PADI Open Water Diver Course — Hurghada

The PADI Open Water Diver course is the world's most popular scuba certification, and the warm, clear, calm water of the Red Sea is one of the best places on the planet to earn it. Over three days you go from never having breathed underwater to being a certified diver licensed to dive independently with a buddy to 18 metres, anywhere in the world, for life.

Day one starts with dive theory — the physics and physiology of diving explained in plain language, with the PADI manual and knowledge reviews to anchor it — followed by confined-water sessions in calm, shallow conditions. Here you learn and practise every core skill until it feels natural: mask clearing, regulator recovery, buoyancy control, buddy checks and simple self-rescue.

Days two and three move to the open sea for four training dives over real coral reefs. The first two dives are limited to 12 metres while you consolidate your skills; dives three and four extend to 18 metres, and by the final dive you are genuinely diving — navigating, watching your air, hovering effortlessly while butterflyfish stream past. A short final exam wraps up the theory, and your instructor processes your lifetime certification on the spot.

Requirements are simple: minimum age 10 (junior rating until 15), ability to swim, normal good health confirmed by a standard medical statement, and reasonable comfort in water. Everything is included — full equipment, materials, certification fee, lunch and drinks on training days, and transfers within Hurghada. Couples and families save by learning together: two persons pay €642 total and three persons €904 total.