How to Know When You’re Ready for Open Water Dives
Learn the key signs that you’re prepared for your first open water dive, from mastering basic skills to feeling confident and comfortable in the water.
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How to Know When You’re Ready for Open Water Dives
Your first open water dive is one of the most exciting moments in scuba training. Pool sessions give you the foundation, but the open water introduces new factors—currents, visibility, and depth. Knowing when you’re ready helps ensure that first dive is memorable for all the right reasons.
One of the clearest signs you’re ready is confidence with your basic skills. Clearing your mask, recovering your regulator, maintaining buoyancy, and equalizing should feel smooth and instinctive. If any skill still feels awkward, ask your instructor for a little extra practice—it’s worth the time.
Being comfortable in your gear is just as important. Knowing how your BCD inflates and deflates, how your wetsuit fits, and how your gauges work allows you to focus on the dive instead of fumbling with unfamiliar equipment.
Your mindset matters, too. Some nerves are completely normal, but if you feel more anxious than excited, consider starting with another pool session or shallow water dive to rebuild confidence.
Finally, trust your instructor’s feedback. They’ve guided plenty of divers into open water and can spot when someone is fully prepared—or when another session would help. Their experience is invaluable for making that first dive safe and fun.
When your skills feel automatic, your gear feels familiar, and your nerves are balanced with excitement, you’ll know you’re ready. That first open water dive isn’t just another lesson, it’s the start of a lifetime of exploration beneath the surface.
Happy and safe diving,
The ScubaBlast Team
Divers Alert Network (DAN). (2023). Building diving confidence. Retrieved from https://dan.org/health-medicine/health-resources/dive-medical-reference/diving-confidence/
PADI. (2024). How to prepare for your first open water dive. Retrieved from https://blog.padi.com/prepare-for-your-first-open-water-dive/
SSI. (2024). Student diver readiness checklist. Retrieved from https://www.divessi.com/en-ic/get-certified/open-water-diver