We’re Changing the Way We Teach Open Water — Here’s Why

How Long Does It Really Take to Complete the PADI Open Water Course?

We get asked all the time how long it takes to complete the PADI Open Water Course.
For years, our answer was shaped by what the industry considered “normal.” The standard reply? Somewhere between 2.5 to 3 days.
That answer wasn’t necessarily wrong — but it was rooted in confirmation bias. It was simply what everyone else was doing. And for a long time, we did the same at Anti Gravity Divers.
It has been common practice across the industry to complete confined water training in as little time as possible. Instructors who moved quickly were often seen as efficient — even superior. Skills were “ticked off.” Sessions were ended early, sometimes with 120 bar still left in a student’s cylinder.
We now believe that approach was fundamentally flawed.

Breaking Out of the Echo Chamber

As our founders and managers moved deeper into higher-level technical diving, we were exposed to a very different training philosophy. One that challenged the “this is how it’s always been done” mindset.
Technical divers don’t rush training. They maximise repetition. They prioritise comfort and mastery. They use every minute underwater with intention.
That exposure forced us to take a hard look at how entry-level training is typically delivered.
And we decided to change it.

Where Corners Were Traditionally Cut

In the PADI Open Water Course, there are:

• 5 Confined Water (CW) training sessions
• 4 Open Water (OW) training dives

Traditionally (and this is still the norm), the structure often looks like this:

• CW 1 combined with OW 1
• CW 2 & 3 combined into one session (1–1.5 hours total)
  
• CW 4 & 5 combined into one session (another 1–1.5 hours)
  
• CW 2,3,4 & 5 are also often combined into one long 2 - 2.5 hour session (THIS IS JUST WRONG!!!)
  
• OW 2, 3 & 4 conducted at 30–60 minutes per dive
  

If you’re lucky, that results in around 6 hours of total underwater time.
For a course that forms the foundation of someone’s diving career, that simply isn’t enough.

Our New Approach (Starting March 2026)

From March 2026 onwards, Anti Gravity Divers will be running the Open Water Course differently.
We will treat each confined water dive as its own dedicated session:

• CW 1 (may be combined with OW 1) – approx. 1.5 hours
• CW 2 – minimum 1 hour
• CW 3 – minimum 1 hour
• CW 4 – minimum 1 hour
• CW 5 – minimum 1 hour

Open Water dives will also be planned around reserve pressure air consumption to maximise meaningful dive time — not just minimum standards.
In total, students can expect a minimum of 8 hours underwater.
And that minimum applies whether there is 1 student or 4. With 4 students, sessions may take longer.
Being a quick learner doesn’t mean the course should end sooner. If anything, cutting time short only means you’re shortchanging yourself.

Why This Matters

More underwater time means:

• More repetition
• More comfort
• More control
• More real experience

And that leads to:
Better dive training = More confident divers = More competent divers
We’re not interested in producing divers who just meet standards.
We want to produce divers who are genuinely comfortable underwater.
Because comfort creates safety.
And safety creates longevity in diving.

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PADI Course Director Anand Chandra Sekaran
Anti Gravity Divers,
Perhentian Island, Malaysia.