PADI Advanced Open Water Course
PADI Advanced Open Water Course
Duration: Approximately 2 days, excluding independent study
Meeting point: Sunreef at The Wharf, Mooloolaba
Price: $699 including five dives on the Ex-HMAS Brisbane (charter fees plus tanks and weights), PADI Touch eLearning, an internationally recognised PADI Advanced Open Water Certification, and credit towards your Master Scuba Diver rating.
If you need to hire gear, please see our booking form for more information.
Prerequisite: You will need to hold a PADI Open Water certification or equivalent. You must be 12 years or older and be an adequate swimmer, feel comfortable in the water, and in good physical health. You may be required to get a medical clearance before starting the course, please see below to see if this applies to you.
What you can expect
Sunreef’s Advanced Open Water Diver Course gives you a taste of what more specialised diving activities are out there. It is designed to advance your skills under the supervision of an experienced instructor to help you feel comfortable in a variety of situations, including being certified to dive to 30 metres! You will learn how to navigate underwater and explore greater depths and much more!
Divers please note that finishing the eLearning before your dives will help you get the most out of your time underwater.
Check in at Sunreef starts at the time outlined on your confirmation email or text. When you arrive, we will see you at our check in desk and ensure that your gear is organized. If you bring your own gear, our crew can carry it down to the dock and set it up for you, or if you prefer you will be free to do it yourself. If we know you are hiring gear, everything will be organized for you prior to check in.
On departure to the Ex-HMAS Brisbane, our trained crew will provide a thorough briefing for all our divers about the Ex-HMAS Brisbane site and will answer any questions you may have about it. Once the boat exits the calm waters of the Mooloolaba River system, it is around a 15 minute ride to the site. The vessel will be moored and our crew will help you set up to get in the water.
Each dive is planned to last for either 20 minutes or will end to have you on the surface with 50 bar (whichever one comes first), while also taking into consideration the skills that need to be completed by all student divers in your group.
Every dive is different depending on the conditions that day and time.
Between dives, we will come up for a surface interval where you are provided snacks and water. Feel free to bring along your own snacks if you have allergies or would like more substantial food.
Day 1
Typically on this day you will complete three different adventure dives: Underwater Navigation, a Deep Dive, and a Wreck Dive.
– Underwater Navigation focuses on reinforcing your skill with an underwater compass and use of natural navigation.
– The Deep Dive conducted will demonstrate to you the effects of pressure and the changes of colour at depth. The risks of nitrogen narcosis will also be covered, making you a better equipped diver for deeper dives in the future.
– The Wreck Dive you will complete on the Ex-HMAS Brisbane will be the perfect setting to prepare yourself for any future wreck dives. You and your instructor will identify potential hazards to wreck dives, better preparing you for safer, more enjoyable dives on different wrecks in the future.
Day 2
Usually you will complete the last two dives on this day, where you can choose from the following: Fish Identification, Underwater Naturalist, Boat Dive, Peak Performance Buoyancy, even Enriched Air Nitrox or a Night Dive! Please contact us if you would like to know more about choosing a Night Dive and/or Enriched Air Nitrox as there are extra costs for these two courses.
Scuba diving equipment
Air tanks and weights are included in the course, however please see the below list of the necessary dive equipment:
- Mask, Snorkel and Fins
- BCD (with whistle and SMB)
- Regulators
- Dive computer/watch
- Dive slate (not available for hire)
- Wetsuit
If you have all your own equipment, please remember that for the PADI Advanced Open Water course you must have a snorkel, computer, SMB, and a whistle along with the rest of your scuba equipment (BCD, tanks, weights regulators, mask, snorkel, fins, wetsuit, gloves).
If you do not have all the above listed gear, it will be available for either hire or purchase from our shop.
Take advantage of the Sunreef Student Diver Discount to purchase necessary gear. The Sunreef shop has many options to purchase all the above listed gear, your PADI Dive Instructor or the Sunreef shop crew will help you with finding the best options for you, and give you recommendations on everything you need.
Student Divers please read the following
To enroll in a PADI Advanced Open Water course you must be 12 years old or older. You need adequate swimming skills and need to be in good physical health.
Prerequisite: Minimum PADI Open Water certification or equivalent.
Required forms: Each diver must complete a Sunreef PADI Advanced Open Water Course Enrollment Form before starting this course with us.This will be sent out to you with your booking confirmation. When booking in for your PADI Advanced Open Water Course you will receive a link to a waiver. If you answer “YES” to certain medical questions on this waiver, you will need to receive a medical statement from your doctor. We will provide the acceptable format for the medical statement if required. Please read our Terms and Conditions for more information.
Course confirmations: The course dive will depend on the sea conditions and weather. We will monitor this closely and if the weather or sea conditions are unsuitable, we will let you know as soon as we can. We will send out an email and text message the day before your trip around 3:30 pm to inform you of the status of the trip and its departure time. If you do not receive the text message and email you must call us on +61 7 5444 5656 we will not call you to confirm receipt of the messages.
Seasickness and equalization: If you find yourself dealing with seasickness or being unable to equalize, our crew will look after you and ensure you are comfortable and safe. However, as this is not something in our control we will not issue any rebookings or refunds for inability to equalize or being seasick and not completing dives. We suggest you consider seasickness tablets to minimize the risk of seasickness affecting your trip. We will attempt where possible to help you equalize as we descend however we are responsible for the safety of all members of our groups therefore if we cannot in sufficient time and with the safety of the other divers help you descend we will take you back to the surface and you will be unable to complete that dive, we will however where possible take you back in on the second dive and help you try again.
Parking: The Wharf complex has 4 hour parking available, however you will need to find suitable parking for the tour you are on as some of our trips will be over 4 hours. There are some unlimited parking spaces available outside of The Wharf Mooloolaba / SEA Life car park, however please keep in mind especially if you are on an 11:30 am or later trip that parking can get very busy. Please give yourself at least 15-20 minutes for parking. You can find a parking map of The Wharf Mooloolaba here.
