You don’t have to be “advanced” to take it – it’s designed to advance your diving, so you can start right after earning your PADI Open Water Diver certification. The course helps build confidence and expand your scuba skills through different Adventure Dives. You try out different specialties while gaining experience under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. You log dives and develop capabilities as you find new ways to have fun scuba diving.

PADI (Junior) Open Water Divers who are at least 12 years old are ready to step up and enroll in an Advanced Open Water Diver course. Young divers may only participate in certain Adventures Dives – check with us.

To maximize your safety and enjoyment Corn Island Dive Center limits the Advanced Open Water Diver course to 4 students per Instructor.

Please note that any student wanting to participate in e-Learning with PADI should check availability with Corn Island Dive Center ahead of time, to ensure your course can be completed during your stay.

You’ll plan your learning path with your instructor by choosing from a long list of Adventure Dives. There are two required dives – Deep and Underwater Navigation – and you choose the other three, for a total of five dives.

During the Deep Adventure Dive, you learn how to plan dives to deal with the physiological effects and challenges of deeper scuba diving. The Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive refines your compass navigation skills and helps you better navigate using kick-cycles, visual landmarks and time.

The other knowledge and skills you get vary with your interest and the adventures you have – photography, buoyancy control, fish identification, exploring wrecks, and many more!

Looking to gain more experience and earn another certification? Check out our course combos for more information.

Beyond using basic scuba equipment, you’ll need a compass and dive knife or dive tool. You’ll also use specialized gear depending on the Adventure Dives you choose. Your PADI Instructor will explain the equipment that you need and may suggest additional gear, such as dive light for night diving or lift bag for search and recovery diving.

The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course can be completed in 2 days, however some people choose to do this course over 3 days.

$260 USD including all equipment rental, PADI materials, boat excursions, and certification fees.

$270 USD including a Night OR Underwater Photography Adventure Dive as part of the Advanced Open Water Diver course.

$280 USD including a Night AND Underwater Photography Adventure Dive as part of the Advanced Open Water Diver course.

Please contact us for more information on combining Blowing Rock or other trips with the Advanced Open Water Diver course.

  • Please note any person wishing to participate in a PADI course or experience is required to fill out an RSTC Medical Statement prior to any in-water activities. If you answer “YES” to any of the medical questions, then you will require written permission from a Doctor, using the attached form, to participate in any PADI course or experience.

  • PADI Standards states that each student have a personal set of current PADI materials for study and use during the course and for reference afterward, to include, at a minimum, the course manual (book, digital or app version) unless unavailable in a language understood by the student diver.

  • All certified divers will be required to show proof of certification prior to diving. Some agencies (such as PADI) can be verified online.

  • It is highly recommended to have travel insurance, or specific dive accident insurance such as Divers Alert Network (D.A.N.) that can be purchased online here prior to your trip. According to D.A.N.’s recommendations regarding flying after diving, please allow for at least 18 hours before flying in an airplane after scuba diving.