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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
  • Free Wifi

  • 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, 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, WiFi 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 Monday & 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 - Wednesday: 12.00am - 6.00pm, Thursday - Friday: 9.00am - 6.00pm and Saturday: 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 21 June 2022 -
K
keralucu
Sarpsborg, Norway
Awesome liveaboard dive trip

We hadn't done a liveaboard trip for a few years, so were really excited for our adveture with Pro Dive Cairns to dive the GBR just before leaving Australia to return to our home country. We were not disappointed! The boat (Scubapro III) was well laid out with enough space and facilities for the 24 divers plus instructors/dive masters & crew. The food was tasty and plentiful, prepared by the young, cheerful cook Casper and there was always something warm to eat after each dive. As for the dives themselves, it was very wet on the surface (we were there during the heavy rains in May) so on the first day the light was a bit gloomy at depth, but it was still a delight to to dive Milln Reef and see how much marine life there was. The sun came out on Day 2 when we were diving Flynn Reef which was perfect so we could see the beautiful coral gardens. One thing that surprised us was that we were told, as certified divers, we were pretty much on our own to navigate the dive sites as there weren't enough dive masters to lead us. As we've recently been used to being lead on dives it was slightly unnerving, however in the end it was actually great as it forced us to refresh our navigation skills and the dive sites were carefully selected for easier diving so no worries at all! We always managed to navigate back to the boat :-)) The entire crew did a great job, and were very strict with security protocols, to ensure that everyone was onboard after each dive site. We felt secure and well looked after at all times. We highly recommend diving with Pro Dive Cairns!
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- Reviewed 1 August 2022 -
SD
Sigrid De los Santos
Superb liveaboard

Very good experience! All the staff was very professional and dedicated. They were always willing to help. They were also very friendly and open to share their cool diving memoirs!The dive spots were also very nice, we spotted stingrays (blue spotted), clownfish, turtles, sharks, and heard a whale underwater! There were also other cool animals like a wide range of corals.The food was superb, very very healthy and tasty. There’s all types of food so everybody is satisfied. The chef, Marinus, cooked really well. My sister and I are lactose intolerant and he took this very seriously and made sure we always had something tasty to eat. You’ll find yourself always diving, sleeping or eating! The only thing I missed is having the option to get a longer wetsuit, I normally freeze underwater. I definitely recommend this liveaboard, I would do it again without any hesitation.Thank u guys for such an amazing experience.
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- Reviewed 25 August 2022 -
A
anne2319
Incredible experience

Could not recommend this enough! The whole trip was such an incredible experience. Between the whole live on the boat situation and the reef with all the corals and the wild life, it was well worth it. Flo, the PADI instructor, was so knowledgable, passionate and relatable, it made me fall in love with diving.
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