Open Water Certification

Teaching the Open Water course is a huge responsibility because we are transforming you from a non-diver to a certified diver, equipped with the knowledge and skills to ensure a lifetime of diving worldwide. When learning to dive, the skill, experience and patience of the instructor are among the most important factors in how successful and beneficial the course will be for you.

Completing your SDI or PADI Open Water course with Tank-Ha in Playa del Carmen is a great decision because our reefs are healthy with many schools of fish. We often see turtles, moray eels, stingrays, nurse sharks and occasionally eagle rays.

Our price includes the SDI Open Water eLearning platform, certification fees, pool entrance and transfers, scuba equipment and dive computer rental. Essentially… there are no extra charges to pay!

What’s involved?

The visibility on average tends to be between 10m/30ft and 25m/80ft. Although we do have ocean currents here, these are not as strong as you typically find over in Cozumel and therefore Playa del Carmen is a great place to learn to dive.

There are usually many places for the fish to hide along the reef, so you can turn a corner and see a wall of fish in front of you.

Why learn with Tank-Ha

Resources: Because we own three dive boats, we can tailor a dive plan to suit your course requirements—taking you to the best dive sites as you progress through your training (12m/40ft sites during your first two dives and 18m/60ft sites during your third and fourth dives). We conduct all the training dives on stunning coral reefs so you can make the most of learning to dive in the Caribbean.

Knowledge: Our experienced instructors speak multiple languages and have a proven track record of teaching to the highest standards possible. We have a passion for sharing our knowledge with you so you can make the most of your course and leave as a skilled and confident diver.

Service: We are a 5-Star SDI and PADI Dive Center and we constantly aim to provide the highest level of service possible, including many options to help you continue to improve your skills with courses and specialties so you can keep learning and enjoying exciting new dives.

Equipment: We invest heavily in high quality dive equipment which is comfortable and reliable. This equipment is provided free-of-charge during your Open Water course and we also include the use of a dive computer during your training. Dive computers are expensive, but we believe the investment is worth it because they are the future of recreational diving—we prefer this approach over the cheaper, but antiquated offline recreational dive planner (aka RDP or dive table).

Safety: Diving can be an incredibly safe, relaxing and enjoyable activity when things are done correctly. We maintain our excellent safety record by ensuring we have appropriate safety equipment and procedures in place for all of our dives.

Should I choose PADI or SDI?

What’s the same?

• The learning requirements for both the SDI and PADI Open Water course are standardized by the World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC), of which agencies such as SDI, PADI, SSI, and NAUI are all members.
• Both agencies provide lifetime dive certifications that are accepted worldwide. You can also continue learning new dive skills with any other agency.

What is different?

• SDI instructors are given the flexibility to sequence the learning activities in the most appropriate way. This means instructors can adapt to a student’s requirements or, if bad weather limits our ability to complete an activity, we can continue the training on another dive. PADI does not offer this flexibility and occasionally we will need to reschedule an entire extra dive if a single skill is not able to be completed in sequence.
• SDI are proud of their training materials and they publish their official training videos publicly on the SDI YouTube channel. These are the same videos you will watch as part of the SDI eLearning course.
• The PADI eLearning materials are a little more expensive than the SDI materials. You will see this additional price in the booking form if you choose the PADI eLearning option.

What does the schedule look like?

You can complete all of your theory at home in advance on your computer, laptop or mobile device. Many people find it more enjoyable when they can avoid completing the academic portion of the course whilst on vacation in a beautiful tropical destination like Playa del Carmen. The course takes three days to complete, but the days do not have to be consecutive—if you have specific days you would like to complete the course, just let us know.

Day 1

Arrive at 08:00 to complete a quick review of the eLearning theory to make sure you understood everything from the online training.

We will prepare your dive equipment and head to a purpose-built diver training pool. At the pool you will spend the day going through all the confined water sessions. You will learn many of the skills you will need to dive safely as a certified diver. We will also need to check your general abilities in the water by having you float for 10 minutes on the surface of the water and complete a 200m swim (300m if you choose to complete the swim with a mask, snorkel and fins).

Day 2

Arrive at 12:00 to complete two dives in the ocean where you will be diving on two beautiful coral reefs up to 12m / 40ft. On these dives you will be repeating some of the skills that you completed in the pool. Prior to departure, your instructor will provide you with a thorough briefing of everything you will do on the dives and help you prepare your equipment. You generally get back at around 16:30.

Day 3

Arrive at 07:45 and complete another two ocean dives. This time you will be diving up to 18m / 60ft and a little further south where we have some very interesting reefs to explore. On these dives you will again be completing some specific training skills, but these add to the enjoyment of the dives. You generally get back at approximately 12:30.

Once you come back from your last day of ocean diving we will take your photo and certify you as an Open Water Diver, which is a certification you will have for life. You will be certified online and issued with an electronic certification card immediately. Once you are a certified Open Water diver you will be able to start to enjoy the full range of opportunities we have here in Playa del Carmen including diving in the freshwater Cenote caverns and on the stunning reefs out in Cozumel.

Comfort and safety

Most of our boats each have two engines, and the captains have been working on the dive boats here for many years. Their experience really helps when it comes to selecting the most suitable dive site in changeable conditions.

Our boats also have all appropriate safety equipment:

• Emergency oxygen
• First-aid kit
• VHF radio
• Life jackets

Our boats have plenty of space for you to prepare yourself prior to diving and have shaded areas to escape the Caribbean sun. We provide purified drinking water onboard.

Can I complete the course in a Cenote?

Although the Cenotes offer experienced divers the opportunity to complete stunning cavern dives, the open-water areas of these Cenotes have no corals and not a lot of fish life. They are also not very deep so this would prevent us from training you to the full depth of the Open Water training. So we think the best option is to complete the training in the ocean, where you will have a more enjoyable experience. Don’t forget, once you are certified we can then take you to the cavern area of the cenotes after you have completed the course to enjoy the best the cenotes have to offer.

Medical Eligibility

We know there can be friction around medical questionnaires online—we’re actively working to improve that. For now, you can check eligibility by visiting ScubaMedical.com.

Recreational scuba diving requires good physical and mental health. Some medical conditions can be hazardous while diving; if you have concerns, review the diver medical questionnaire with your physician before booking training by visiting ScubaMedical.com.

Small group = big fun

We proudly take our divers in small groups to provide the best service. We typically teach the Open Water course in group sizes of no more than 4 students to one instructor.

Small groups allow us to focus our time and attention on you to make sure you have the safest and most enjoyable experience possible.

If you would like dedicated, private training we can also provide you with a private instructor — you can select this option in the booking form.