Try Diving or Take the PADI Open Water Course in Pattaya?
If you want to find out whether you enjoy scuba diving, choose Discover Scuba Diving. If you already want to become a certified diver and can make time for the training, choose the PADI Open Water Diver course.
Both welcome beginners. You do not have to take a try dive before starting Open Water.
The useful question is what you want from this visit to Pattaya: a day experiencing scuba with an instructor, or time spent learning the skills for future diving holidays?
The two options at a glance
Discover Scuba Diving: try it for a day
Best fit: You are curious about scuba or want a diving experience during your holiday.
Dream Team Divers price: THB 3,990 per person, the standard one-person price.
Time and dives: One day, with two guided open water dives.
Outcome: An introductory experience under a PADI Instructor's supervision. It does not certify you as a diver.
PADI Open Water Diver: work towards certification
Best fit: You want to learn to dive and continue diving after this trip.
Dream Team Divers price: THB 14,990 per person.
Time and dives: Normally three practical training days, including confined water training and four open water training dives. Allow separate time for PADI eLearning.
Outcome: Your first scuba certification once you successfully complete all course requirements.
The three-day schedule is a normal training plan, not a promise of certification by a fixed deadline. Progress depends on completing the required knowledge and skills.
Choose a try dive if you want to experience scuba first
You may like snorkelling but have no idea how breathing through a regulator will feel. Or you may have one free day and want to try something new without committing to a multi-day course.
Discover Scuba Diving gives you that first experience. There is still preparation: a briefing and basic skills practice come before exploring underwater with your instructor. You are learning enough to take part in a closely supervised introduction.
The Dream Team Divers programme includes two guided open water dives. Completing them does not make you eligible to book a trip advertised for certified divers. If you want a qualification, Open Water is the course to consider next.
A try dive is also a reasonable choice if you simply want to enjoy scuba during this visit. You do not need to decide now whether diving will become a regular hobby.
Choose Open Water if you already want to keep diving
If your plan is to dive on future holidays, Open Water gives you a foundation to build on. The course covers knowledge, confined water practice and open water training, with skills you must demonstrate before certification.
You learn how to use your equipment, work with a buddy and take responsibility for planning and carrying out dives within your training and experience. Guided diving can still be a useful choice after qualifying.
You can start as a complete beginner. Paying for a try dive first is optional, so there is no need to add one simply because you think it is a compulsory first step.
For the training sequence and preparation advice, read our Open Water course explainer. It covers what happens during the practical days in more detail.
Check your time and water confidence before deciding
Only one available day? Discover Scuba Diving is the shorter option. Check availability rather than assuming a place is available on your preferred date.
Several days available? Open Water may fit, but include your study time and discuss your travel dates before booking. Completing eLearning in advance helps you arrive prepared for the practical training. A tight departure deadline leaves less flexibility if you need more practice.
Unsure about swimming? Tell us before choosing. Dream Team Divers' sea-based Discover Scuba programme requires you to be able to swim and feel comfortable in the water. It should not be treated as an alternative for someone who cannot swim.
For Open Water, you must swim 200 metres without stopping, or 300 metres using a mask, fins and snorkel, and float or tread water for 10 minutes. There is no time limit for the swim. See PADI's certification requirements.
Both options have a minimum age of 10. Open Water students under 15 earn a Junior certification with age-related restrictions, so discuss arrangements for children before booking.
Both also require medical screening. Complete the required questionnaire early and arrange a physician's assessment if the form requires it. An instructor can explain the process, but an article cannot determine your fitness to dive.
If you are nervous, tell us what concerns you. Breathing underwater, wearing a mask and swimming confidence are different questions, and discussing them helps us advise you about the next step.
Compare what you are paying for
The current Discover Scuba Diving package lists an instructor briefing, full scuba equipment rental, two boat dives, boat transfers to the dive sites, and drinks and snacks on board.
The current Open Water package lists PADI eLearning, confined water training, four open water training dives, full equipment rental, boat transfers to the dive sites, drinks and snacks, instructor coaching, and the certification card after successful completion.
The course includes more than extra dives: it provides the study, practice and assessment needed for certification. Comparing only the price per dive misses that difference.
Before booking either option, ask for the complete quote for your dates. Check hotel pickup or meeting arrangements, meals, photographs, any extras and the applicable booking terms. Boat transfers to dive sites do not, by themselves, mean hotel pickup is included.
If you are thinking of trying scuba and then continuing straight into Open Water, ask about the plan before booking both. Do not assume the try-dive fee will automatically be deducted from the course price or that training requirements will be reduced.
Tell us what you want from your first dives
You do not need to know the right programme name before getting in touch. Send us:
Your preferred dates and how many days you have available.
The number of people and ages of any younger participants.
Whether you have tried scuba before and how comfortable you are swimming.
Whether you want to try diving for a day or work towards certification.
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