to diving, I always felt supported, encouraged and in very good hands. And now I’m hooked on diving. The whole team made the experience enjoyable and took the time to help me build my confidence and get comfortable in the water. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better team to do my Open Water with. And getting the opportunity to get up close with blacktip and bull sharks was an incredible experience! I’ll 100% be going back to dive with Nina and the team again. Highly recommended! 🤿🦈

Daniel Brown

Nina and Daniel run an excellent dive school that places safety at the forefront of what they do. They are surrounded by an amazing team of DMs and instructors that are fantastic and a very skilled skipper (Paul) to get divers to protea and keep them entertained with stories of his amazing life in SA!. They are all super friendly and so accommodating. The diving here is very exhilarating with drifts and baited shark dives so better for a more established diver who is confident with the basics. The guest house Nina and Daniel run is also amazing and I really enjoyed my stay there. They went above and beyond to make my time there memorable. Winston, the beautiful dive master French bull dog, is a great addition to keep dog lovers happy :). I would fully recommend diving with South Coast diving and I’ll personally be back next year for some more amazing dive experiences Thanks you Nina, Dan, Winston and the amazing team you have around you

P. G.

Great dive school! Nina, Daniel and their team are super friendly and experienced. They gave me some excellent dives. Totally recommendable!

di es

Awesome diving centre. I always feel safe and the crew/staff was very friendly and competent. We saw a lot of sharks from bull sharks to tiger sharks. Thank you for the great dives. :-)

Verified by Trustindex

Trustindex verified badge is the Universal Symbol of Trust. Only the greatest companies can get the verified badge who has a review score above 4.5, based on customer reviews over the past 12 months. Read more

PADI ADVANCED OPEN WATER COURSE