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Advanced PADI open water COURSE

PADI Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver certification


  • 11 dives
  • Dive Insurance
  • Transfers
  • All Dive equipment
  • Double or twin share
  • All meals

  • PADI

take your dive skills to the next level

The PADI Advanced Open Water Course is the first step beyond basic certification and is designed to develop your confidence underwater by expanding your existing skills. Conducted on the Pro Dive Cairns three-day, two-night liveaboard dive trip, there is no more spectacular classroom than The Great Barrier Reef itself, with its abundance of marine life and excellent diving conditions year round.   

The prerequisite for this course is a PADI Open Water certificate or equivalent from another training agency. There are no formal classroom sessions involved, but students will need to read through the PADI Advanced Open Water manual and answer the relevant knowledge review questions for each training dive. Our course is designed to have minimal intrusion on the enjoyment of your liveaboard experience with ample time set aside to complete the knowledge reviews throughout the trip.

Our PADI Advanced Open Water course offers 11 dives with access to a selection of 19 outer reef dive sites on four magnificent reefs: Flynn,Thetford, Milln and Pellowe Reef. Diving at different times throughout the day, you will be able to encounter an amazing diversity of marine life including giant clams, sea turtles, stingrays, reef sharks, an incredible variety of tropical fish, spectacular coral formations with consistent underwater visibility. Night diving will introduce a whole new dimension of nocturnal life.

The Advanced certification requires the completion of three core dives: deep dive, underwater navigation, peak performance buoyancy and night dive. You must also complete two elective dives, which can include nitrox, underwater naturalist, peak performance buoyancy, boat. Other elective options may be available which you can discuss with your instructor.  

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Between dives, relax in comfort onboard one of our three premium Scubapro dive vessels. These purpose-built, liveaboard dive vessels feature air-conditioned twin bunk bed or double bed cabins, spacious decks and catered meals. With small passenger numbers, we are able to offer a high quality, personal experience with dedicated attention from our professional staff.

Departing Cairns every day except Tuesday, our three-day, two-night liveaboard trips offer a truly memorable and exciting way to fully immerse yourself and experience our magnificent world heritage Great Barrier Reef environment.


Important Health and Safety Information: 
Before commencing your PADI Advanced Open Water course, you are required to complete the self-assessment Continuing Education Student Diver Medical Declaration. A positive response to any question indicates there is a pre-existing condition which may affect your safety while diving and you must consult a medical practitioner, preferably with experience in diving medicine, to obtain a dive medical certificate that states you are medically fit to dive. 
To obtain a copy of the Continuing Education Student Diver Medical Declaration, please click here. The medical must be completed within 12 months of starting your dive course.



Why Choose Pro Dive Cairns?

  • Purpose built, PADI Five Star Dive and Career Development Centre
  • All dive crew are fully qualified PADI instructors. You will be diving with a passionate team of experienced professionals, ensuring the quality of your experience and your safety
  • Our boats carry a maximum of 32 passengers and six crew, providing you with a more personal experience
  • We provide a true liveaboard experience with our boats departing from and returning to Cairns for every three-day, two-night trip, with no boat to boat passenger transfers
  • Access to 19 high-quality dive sites ensuring a diverse range of reef environments and dives
  • Pro Dive Cairns is a high standard operator with Advanced Ecotourism Certification, committed to the long-term conservation of The Great Barrier Reef
  • Pro Dive Cairns has one of the highest safety standards in the world. With safety the number one priority, there is no safer place to dive in the world



Additional Courses or Optional Extras: 

Nitrox Advanced PADI

Advanced & Enriched air PACKAGE (NITROX) 

Combine the Enriched Air (Nitrox) course with the PADI Advanced Course to get the most out of your three days on The Great Barrier Reef.  

ENRICHED AIR PACKAGE (nITROX) 

Only available for divers with enriched air (Nitrox) certification. 11 dives with enriched air (Nitrox) provided.  


 $110Per person

Optional Upgrade


Tour Itinerary

We recommend that you visit our retail shop located on the corner of Grafton and Shields streets the night before your trip to arrange the diving/snorkelling equipment, ensure the necessary paperwork is in order and to ensure your certification details are correct. The shop is open Monday - Sunday: 12.00am - 6.00pm.

Please note, the below itinerary is a guide only, and the order of sites and dives may change. The skipper will always adapt the plan to the prevailing weather, tides and currents.

Additional Information


Tripadvisor Reviews

4.5Excellent! (Based on 1,090+ Reviews)


- Reviewed 11 October 2022 -
RI
Rachel Ink
Sacramento, CA
ProDive and the GBR

Signed up to dive the GBR with ProDive because they were the only service to offer a dive trip within the length of time I'd available and at a price that didn't break the bank. I wasn't sure what to expect, but after the completion of my time on the 3-day/2-night liveaboard cruise, I would recommend ProDive to any traveler! Some highlights from the trip:-Solo traveler, but made friends with other divers and staff immediately starting with hotel pick-up. -Advanced Open Water certification offered on-board & my dive buddy and I signed up immediately! Amazing price for this very expensive upgrade certification. -Delicious food. Never went hungry!-Expert instructors who don't get paid enough for the work they do. ProDive is able to keep rates low because their staff does everything -- briefs the diving location, instructs upgrading and new students, cleans the parlor area after meals & washes dishes, cleans the living areas after the cruise, operates the shuttles! -Moored on incredible reefs and saw leatherback / hawksbill / green sea turtles, multiple sharks, clownfish, giant clams, a plethora of parrotfish, moray eels, stingrays, and all of Nemos friends! I'd dive with any of the ProDive staff any day of the week, but Flo really gets a special shout-out from me. As we started to descend to complete our deep dive for AoW, I was unable to equalize and I aborted the dive. After completing the dive with the rest of the students, Flo offered to do a 1-on-1 during the next diving session in which we were able to go slow and let my ears sort themselves out. It was an incredibly safe and controlled descent and probably one of the most magical dives of the 11! She is a true lover of the sport and ambassador of the GBR. Hope you get the opportunity to learn from her as I did!
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- Reviewed 3 August 2022 -
GC
Graeme C
Melbourne, Australia
Great experience and diving

Fantastic and well organised trip. I was doing my Advanced Open Water and Nitrox course (good combination!), and the diving and dive sites were great. Plenty of yummy food, and the crew looked after us really well. Particular shout out to Caleb as the AOW instructor - educative and in control without micro-managing - and Kevin as supervisor, who was equal parts entertaining and informative.
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- Reviewed 28 June 2022 -
DN
Daniel N
Excellent safe scuba diving. Beautiful outer reef.

My wife and I really enjoyed our minke whale liveaboard trip. Our dive master Matthieu was excellent and made sure we well looked after. We were only recently certified open water PADI divers with limited experience and Matthieu made sure we were comfortable and confident in scuba diving on the reef day and night dives despite crazy winds and waves. About half way through we felt confident enough to go on our own and enjoy the wonderful outer reef. Overall, great experience on the liveaboard. The minke whales were elusive but the reef encounter and night dives we're stunning and highly memorable. Also, special thanks to the prodive crew for keeping us safe despite the inclement weather and allowing us to safely dive as much as possible. We thank God for the safe and stunning trip in His beautiful creation. Highly recommended!
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