PADI Advanced Open Water Course in Roatan
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver · Recreational certification · 2 days
Extends your training to thirty metres and introduces five different specialty diving experiences in two days — deep, navigation and three of your choice. The course that turns you from a new diver into a properly versatile one.
What you'll do
Five guided adventure dives over two days
Each of the five dives introduces a different specialty discipline. Two are mandatory — Deep Diver and Underwater Navigation — and you pick the remaining three from a wide list of options. There's no separate confined-water training; the skills are taught and assessed on the actual dives. Theory is delivered through PADI eLearning before or during the course.
Choose your adventure dives
Available on Roatan
Deep Diver
A single deep dive to around 30 m on the West End wall. Introduces no-stop limit awareness and gas planning at depth.
Underwater Navigation
Compass work and natural-navigation practice on sand patches and reef.
Wreck Diver
Exterior survey of a sunken freighter — optional swim-through with a properly briefed entry plan.
Night Diver
Dusk descent on a shallow reef; octopus, lobsters and parrotfish tucked into their reef pockets.
Peak Performance Buoyancy
Fine-tunes trim, weighting and breathing — the single dive most divers say transformed their diving.
Drift Diver
The gentler current sites on the north shore of the island.
Fish Identification
Caribbean reef-fish families, basic ID skills, and survey methodology on a normal reef dive.
Search & Recovery
Search patterns, lift bags and small-object recovery — technical-foundation skills.
Five Adventure Dives
Each Adventure Dive previews a complete PADI specialty
Deep and Underwater Navigation are mandatory; three more from your pick of the catalogue.
What's included
$400 standalone, all-inclusive
- Tuition with a qualified PADI Instructor
- PADI eLearning access — Adventures in Diving materials
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification fee
- All scuba equipment rental for the duration of the course
- All boat dives, tanks and weights
The Roatan Marine Park fee is payable separately to the Marine Park on arrival.
The Advanced course is included in our Open Water-entry Divemaster and Instructor packages — you don't pay it as a separate line item. The standalone $400 price above is for divers who just want the rec certification.
Why Roatan is good for AOW
A reef built for variety
The wall structure means a thirty-metre Deep Adventure Dive is a normal recreational dive site, not a logistic exercise — you'll be on a vertical reef the whole way down. Calm conditions in the marine-park zone make Peak Performance Buoyancy and Underwater Navigation worth doing properly, and night dives off West End are some of the busiest on the island for sleeping fish and active invertebrates.
Beyond 18 metres
Wrecks, walls, and the world below recreational
Advanced Open Water extends your depth limit to 30 metres.
Requirements
Who can take this course
- PADI (or recognised equivalent) Open Water Diver certification
- Minimum age 15, or 12 for Junior Advanced Open Water with reduced depth limits
- PADI medical statement signed
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How long does the PADI Advanced Open Water course take?
Two days. The course is five adventure dives with theory delivered through PADI eLearning before or during the course. There is no separate confined-water training session; the skills are taught and assessed on the actual open water dives.
What is the prerequisite for PADI Advanced Open Water?
PADI Open Water Diver certification, or a recognised equivalent from another agency. Minimum age 15 for the full Advanced Open Water rating, or 12 for Junior Advanced Open Water with reduced depth limits. A signed PADI medical statement is also required.
How many dives are included in the AOW course?
Five adventure dives. Two are mandatory — Deep Diver and Underwater Navigation — and you pick the remaining three from a wide list including Wreck, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Drift, Fish Identification and Search and Recovery.
Which Adventure Dives are mandatory in PADI AOW?
Deep Diver and Underwater Navigation are both required. The Deep dive takes you to around 30 metres on the West End wall and introduces no-stop limit awareness and gas planning at depth. Underwater Navigation covers compass work and natural navigation.
What depth limit does Advanced Open Water certify you to?
Thirty metres. PADI Open Water Diver certifies you to 18 metres; Advanced Open Water extends that to 30 metres, which covers the vast majority of recreational dive sites worldwide.
Does each Adventure Dive count toward the full PADI specialty?
Yes. Each Adventure Dive within the AOW course is effectively the first dive of the corresponding full PADI specialty. If you complete the full specialty later, the Adventure Dive you did during AOW can credit toward it.
Is AOW included in your Divemaster or Instructor packages?
Yes. Advanced Open Water is included in our Open Water-entry Divemaster and Instructor packages — divers starting from Open Water do not pay for AOW as a separate line item. The standalone $400 price applies to divers who just want the recreational certification.
Doing this as a step toward going pro?
Advanced Open Water is included in our Open Water-entry Divemaster and Instructor packages. If you're already Open Water-certified, get in touch about the pathway that fits where you're starting from.
Just want the certification?
Coconut Tree Divers — our host dive centre — handles standalone Advanced bookings directly.
