Salt and Sea Scuba is a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center in North Phoenix that certifies new divers year-round. The PADI Open Water Diver course costs $585.00, takes about a couple of weeks, and combines online learning, training in our 12-foot heated indoor pool, and four open water dives at Lake Pleasant. Students must be at least 10 years old. When you finish, you hold a lifetime certification recognized anywhere in the world.
Getting certified with us has three parts. You can start any week of the year.
Complete the knowledge development online at your own pace — video, reading and short quizzes covering dive physics, equipment, planning and safety. Most students finish in 8–12 hours spread over a few evenings.
Skills are learned in our 12-foot-deep heated pool at the shop on West Bell Road, not in a cold public pool or a lake. You practice breathing underwater, clearing your mask, controlling buoyancy and handling problems in a controlled environment before you ever go to open water.
Your certification dives take place at Lake Pleasant, about 30 minutes northwest of the shop, with your instructor. Lake Pleasant charges a park entry fee, which students pay directly. Complete all four dives and your PADI Open Water Diver certification is issued.
The PADI Open Water Diver course at Salt and Sea Scuba is $585.00 and includes:
Complete your certification with eLearning, heated pool training and four open water dives.
Book Open Water10 years old. Divers aged 10–14 earn the Junior Open Water Diver certification and upgrade automatically at 15.
Basic water comfort — a 200 meter/yard swim (any stroke, no time limit) or a 300 meter mask-fin-snorkel swim, plus a 10-minute float or tread.
Every student completes the PADI Diver Medical questionnaire. A "yes" answer needs a physician's signature before in-water training.
Contacts are fine; prescription mask lenses are available online, but Salt and Sea Scuba can help you with this.
Most students complete Open Water in a couple of weeks, though the real timeline depends on you and your schedule. Because our pool is indoors and heated, there is no off-season — classes run on weeknights and weekends all year. Private classes that fit around your schedule are available for an additional fee.
Our pool is controlled and warm, and Arizona lakes are diveable twelve months a year. Skills learned here transfer directly to the ocean — many of our students earn their certification card in Phoenix and take their first reef dives on one of our staff-led trips.
Arizona has more certified divers per capita than many coastal states.
Short on time before a trip? Complete eLearning and pool sessions with us in Phoenix, and we'll issue a PADI referral so you can finish your four open water dives with a PADI center at your destination. We also accept referral students who started elsewhere.
Our 27 PADI instructors include Course Directors, Master Instructors and Master Scuba Diver Trainers with more than 80 years of combined experience — one has dived on projects for National Geographic.
Meet the teamFive adventure dives, depth limit to 100 ft. Minimum age 12.
Learn more →Longer bottom times on enriched air.
Learn more →Problem prevention and management.
Learn more →Emergency First Response training for primary and secondary care.
Learn more →The refresher if you have been dry for a while.
Learn more →Free gear rental for recreational classes and free specialty tuition for $49/month.
Learn more →These nine questions are the Section B FAQs you approved on 7 September, shown here for completeness.
Complete the PADI Open Water Diver course at Salt and Sea Scuba: eLearning at home, confined-water sessions in our 12-foot heated indoor pool, then four open water dives with your instructor at Lake Pleasant. Lake Pleasant charges a park entry fee, which is paid by the student.
The PADI Open Water Diver course at Salt and Sea Scuba is currently $585.00. This includes PADI eLearning, heated-pool training, rental gear for training, the four open water dives and your certification card. You supply your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots.
Typically a couple of weeks, combining eLearning, pool sessions and open water dives, though the actual time depends on the individual and their schedule. Because our pool is indoors and heated, training runs year-round. Private classes that fit your schedule are available for an additional fee.
Yes. PADI eLearning lets you complete the knowledge development at your own pace before your pool sessions.
10 years old. Ages 10–14 earn a Junior Open Water Diver certification; from age 15 the full Open Water Diver certification applies.
You need basic comfort in the water. PADI requires a 200 meter/yard swim (any stroke, no time limit) or a 300 meter mask-fin-snorkel swim, and a 10-minute float or tread.
Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots. All other equipment — BCD, regulator, tank, wetsuit and weights — is provided for training. As a Salt and Sea Scuba student you receive a student discount on your personal items if you don’t already have them, if you do have your own equipment we will need to verify that is scuba diving equipment not for snorkeling.
Yes. Skills are learned in our controlled, heated indoor pool before you move to open water, and Arizona lakes allow open water diving year-round.
Yes. Salt and Sea Scuba members get free gear rental for recreational classes (professional-level courses excluded) plus free tuition on specialty courses.
Salt & Sea Scuba · 4139 W Bell Rd, Ste 17, Phoenix, AZ 85053 · (602) 844-5732 · sales@saltandseascuba.com
Mon–Fri 11 AM–6:30 PM · Sat–Sun 7 AM–4 PM
