"Open Water Diver" diving licence costs

The costs for the "Open Water Diver" diving licence usually vary between €300-400, depending on what is included in the price. Many diving schools offer all-inclusive diving courses that include all the equipment and any additional costs for the diving licence. Other diving schools offer the course at a very favourable price, but the additional content has to be purchased separately. So what exactly do the diving licence costs include?

1 - Dives / theory lessons

Most diving schools belong to the PADI or SSI associations and follow the internationally standardised training guidelines. This means that the vast majority of PADI and SSI diving schools include the same number of pool dives and training dives in the sea. For the Open Water Diver diving licence, there are 5 theory lessons, 5 training sessions in the pool or shallow sea and 4 dives in the sea. However, the number of theory units and dives included in the diving course also depends on the diving school in question: If you would like to learn the theory at your leisure at home in advance, fewer theory lessons will be required on site; if you would like to add another practice dive in the sea to consolidate your knowledge for safety's sake, the diving school will certainly be happy to offer this for a favourable price as part of the overall course package.

2 - Equipment

As an absolute beginner, you are faced with the question: Do I want to buy my own good equipment right from the start or do I want to hire the equipment? However, if you have no previous experience of diving, it is best to hire equipment first. If you would like to go diving regularly after the diving course, you can still buy all the equipment yourself afterwards with the knowledge you have acquired during the diving course. However, you should definitely buy the most important ABC equipment (diving mask, snorkel, fins), as this is your basic equipment and you will have much more fun diving with suitable and comfortable basic equipment. A good diving mask is available from around €40, fins from around €40 and snorkels from around €10.

In addition to the ABC equipment, the diving licence costs also include the wetsuit (and, depending on the water conditions, an ice vest/head cover if necessary), booties, the BC jacket, the tank, two regulators, the dive computer, the pressure gauge and weights. For hygienic reasons, many people prefer their own wetsuit, which costs upwards of around €200 depending on the thickness and workmanship. All the technical equipment components vary greatly in price depending on the desired quality. However, as your personal safety under water is at stake, it is always advisable to buy high-quality diving equipment - the total cost of around €1,300 for complete new equipment is, however, quite high for a beginner. Therefore, your own ABC equipment or at least a mask and snorkel are sufficient for the diving licence, the rest of the diving equipment is normally included in the diving licence costs.

3 - Additional costs

This part of the costs for the diving licence varies greatly. Certification with PADI, SSI or the respective diving organisation costs around €35 and is usually included in the cost of the diving licence. The theory textbook can either be purchased in paper form for around €40 or can also be accessed online at any time as a digital textbook. A medical check-up (diving certificate), which should be obtained from a diving doctor before the diving course for your own safety, costs around €50 (in Mallorca), whereby the costs vary greatly depending on the region and scope of the examination.

For particularly cheap OWD diving courses, you should make sure that the price also includes tank fills, any swimming pool entries (if you do the diving course in Mallorca, this part is not included) and the logbook (also available as a paid paper version for approx. 30 € or as a free version in the PADI / SSI apps for mobile phones). Normally, the diving licence costs also include diving insurance, which is available for around €20 per year.

Conclusion

Diving is not a cheap hobby - either you dive regularly so that the high purchase costs for the equipment are worthwhile (for frequent divers there are then often dives available as packages) or you buy a diving licence.The more you dive, the cheaper the individual dive becomes), or you only dive occasionally with rental equipment, for example on holiday. The Open Water Diver diving licence costs around €400 in total and entitles you to dive worldwide to a depth of up to 18 m with a diving partner of the same level or higher. Take the opportunity to complete your diving course during a holiday in Mallorca and always have the chance to discover the fantastic underwater world of your holiday destination on your future holidays.