SSI Advanced Open Water Diver Course in Andaman — Five Specialties, One Certification
The Advanced Open Water Diver course is a combination of 5 specialty dives (Navigation, Perfect Buoyancy, Night Diving, Deep Diving, and Marine Ecology) that most divers choose to do after their Open Water certification. This course lets you test all five specialities and dive to 30 metres within just 3 days — so you finish the course knowing exactly which specialty you want to chase next. SSI renamed this certification from “Advanced Adventure Diver” to “Advanced Open Water Diver” a few years back, so if you've heard it called that, it's the same course.
What Is the Advanced Open Water Diver Course?
The Advanced Open Water Diver course is the natural next step once you're Open Water certified. Over 3 days, you'll complete 5 dives, progressing to a maximum depth of 30 metres. All you need to join is an existing Open Water certification (or the equivalent from another dive agency) — there's no other prerequisite and no prior “advanced” experience required.
Five Dives, Five Specialties
Each of the five dives on this course gives you a real taste of a different SSI specialty:
Navigation — learn to use a compass underwater alongside natural navigation techniques, so your buddy and you can always find your way in case you miss the guide.
Deep Diving — plan and execute a multi-level dive using a dive computer and dive tables, building the skills you need to safely go deeper with longer bottom time.
Night Diving — get comfortable with dive lights and underwater communication in the dark or in limited visibility, opening up an entirely different sighting of the reef at night.
Marine Ecology — deepen your understanding of coral reefs and the marine life around them, so you start recognizing what you're seeing, not just looking at it.
Perfect Buoyancy — refine the buoyancy skills you already have from Open Water until they become second nature.
Enjoyed one of these enough to want more? Each links through to its own full specialty course.
Price, Dive Sites & Inclusions
The Advanced Open Water Diver course costs Rs. 24,000, with an instructor-to-student ratio of 1:2 to keep things personal and safe. Your five dives take you across four sites chosen to match each specialty — Tribe Gate for buoyancy, Purple Haze for navigation, Nemo Reef for your night dive, and The Wall or Dickson's Pinnacles for your deep and marine ecology dives.
What's included:
- All 5 specialty dives
- Full scuba equipment
- SSI Advanced Open Water Diver certification
- Instructor fees
- Pickup and drop-off between Govind Nagar & Vijay Nagar beach in Havelock
What's not included:
- Transportation such as flight or ferry tickets
- Food and accommodation (hotel rooms and meals aren't included)
- Sightseeing trips and private speedboat transfers
- Extra dives or snorkelling trips requested without prior payment
How the Three Days Run
Day One
Meet & Greet
- Pick-up from your hotel at 9 AM
- Finishing the paperwork required for the course
- Discussion of academic theory
- Equipment sorting as per your size
- Quick refresher on assembling and disassembling the equipment, preparing gear safely per the checklist
- Skills briefing — why we learn each skill, how the instructor demonstrates it, and how you'll need to perform it
- Heading to the beach at 10 AM
Perfect Buoyancy
- Getting into chest-deep water for skills practice at 10:30 AM
- Snacks break at 12 PM
- 1st dive at Tribe Gate, 12:30 PM — practicing buoyancy while changing depth
- Debriefing of the skills and the dive at 1:30 PM
- Drop-off at the hotel by 2 PM
In-water skills practice starts at 10:30 AM:
Day Two
Quick Start
- Pick-up from your hotel at 9 AM
- Discussion of academic theory
- Equipment sorting as per your size
- Preparing gear safely per the checklist, plus a deeper look at how to use a compass
- Heading to the beach at 10 AM
- Skills briefing, practicing compass use on land before heading into the water
Navigation
- Getting into chest-deep water for skills practice at 10:30 AM
- Snacks break at 12 PM
- 2nd dive at Purple Haze, 12:30 PM — practicing compass navigation (straight lines and squares) and natural navigation
- Debriefing of the skills and the dive at 1:30 PM
- Drop-off at the hotel by 2 PM
In-water skills practice starts at 10:30 AM:
Night Dive
- Pick-up from your hotel at 4:30 PM
- Equipment prep and briefing for the night dive
- Getting into chest-deep water for skills practice at 5:30 PM
- 3rd dive at Nemo Reef, 6 PM — practicing equipment handling (dive light use, surface marker buoy)
- Debriefing of the skills and the dive at 7 PM
- Drop-off at the hotel by 7:30 PM
In-water skills practice starts at 5:30 PM:
Day Three
Reaching New Depth
- Pick-up from your hotel at 8:30 AM
- Change into your 2mm wetsuit, head to the beach at 9 AM
- Short skills briefing: dive planning, depth limits, air consumption, dive computer reading, dive tables
- Boarding the speedboat, safety equipment briefing
- Gear prepped for the requirements of a deep dive; skills discussed and practiced partly during planning, partly during the dive
- 4th dive at 10:30 AM, at The Wall or Dickson's Pinnacles (depending on weather) — down to 30 metres, experiencing the effects of greater pressure
In-water skills practice:
Knowing the Reef and Its Inhabitants
- During the surface interval, an in-depth discussion on marine ecology — reef health, fish identification, food chains, and conservation
- Guidance on maintaining great buoyancy and using signals to point out fish or a school of fish, while staying within depth limits and watching marine animal behavior
- 5th dive at around 12:30 PM, same site options as Dive 4, wrapping up by 1:30 PM
- Detailed debriefing on both dives' skills
- Drop-off at the hotel by 3 PM, after equipment washing and maintenance
- Return to our office at 6 PM for your final exam and dive logging — certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver as soon as you score 75%
Congratulations on achieving the new depth limit in the ocean.
Eligibility & Refresher Policy
To join the Advanced Open Water Diver course, you just need to be Open Water certified — with SSI or any other recognized dive agency. If it's been more than 6 months since your last dive, or you have fewer than 30 logged dives, you'll need to complete a confined-water refresher first (Rs. 2,499) before joining this course. It's a quick, one-time session that gets your skills sharp again before you head back into open water. Please check our medical questionnaire form before booking, especially if you're above 49 and have any pre-existing health conditions.
Ready to Specialize?
Fell in love with one of the five specialty tastes? The Advanced Open Water course is just the preview — you can go deeper into any of them with a full SSI Specialty certification. Explore all of our SSI Specialty Courses in the Andaman.
FAQs
Advanced Open Water takes you deeper — down to 30 metres instead of 18 — and introduces five specialty skills (Navigation, Perfect Buoyancy, Night Diving, Deep Diving, and Marine Ecology) that Open Water doesn't cover. It's the next certification level after Open Water, not a replacement for it.
Yes, if it's been more than 6 months since your last dive, or you have fewer than 30 logged dives, you'll need a confined-water refresher (Rs. 2,499) before starting this course.
Yes, SSI renamed the certification from “Advanced Adventure Diver” to “Advanced Open Water Diver” — if you've seen either name, they refer to the same course.
The five specialty dives — Navigation, Perfect Buoyancy, Night Diving, Deep Diving, and Marine Ecology — are the default set, but they're not fixed. You can swap in other specialties like Boat Diving or Nitrox instead, so talk to us about what interests you before the course starts.
You'll progress to a maximum depth of 30 metres by your fourth dive, working up to it gradually across the three days.
Ready to Reach 30 Metres?
Book your SSI Advanced Open Water Diver course today and take your diving further — five specialties, one certification, three unforgettable days on Havelock.