Learning to Scuba Dive in the Maldives! Getting the PADI Open Water Certification at Nova Maldives

If you’ve ever wanted to learn to scuba dive, but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place!

In this article I have outlined everything you need to know about getting the PADI Open Water certification, including what’s in the course, the skills you’ll be learning, what to expect, and what it’s like to do your PADI Open Water at a 5-star resort in the Maldives.

We did it at Nova Maldives, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. There’s a reason the Maldives are famous for their marine life, and combining that with the service and amenities of a luxury resort is even more special.

So what are you waiting for? Read on, and discover what it’s like to learn to scuba dive in the Maldives!

What is PADI?

PADI stands for Professional Association of Diving Instructors. It’s the largest recognised organisation in the world for scuba diving, which provides training and certifications.

There are thousands of dive centres all around the world that are affiliated with PADI. 

You can easily recognise them as they will have visible PADI signs, and once you complete your Open Water and have your PADI app, you can also see in the app official PADI dive centres near you.

When you complete a course with PADI you receive your certification card (a virtual card in the PADI app), which you can then show to dive centres around the world to prove you know how to scuba dive and are allowed to rent gear.

What is the Open Water Certification?

The PADI Open Water certification is considered the first step in a scuba divers journey. It allows you to dive independently with a buddy up to a depth of 18m.

To obtain it you need to complete an online e-course, pass an exam, and show you can successfully perform a series of essential scuba diving skills. You’ll be doing these throughout five confined water dives and four open water dives.

If once you complete you realise you love it, there are more courses you can do to progress your scuba diving journey, like the Advanced Open Water, which lets you go to 30m, or specialty diver courses like Deep Diver, Wreck Diver, Enriched Air courses and more.

Alternatively, if you want to be a diver scuba diver but you’re not comfortable going too deep or diving alone without a professional, you could also stop at Scuba Diver, which certifies you to go to a depth of 12m with supervision of a Dive Master.

Want to know more about getting your PADI Open Water certification at Nova Maldives? Check out my YouTube video below!

What will you do in the Open Water Course?

The Open Water Course includes an online e-course, five confined water dives and four open water dives.

While there’s no set amount of time required to complete it, it usually takes at least three days to complete, depending on how long it takes you to master the skills.

E-Course

If you already know you want to get the Open Water certification, make sure to get in touch with the Aquaholics team beforehand, as the e-course can be completed at home before your trip.

We did the e-course directly at Nova Maldives, and while studying on the deck of our water villa at sunset was simply magical, it felt a little rushed and it took time away from us just enjoying the beautiful resort. 

Unless you’re staying at Nova for a week or more, I’d recommend doing the e-course online beforehand, so that you can have more free time at Nova.

The e-course goes over everything you need to know to become an Open Water diver. From the theory of how diving and air pressure work, to potential risks and how to avoid them, and even useful tools and what to take with you diving.

It’s divided in five sections and there’s a short quiz at the end of each section, as well as a final exam of 50 that you need to pass with at least 75% to get your certification.

Confined Water Dives

The confined water dives are usually done, as the name suggests, in a confined water environment, like a pool or a calm lagoon. At Nova Maldives you’ll be doing it in the lagoon, just by the beach.

While the visibility might not always be great (three people paddling with fins in shallow water and lifting sand will do that), you’ll still be able to spot fish swimming past. I found it way more fun than doing this in a pool.

In theory you have to do five confined water dives (which correlate to the five sections of the e-course), but as some dives don’t have as many skills to master, it’s quite common to combine some of these dives.

The skills you need to master during the confined water dives are to prepare you in case anything were to happen when you’re actually diving, so that you can practise in a controlled environment and that you know how to react if it happens 18m under water.

For example you will learn a lot of regulator and air sharing skills, like what to do if your regulator gets knocked out of your mouth, how to find it again, how to clear water from it to start breathing again, how to share air with your buddy from the second emergency regulator, and how to swim together while doing so.

You also learn how to control your buoyancy underwater just by using your breath, as well as lots of useful mask skills, like how to get water out of your mask when you’re underwater. 

There are also emergency procedures that you need to learn, like what to do if you run out of air, or how to support your buddy in a whole range of scenarios.

Some skills will be introduced to you out of the water, and you’ll end up repeating them multiple times, both in confined and open water dives. Like the buddy check (where you check you’re both good and safe to go in the water), the five point descent (how to safely dive underwater), and five point ascent (how to safely return to the surface). 

It’s a very thorough course, which will prepare you for any eventuality in the water.

Open Water Dives

Besides mastering all the skills in the confined water environments, to qualify for the Open Water certification you have to actually complete a series of four open water dives.

For it to qualify as an open water dive you need to reach a depth of at least 5m, and the dive needs to last at least 20 minutes.

This is the fun part of the Open Water course! You actually get to go out on the reef, and see beautiful corals and marine life.

Depending on how many days you’ve given yourself to complete the course, your instructor might ask you to show you can master some of the skills during the open water dives too.

We did most of the open water dives on the house reef at Nova Maldives, which is beautiful, healthy and rich in marine life.

Our experience doing the PADI Open Water Course at Nova Maldives

Day 1

On the day we arrived at Nova Maldives we went to the Aquaholics Dive Centre to sign up for the Open Water Course. They gave us access to the e-course and kitted us out with our wetsuit and scuba gear for the next few days.

That way we could hit the ground running on the first full day of our PADI Open Water. 

We met Moosa, our diving instructor, bright and early at Aquaholics, where he started our course with a thorough explanation of how scuba diving works, and a detailed overview of the gear and how everything works.

We then did our first confined water dive in the lagoon, where we practised simple skills like removing our regulator, finding it again and clearing it of water, as well as letting some water into our masks and clearing it.

This is super useful if your mask fogs up while diving, as you can do it to clean the mask while underwater.

As this confined water dive was quite short, we then went straight to the house reef of Nova for our first open water dive. I was honestly in awe at how beautiful the house reef at Nova is.

Nova has an incredibly healthy house reef, with loads of colourful corals, and so many fishes swimming amongst them. We even saw a Nemo and a shark on our first dive! For a first dive, it was an amazing experience that got us really excited for the rest of the course.

After lunch at Soul Kitchen, we then spent the rest of the afternoon studying for the PADI e-course from the comfort of our overwater villa, with the occasional swim in the right from the deck as a break between sections.

Day 2

Day two was the busiest day of our Open Water course.

We started bright and early in the morning, with a long session out of the water with Jenna, who talked us through everything we would be doing today, as well as teaching us lots of essential information.

For example we learnt how to set up our scuba gear, and what to watch out for and check when you’re doing so, to make sure your gear is ready and safe to use.

We then hit the lagoon again, where we spent the whole morning mastering the skills required for confined water dives two and three, which is why it took a while.

We started with surface skills like exchanging between our snorkel and regulator while at the surface, and then moved on to more complex things like controlling our buoyancy with our breath when underwater.

A skill I found a bit scary, but which was very useful to learn, is when Jenna closed our tank so that we could feel what it’s like to run out of air, and get our buddy’s help to breathe with their regulator. We also had to master swimming together while sharing the regulator.

We also did loads of mask exercises, like removing it completely, wearing it again and clearing it of all the water.

After another delicious lunch at Soul Kitchen and a little break at our Water Villa, we were ready to continue our course in the afternoon.

A requirement of the Open Water certification is being able to swim for 200 metres and float for 10 minutes unassisted. We had to prove to Jenna that we could do so, before continuing with our second open water dive.

Unlike our first open water dive, which we spent just swimming up and down the house reef, during this one we also had to master a couple of key skills before we got to enjoy the house reef.

We started off the dive mastering the CESA, which was honestly a little bit scary, but I’m very glad we got to practise it in a controlled environment. The Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent is what you do if you run out of air, your buddy is too far, you’re not too deep, and you swim back to the surface on one breath.

We had to do a few rounds to master it properly, and once that was done we got to enjoy another beautiful dive on the Nova house reef.

Day 3

The final day of our PADI Open Water course began bright and early in the morning, where we mastered the final skills required by confined water dives four and five.

Even though this session also combined two dives, it went much quicker than on the second day, as there wasn’t as many skills to master and we got through it much quicker.

We practised skills like navigating with a compass at the surface and then underwater, how to carry a tired diver at the surface, how to remove your scuba gear any how to put it back on, both at the surface and underwater, and many more.

From there we went straight back on the house reef for our third open water dive.

For our final open water dive, we then went on a little adventure beyond Nova. The team took us by boat to the reef at Dhigurah, a local island near Nova in the South Ari Atoll Marine Park.

It was so cool to dive on a different reef, to see different corals, fishes, and we even spotted a turtle! It’s crazy to see how different one reef can be from another, even though they’re relatively close.

It was also fun to experience diving from a boat, with the big step jump to get in the water and in general the boat trip experience. On this dive we reached 18m of depth, completed our course and officially became Open Water divers!

Day 4

As you’ll learn if you take the PADI Open Water, guidelines say you shouldn’t fly after diving. How many hours you need to wait depends on how many dives you did and over how many days, but best practice says to wait at least 18 hours.

So, even if you could technically complete your PADI Open Water in three days like we did, it’s best to stay at Nova Maldives for at least one extra day (or more)!

Nova Maldives is a beautiful 5-star luxury resort, and you need the extra time to enjoy their incredible services. Whether it’s a relaxing massage at Eskape Spa, a romantic dinner under the stars, or a little paddle boarding, there’s plenty to do at Nova.

From Nova you can also go on amazing excursions to nearby reefs and snorkelling spots, like the Manta Quest, Whale Shark Snorkelling, or Turtle Quest tours. After three days of diving, it’s fun to see marine life from a different point of view!

Final thoughts on learning to scuba dive at Nova Maldives

And that’s a wrap on everything you need to know about getting your PADI Open Water certification at Nova Maldives! Have you ever scuba dived before? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments below!

Learning to scuba dive at Nova Maldives was a simply extraordinary experience. The level of attention we received from the instructors was incredible, and the rich marine life we got to see was magical.

Plus, being in a five-star resort while doing the course was great, as it meant we got to enjoy the fantastic services and amenities on Nova when we weren’t doing the course.

If you have any questions about learning to scuba dive at Nova Maldives just let me know in the comments below!

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