PADI Open Water Diver Course
Learning to dive is easy with St. Louis' oldest and most experienced PADI dive shop.
Learning to dive is a simple two step process.
The first step is completing the classroom and pool portion. You can complete your classroom through online study or a more traditional approach by completing a home study program with a provided book and DVD and then reviewing the material in person with one of our PADI certified instructors.
In conjunction with the classroom or online study you will also complete the pool portion. These sessions are conducted at our state of the art indoor scuba training pool (AquaCenter) located in St. Charles county near the intersection of Highway 94 and Kisker Road. This is a unique training facility and is the only one of it's kind in the St. Louis area.
The second step is to complete four training dives in open water. During these four dives you practice the skills you learned in the pool and gain experience and comfort diving in open water. You can complete these dives with our PADI certified instructors at one of our local training locations or you can complete these dives at one of thousands of PADI certified resorts and dive shops around the world. While necessary for certification, the price for the open water dives is not included in the price for the class and pool portion.
Following successful completion of the classroom & pool sessions and the four open water training dives you will receive certification as a PADI Open Water Diver.
Why choose The Great American Diving Company to learn to dive with?
As the St. Louis' areas oldest PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center we are able to offer you a unique and exceptional experience. We invite you to talk to other dive shops in the area first and then speak to us. We are positive you will find that we are exceptional in several important ways. Our staff is the most experienced in the area and each and every one of them is an active local diver and an avid dive traveler. Your instructor is the most important factor in you having an outstanding experience in class and our staff is committed to making sure that happens.
We are also the ONLY dive shop in the area with our own pool and training center. Because of that, your class is easy and convenient. All sessions are held at our AquaCenter and because of that there is no traveling between locations, hauling gear, returning gear and generally being difficult. Everything is located in one convenient location - classrooms, pool and gear. And because it's our own pool there won't be any distracting swimmers, apartment tenants or other activities other than scuba happening when you are there.
We are so sure that you will find your class the exceptional experience we claim that if you complete the class & pool portion and are dissatisfied then we will refund your money. We have offered this money back promise for several years and not a single person has ever taken us up on it and we sure you won't. If you want a exceptional experience you are in the right place.
Every one of our courses includes the following:
All materials including access to the online classroom website or at home study materials which are yours to keep.
All in person classroom and pool instructor fees.
All rental equipment including scuba gear, tanks, weights and wetsuits - you must provide your own scuba quality mask, snorkel, fins & boots. You receive a rebate on these when you purchase them from one of our two retail locations (see below).
Rebates and discounts of over $500 on mask, snorkel, fins & boots (which you need for class anyway), free days of equipment rentals, discounts on scuba gear, dive site admissions to go fun diving after certification and continuing education courses.
Free stuff - always changing - always exciting. Get some cool stuff just for being in our class.
All of this is just $600 / person. You do need to be at least 10 years of age at the time you start the class.
The open water dives required for certification are $150 / person and includes all four dives, all instructor fees, admission to the local dive site, air fills for the weekend, rental equipment for the weekend and certification fees and card.
Private Option
Because we have our own pool available to us 24/7 we are the only option in the St. Louis area for true private classes. Private classes are very popular because they can be scheduled when YOU want them. Private classes are available year round and are an additional $250 / person for the class & pool portion and $240 / person for the open water portion. Speak to any of our in store professional instructors for more information.
Class & Pool sessions are available in weekend and evening schedules listed below.
2011 Schedule
Open Water Certification Dives are held on the weekends listed below.
Getting started is easy - call or stop by and sign up today. You can begin your class today!
Drysuit Option
Be sure to take advantage of our Drysuit Option! Drysuits keep you warm and toasty when the water's chilly. There's no reason not to enjoy your open water dives as much as possible. Drysuit divers dive more, enjoy their dives more and are warmer after the dive.
Do all your training dives using a modern dry suit system and become dry suit certified the same weekend you do your Open Water Diver certification dives. It's only $125 / person (that's a $30 savings over doing the Drysuit Diver course later) and includes a drysuit orientation session, one pool dive with the drysuit, use of the drysuit on all your open water dives and one additional open water dive. Plus you'll be one step closer to finishing your Advanced Open Water course and earning your Master Scuba Diver!
Cancellations
Time is a precious thing these days and we never have more! Rest assured that we DO NOT cancel classes - EVER! If you sign up for one of our courses we guarantee that it will happen - no need to worry about it being canceled.