4-Day PADI Open Water Dive Course - Learn to Dive on the Great Barrier Reef
Overview
Take the opportunity to learn to dive while you’re in Cairns! With classes limited to eight participants, led by professional and friendly instructors, you’ll learn to dive and earn an internationally recognized PADI certification on your 4-day PADI Open Water dive course. Hotel transfers are included each day, and your course is gradual and safe. Learn basic scuba skills in the classroom, a pool, and confined water dives, then explore the Great Barrier Reef on open-water dives. Once you have successfully completed your course, you’ll be a qualified PADI diver!
Inclusions
- Learn dive theory with classroom lessons
- Pool sessions practicing basic diving skills, safety drills and ascending and descending techniques
- Two full day cruises onboard to the outer reef onboard the most luxurious catamaran, Evolution
- Visit two exclusive outer reef locations with 5 hours reef time
- Use of SCUBA equipment
- Use of Snorkelling equipment
- 4 x Outer Great Barrier Reef Dives
- 1 x fun dive on the outer reef
- Cairns City accommodation transfers every day
- All applicable PADI training material
- Lunch onboard Evolution days 3 and 4
What to expect
Itinerary
The PADI open water course is the leading certification course for scuba divers and suitable for complete beginners. During your 4-day training course, spend the first two days learning the theory with classroom lessons and practice basic scuba diving skills, safety drills, and correct ascending and descending techniques during training sessions in a swimming pool.
Once you are fully prepared, put your skills to the test in the open waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Enjoy two full-day cruises to the outer reef, each including two guided scuba dives—four dives in all—and experience the underwater wonders of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your instructor will be with you every step of the way to ensure that you stay safe and maximize your chances of spotting marine life, such as tropical fish, reef sharks, stingrays, and sea turtles. Both cruises include a delicious barbecue lunch served on board.
Upon completion of the course, you will receive your PADI Open Water Dive Certificate, which allows you to scuba dive up to a depth of 60 feet (18 meters), join certified dive tours, rent diving equipment, and take part in advanced PADI diving courses.
Stop At:
• Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Queensland Australia
The PADI open water course is the leading certification course for scuba divers and suitable for complete beginners. During your 4-day training course, spend the first two days learning the theory with classroom lessons and practice basic scuba diving skills, safety drills, and correct ascending and descending techniques during training sessions in a swimming pool.
Once you are fully prepared, put your skills to the test in the open waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Enjoy two full-day cruises to the outer reef, each including two guided scuba dives—four dives in all—and experience the underwater wonders of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your instructor will be with you every step of the way to ensure that you stay safe and maximize your chances of spotting marine life, such as tropical fish, reef sharks, stingrays, and sea turtles. Both cruises include a delicious barbecue lunch served on board.
Upon completion of the course, you will receive your PADI Open Water Dive Certificate, which allows you to scuba dive up to a depth of 60 feet (18 meters), join certified dive tours, rent diving equipment, and take part in advanced PADI diving courses.
Stop At:
• Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Queensland Australia
Additional information
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- In our commitment to the safety of our guests, divers over 45 years for PADI dive courses must have a medical clearance with a physician the confirms they are Fit To Dive. This can be provided by your own GP before your course start date.
- Diving within 24 hours before your flight is not permitted. All participants will be required to complete a health/medication questionnaire prior to diving. Please be aware that certain medical conditions (e.g. asthma, heart disease, diabetes) and ANY prescription medications will require a letter or email from a doctor clearing you to dive. The clearance must state your full name, the doctor's name and practice and the clearance to dive for the specific medication/condition. If you have a certain medical condition or are taking prescription medication, please review the operators Certified Diver Medical Questionnaire prior to your course start date.
- Per day on the outer reef admin/fuel levy (to be paid direct prior to travel)
- Students must be able to complete a basic swimming and floating test to complete this course.
- Please bring sunscreen, hat, change of clothes, swimsuit and a towel and cash or credit card for on board payment/purchases (fares, soft drink, chocolates, underwater camera, T-shirts)
- Minimum age is 12 years
- Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
- Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
- Gear/equipment sanitized between use
- Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
- Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Ticket delivery
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.
Cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.
rossellamZ4575KD
October 2023
Best experience ever! I completed the PADI Open water course with Down under the cruise and I couldn't have made a better choice! In these 4 days I learned so many things about marine life and scuba diving. The course was interesting and super fun with a perfect mix of theory and practice. I espe...
Best experience ever! I completed the PADI Open water course with Down under the cruise and I couldn't have made a better choice! In these 4 days I learned so many things about marine life and scuba diving. The course was interesting and super fun with a perfect mix of theory and practice. I especially enjoyed the 2 days on the ship that takes you to the Great Barrier Reef where I saw 2 small sharks, a huge turtle and so much more. I'm pretty sure there are many other good companies to get your PADI, but the reason why choosing Down under the Cruise is hands down the best choice is because of the instructor Francesco (Frankie), who really made a difference. He was professional but super fun and will go above and beyond to make sure your experience is exceptional. Thank you so much for this unforgettable experience! RossellaEna_K
October 2023
My friend and I completed our open water course under the guidance of Frankie, and we couldn't have asked for a more exceptional instructor. Frankie's humor, patience, extensive diving experience, and genuine passion for the sport made him a fantastic teacher. Opting for in-person lessons over re...
My friend and I completed our open water course under the guidance of Frankie, and we couldn't have asked for a more exceptional instructor. Frankie's humor, patience, extensive diving experience, and genuine passion for the sport made him a fantastic teacher. Opting for in-person lessons over relying solely on eLearning was a wise choice, as Frankie's teaching was better than PADI's instructional videos. He made sure we truly understood each concept before progressing to the next. To ensure our comfort during our initial pool dives, he provided us with high-quality masks that were not available on the boat, and once on the boat, he picked the best masks out of what was available for us to use. On top of that, he surprised us with cheesecake to celebrate my friend's birthday, which happened to fall on the final day of the course. Initially I had some anxiety about diving, but Frankie's expertise and unwavering patience quickly helped me get over my fears. Thank you for making this an unforgettable experience Frankie!veitjohannesn
July 2023
Awesome course! The dive master Franky was awesome! Always felt safe and good prepared! Equipment was modern and in perfect condition. Theory was well explained and practice was the first goal! Security and safety was important and practised well but not boring and didn’t make you feel scared. T...
Awesome course! The dive master Franky was awesome! Always felt safe and good prepared! Equipment was modern and in perfect condition. Theory was well explained and practice was the first goal! Security and safety was important and practised well but not boring and didn’t make you feel scared. The two dives in the boat were awesome, beautiful, gorgeous reef and well guided dive brought us to the best spots! Loved down under five and will come back !T4550QScharlottel
July 2023
My 4 day PADI open water course was excellent, very well structured and delivered to us in a very easy manner. The instructor, Frankie, was exceptional, very informative and looked after us in the water and in the classroom very well. I always felt in complete control and safe at all times during...
My 4 day PADI open water course was excellent, very well structured and delivered to us in a very easy manner. The instructor, Frankie, was exceptional, very informative and looked after us in the water and in the classroom very well. I always felt in complete control and safe at all times during the dives and learnt a huge amount in the classroom sessions in a short amount of time. The 2 boat trips to the reefs were well organised with great crew on board that were always looking for ways to help guests. The food provided was also lovely, there was definitely plenty of it! I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who would like to learn to dive, it is a great qualification and a once in a life time experience.3LauranK
March 2020
My partner and I signed up to do the 4 day PADI open water course and after our days on the reef immediately signed up for the advanced. We had an amazing experience on the reef, it's like nothing you've ever seen before! Ryan Whiteman, our instructor, was so great. I felt very safe diving after...
My partner and I signed up to do the 4 day PADI open water course and after our days on the reef immediately signed up for the advanced. We had an amazing experience on the reef, it's like nothing you've ever seen before! Ryan Whiteman, our instructor, was so great. I felt very safe diving after all the training he'd done with us. He explained everything so well and took the time to show us techniques, especially if anyone struggled to get it first time. The small class sizes they have allowed everyone to get the attention they needed to learn to be a great diver. We signed up straight away to do the advanced course, where we learned even more dive skills to allow us to enjoy this activity more. If the other instructors are even half as good as Ryan, then you'll have a fantastic experience learning to dive with this company. The boat, Evolution, was one of the best run I've been on in Australia. Friendly and helpful staff may the journeys to and from the reef a dream and the food was delicious - steaks, seafood, loads of salads, and veggie burgers! I would recommend them to anyone who wants a great reef experience, for any experience level with diving or snorkeling!Schneidi94
October 2023
Der Open Water Diver Kurs war wirklich spitze. Die Theorie wurde von meinem Tauchlehrer Francy gut und verständlich erklärt. Zwischendrin machten wir immer wieder kleinere Lernzuwachsüberprüfungen. Das Mittagessen fand in Absprache der Kursteilnehmer kurz aus, was aber völlig in Ordnung ist. Wir ...
Der Open Water Diver Kurs war wirklich spitze. Die Theorie wurde von meinem Tauchlehrer Francy gut und verständlich erklärt. Zwischendrin machten wir immer wieder kleinere Lernzuwachsüberprüfungen. Das Mittagessen fand in Absprache der Kursteilnehmer kurz aus, was aber völlig in Ordnung ist. Wir wollten einfach Zeit sparen. Die Atmosphäre ist locker, freundlich und gemütlich. Kaffe und Kekse gibt es auch kostenlos. Auf Fragen wurde bestens eingegangen. Die Übungen im Pool waren auch super. Dort wurde man entsprechend seiner Fähigkeiten stück für stück an die Materie herangeführt. An Tag 3 und 4 ging es zu verschiedenenwunderschönen Tauchplätzen im Great Barrier Reef. Dort werden die für den Open Water Diver Kurs benötigten Übungen gemacht, man hat aber definitiv ausreichend Zeit um sich das Riff in Ruhe anzusehen. Die Crew der Evolution (das Boot der Firma) kennt sich gut mit den Meeresbewohnern aus und ist sehr gewillt tiefere Infos zu liefern und Fragen zu beantworten. Ich machte im Anschluss an den Open Water Diver direkt noch den Adventure Diver. Zum einen, um tiefer tauchen zu dürfen, zum anderen fühlte ich mich bei der Firma sehr gut aufgehoben, weshalb es eine sehr gute Entscheidung war noch länger mit ihnen zum Tauchen zu fahren. Zwischen den Tauchgängen gibt es übrigens leckeres Essen (Steaks, Fisch, Salate…) und man kann über dem Riff schnorcheln. Gegen Aufpreis sind auch Helikopterflüge, Glasbodenbootstouren… buchbar. Insgesamt hatte ich bislang meine besten Tage in Australien hier beim Tauchen!