SSI Open Water Course + SSI Dry Suit certification

The SSI Open Water Course combined with the SSI Dry Suit certification offered at 2DiVE4 is the world’s most popular entry-level diving program, providing comprehensive training for beginners and marking the first full certification in the scuba diving tuition system, making it an ideal choice for aspiring divers to gain essential skills and confidence in the water.

During this course you will learn all the skills needed to dive confidently to a maximum depth of 18 metres, independently of a dive professional.

The SSI Open Water Course + SSI Dry Suit certification, is conducted by our highly qualified 2DiVE4 scuba diving instructors and is divided into 3 areas:

Academic Training (eLearning at home, followed by a quick review in class at our dive centre in Bishop’s Stortford)
Confined Water Training (swimming pool sessions) – At training pools in Bedford or Bishop’s Stortford
Open Water Training (lake or coastal sessions) – at Stoney Cove or Capernwray

On booking the SSI Open Water Course + SSI Dry Suit certification, 2DiVE4 will send you yourSSI Open Water Course and SSI Dry Suit Course eLearning codes, for you to log on and complete the home study.

On completion of this course you will be awarded with the world’s most recognised diving qualification… The “SSI Open Water Diver”….. As well as the SSI Dry Suit Diver qualification!

Full SSI Open Water Course + SSI Dry Suit certification – 2 weekends

The full SSI Open Water Course is conducted over two weekends. The first step is to contact 2DiVE4 to book onto your SSI Open Water Course and select your desired dates. 2DiVE4 will then send out your Open Water eLearning code and Dry Suit Course eLearning code for you to get studying straight away.

Once you have completed the home study you attend the first Saturday of the course, where you’ll be given a quick theory review, before going through kit set up. You will then get a chance to see all the dive gear you will be using during the course and get a chance to see the different brands and variations in scuba diving equipment available.

On the Sunday we make our way to our pool location, either at Bishop’s Stortford College Pool, or Polam pool in Bedford where your the 2DiVE4 dive team will conduct the confined water modules of the course. There are around 24 skills you need to master in the pool over the five pool dives. The five dives are conducted by 2DiVE4’s experienced and patient dive team.

So on the first weekend you would have successfully completed all the theory modules at 2DiVE4 Scuba School premises and pool modules of the course at our Hertfordshire or Bedford dive pool location.

This will then leave your four open water qualifying dives to do with 2DiVE4 the following weekend at one of our training lakes in Leicestershire or Capernwray. These locations will give you the plenty of training platforms and great facilities to complete your training.

The four open water qualifying dives at our training lakes will be conducted on the second weekend. You will conduct two dives each day and on the dives your diving instructor will ask you to repeat a selection of skills you already mastered in the pool the previous week. The only difference is that you will be doing it in a deeper environment. For you Dry Suit Course, there will be a fifth dive to complete (dry suit dive 2).

2DiVE4 give you one on one supervision as standard on all four of your open water dives, so you will be well looked after. In our training lake you will find a sunken ship wrecks, airplanes and lots of other things, all put there for points of interest for the new diver. At the end of each dive you will complete a dive log on your scuba diving App. After the fourth dive we will be shaking your hand and saying “Congratulations, you are now a fully qualified SSI Open Water Diver”.

Course Duration

Independent Home Study (SSI Open Water eLearning, followed by a 4 hour class session at 2DiVE4)
2 Day Academic Training and Confined Water Training (Swimming pool session)
2 Day Open Water Training (Lake or Coastal session)

Pre-requisites

No diving experience necessary
Minimum age: 10
Able to swim 200 meters non-stop any style
Able to tread water for 10 minutes
Complete a medical statement attached to our online booking form

Price Includes

All academic materials (SSI eLearning)
All equipment hire (except mask & snorkel and dry suit, if choosing the dry suit upgrade)
Swimming pool entrance fees
SSI certification fee

Price Excludes

Dive site entry fees
Mask & snorkel and dry suit, if choosing the dry suit upgrade
Air fills
Transport to sites

What you will need to bring

Swim Suit
Mask & Snorkel
Towel

Open Water Course Dates 2026/2027

The Open Water Course is conducted over 4 days and is split into 3 different areas:

Theory – 5 sessions
Confined water dives (swimming pool) – 5 dives
Open water dives (lake) – 4 dives

The 4 day course structure at our Bishops Stortford & Bedford venues is as follows:

Day 1 – 10am-2pm, 2DiVE4, Bishops Stortford – Theory review
Day 2 – 9am-5pm – Pool dives 1 – 5 – All months Bedford, except July & August (Bishop’s Stortford)
Day 3 – 8am-5pm – Open water dives 1&2 – Leicester all months except June, Aug & Oct (Lancs)
Day 4 – 8am-5pm – Open water dives 3&4 – Leicester all months except June, Aug & Oct (Lancs)

2026/2027	Day 1 Saturday	Day 2 Sunday	Day 3 Saturday	Day 4 Sunday
Open Water Diver	26/09/26	27/09/26	03/10/26	04/10/26
Open Water Diver	24/10/26	25/10/26	07/11/26	08/11/26
Open Water Diver	28/11/26	29/11/26	05/12/26	06/12/26
Open Water Diver	30/01/27	31/01/27	06/02/27	07/02/27
Open Water Diver	27/02/27	28/02/27	06/03/27	07/03/27
Open Water Diver	20/03/27	21/03/27	27/03/26	28/03/27
Open Water Diver	24/04/27	25/04/27	01/05/27	02/05/27
Open Water Diver	29/05/27	30/05/27	05/06/27	06/06/27
Open Water Diver	19/06/27	20/06/27	26/06/27	27/06/27
Open Water Diver	17/07/27	18/07/27	24/07/27	25/07/27
Open Water Diver	07/08/27	08/08/27	14/08/27	15/08/27
Open Water Diver	28/08/27	29/08/27	04/09/27	05/09/27
Open Water Diver	25/09/27	26/09/27	02/10/27	03/10/27
Open Water Diver	30/10/27	31/10/27	06/11/27	07/11/27
Open Water Diver	27/11/27	28/11/27	04/12/27	05/12/27

All students must bring their own mask and snorkel for hygiene reasons, which can be purchased at 2DiVE4, and those taking the Dry Suit Course will need to hire a dry suit.

Since the course is performance-based, additional training may be offered if the 2DiVE4 instructor deems it necessary, at an agreed cost.