Classes / Training

Classes and training for every level.

Online Training Fee $129.95

SCUBA diving certification class for beginners. Upon completion, you’ll be able to dive autonomously. Your certification is recognized internationally!

You can get started right now and complete all of the academic requirements on line. Then you can complete your pool and open-water dives with us, or at a popular vacation destination.

Our classes are small and we provide plenty of staff to give you personal attention. Often, our staff ratio is one to one or one to two, giving you a personalized experience that we’re sure will exceed your expectations. Our goal with each and every class is to go beyond the requirements and teach you more than most.

$ call – Open Water Diver (with purchase of mask, fins, snorkel, booties and gloves from Octopus Gardens)
$call – Open Water Diver (with your own mask, fins, snorkel, booties and glove)
$call – Open Water Referral (completing your ocean dives in another location (e.g. tropical)) Minimum 3 students.
$call – Private Open Water Diver Referral Class (starting price – based on progress and schedule)
$call – Private Open Water Diver (with purchase of mask, fins, snorkel, booties and glove from Octopus Gardens) (starting price – based on progress and schedule)
$call – Private Open Water Diver (with your own mask, fins, snorkel, booties and gloves) (starting price – based on progress and schedule)

Why not become a diver while on a tropical vacation?

If you’ve always wanted to dive but aren’t sure of diving in our waters, check out the warm, clear tropical waters of Mexico. Octopus Gardens Diving has teamed up with the Cortez Club to create a custom dive adventure. Start up here with the experienced and highly trained OGD staff for class and pool. Use your time in Mexico for diving, NOT homework.

After finishing you OW Referral, hop a plane to La Paz for 5 days. The friendly experienced staff will pick you up at the La Paz Airport and bring you to La Concha Resort. When you are not enjoying your ocean view or dining by the pool, you’ll be under the care and guidance of the Cortez Club team. The dive shop is onsite.

For two days you’ll be on a boat doing your certification dives and then two days of just fun diving. $1215 includes 5 Nights Stay at La Concha hotel and resort; 2 days OW dives; 2 days boat diving; marine park fees; lunch/beverages on boat; transfers from La Paz Airport; Mexican taxes, hotel service charge.

This price is based on double occupancy. If you are taking certified diver with you, their add on cost is $1065. Their package includes 5 Nights Stay at La Concha hotel and resort; 4 days of boat diving; marine park fees; lunch/beverages on boat; transfers from La Paz Airport; Mexican taxes, hotel service charge. OW Referrals (the class and pool you do here) start at $279 plus tax

Prices based on 2014 rates.

Call us for current rates and custom packages.

Call and talk with us about our specialty courses. We do more interesting dives and real world dive scenarios than many other providers.

$275.00 – Rescue Diver – Course materials extra
$275 – Deep Diving – Course materials extra
$225 – Navigation – Course materials extra
$175 – Night/Limited Visibility Diving – Course materials extra
$99 – Enriched Air Nitrox – Course materials extra
$275 – Wreck Diving – Course materials extra – includes ~ 6 dives (2 local and 4 Canada)
$175 – Dry Suit – Course materials extra
$175 – Drift Diver – Course materials extra
$175 – Boat Diving – Course materials extra – plus boat charter fee
$175 – Search and Recovery – Course materials extra
$119 – Equipment Diver – Course materials extra
$250 – Advanced Adventurer – No Course Materials

$69 – Scuba Discovery (pool experience) Includes ALL gear rental. All you need is swimsuit. If you want to go on to become a dive, we will apply your Try Scuba tuition toward the full Open Water training course (held during open-water classes – call for pricing on private try scuba classes or groups).
$79 – Refresher – Course materials extra
Call For Pricing – Snorkeling -Course materials extra
Call for Pricing – Divemaster, Dive Con or Instructor
Our mentoring program for pro-level courses allow you to customize your learning and have richer experience.

Frequent Questions

What is Open Water/Beginner SCUBA?

SCUBA diving certification class for beginners. Upon completion, you’ll be able to dive autonomously. Your certification recognized internationally!

Our program is designed to help you feel safe and comfortable diving anywhere in the world. We provide personalized private or small group sizes (4 to 6 students). You will have plenty of pool practice time and open water sessions. You will master basic self-help skills so your reactions to stressful situations are automatic leaving you to safely enjoy this new sport.

Flexible schedules allow you to choose the training program best for you. Utilizing our unique home study format cuts the time and gets you in the water faster. Class sessions can then be used to get your hands on the equipment and learn about unique features of diving in our environment. Knowledge review sessions ensure every diver understands the how to’s prior to entering the water.

Pool sessions are planned to enable new students to practice basic snorkel and scuba skills to perfection, for great safety and comfort during the open water sessions. Training is Preformance-Based, so we take you to the open water only when we feel you are comfortable and ready. You won’t feel pushed or rushed in our program!

Our open water sessions are conducted at any combination of our local dive sites: Point Whitney, Point Hudson, the Wreck of the Ranger or a graduation boat trip in South Puget Sound, OR we can help you arrange to complete your dives on your next Tropical Vacation!

We conduct open water dives at local dive sites to give new divers a chance to experience the specTACular diving in their own backyard. All SCUBA equipment is included in the tuition cost, though students will be required to provide their own snorkeling equipment and Student Training Kit.

Several Add-on class options are also available during Open Water training. Drysuit training is our most popular class add-on, as local Northwest waters can be fairly “brisk and refreshing” (45-50 degrees F). We are one of the only dive schools in the area offering drysuit diving to entry level divers. You don’t have to be cold!

Another option is Enriched Air Nitrox. “Nitrox” is oxygen-enriched air, and can offer significant safety advantages to dives. Divers using Nitrox typically can stay down longer, and feel less tired after dives.

What is Included?

What are the Requirements?

Clean Bill of Health or clearance by a Physician [download pdf form]
Personal Snorkeling Equipment: Fins, mask, snorkel, regulator mouthpiece, gloves, boots, swimsuit and towel. Classes are discounted if you purchase your equipment from Octopus Gardens Diving. Our instructors are available before, during, and after the course to personally fit students to their equipment. We have discounted prices and a liberal exchange policy for our students.

More About Online Training

Open Water Diver Course Online

Start Learning to Dive Today. SDI makes it possible for you to complete all of the academic requirements for your entry-level diver certification on line. You can get started right now and, when you are done, complete your in-water skill-development sessions and final open-water training dives at Octopus Gardens Diving, or at a popular vacation destination.

Getting your entry-level diver certification is a three-step process:

The first step is to acquire all of the important academic information every certified diver must know. (This is the underwater equivalent of a student pilot going through “ground school.”) Traditionally, this required attending several hours of formal classroom training. Now, through on-line training, you can complete this phase through self-study, at your own pace, in the convenience of your home or office.
The next step is to complete your in-water skill-development training. This takes place in a swimming pool or similar body of confined water. Here you will learn the fundamental skills that every diver needs to know. (It’s also a lot of fun.)
The final step is to complete four or more open-water training dives under the supervision of your SDI Instructor. Here you will apply what you have learned during your academic and skill-development sessions, while learning practical lessons that can only be gained through real-world experience in open water.

You have several options to complete the in-water phases of your training:

You can complete both the skill-development sessions and open-water training dives at Octopus Gardens Diving.
You can complete the skill-development sessions at Octopus Gardens Diving, and do your open-water training dives at the vacation destination of your choice.
You can complete the skill-development sessions at Octopus Gardens Diving, and do your open-water training dives with our friends at the Cortez Club in La Paz, Mexico.

Whatever option you choose, Octopus Gardens Diving can help you with the arrangements. When you are done with all three phases of your training, Octopus Gardens Diving will order your permanent certification card.

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Classes and training for every level.

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