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Sport Scuba Shop and Aquatic Center

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A diver under the water in the Bahamas

The Open Water Course

The SSI Open Water Certification Course is what you need to begin your diving adventure! All of our open water courses are built on a custom schedule. Meaning, we work to fit your schedule.

This is your scuba journey. You take it as quickly or slowly as you wish, during the excitement of summer or the dead of winter, with several friends or flying solo. Whatever your preferences are, we’ll work to get you on the right path.

Everything we do is to get you as comfortable as possible underwater.

100% Refundable

No matter the reason, no matter how much equipment you’ve gotten, if you don’t like diving, we’ll refund everything!

We understand this is completely new to you. We’re here to guide you into the best equipment and comfortably lead you through the training.

The Free Lesson Program

Purchase your dive equipment with us and we’ll refund your pool and certification dives.

The Free Lesson Program
A diver waiting to start a dive
A dive instructor going over nitrox analysis

The Course

The course consists of three main parts. First is the at-home study material provided through Scuba Schools International, SSI’s, online platform and app. The second is the pool training sessions. These are normally done in 4 4-hour sessions that include both classroom and pool time spent with the instructor. Finally, we have the certification dives which are another 2 4-hour sessions where your instructor tests your practiced skills!

The Price

Total: $750

  • Online Training Materials: $150
  • Scuba Pool Training Tuition (4 sessions): $400
  • Scuba Certification Dive Tuition: $200
  • (Optional) Nitrox Certification: $200

The Requirements

Before class starts, you need to have your own personal snorkeling equipment, including a mask, fins, booties, and snorkel. You can purchase this when you sign up for classes or show up 30-60 minutes early to your first class.

You also need to complete a series of online forms through our training agency platform. This includes the Medical History Form, which may need to be signed off by an MD/Do, depending on your answers.

The Certification Dives

Our certification dives normally happen at Fantasy Lake in Rolesville, NC. This flooded quarry has been transformed into a scuba park, full of interesting underwater treasures! Students can swim over planes, a rock crusher, and automobiles.

If the weather isn’t warm enough for the quarry, we also offer spring trips down to Key Largo where we cater trips specifically for certification dives.

Dive students practicing their giant strides into the quarry

A diver giant striding into the ocean

Welcome Aboard!

To learn more about the first day and our local certification dives, including lists and instructions for how to prepare for both, please check out our welcome guide!

Welcome to Scuba!

Get Started Now!

If you’re interested in getting Open Water certified, come on in or give us a call! We love to walk our new students through the building to show them where they’ll be training and fully explain each step of the process. While you’re here we’ll talk about your general availability and get you registered for your digital learning material. This is also a great time to sit down and try on your mask, fins, and boots!

Visit Us!

Want to try it at home?

Get the first three sections of your digital material for free!

If you want a taste of what the course is like, start with the digital material! Fill out your information below, and in a few days, you should get an automated email from Scuba Schools International, SSI, instructing you to log in.


  • MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Try Scuba

If you want a little bit more, but not quite sure this is right for you, we offer these 1-lesson courses as a brief taste. It is essentially the first lesson of the Open Water Course. However, unlike the Open Water Course, this is non-refundable.

Tuition: $160 per person

Contact us to set up your custom Try Scuba!

Contact Us!
The training pool

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Oak City Swim School
AirTech Scuba Services
(919) 255-1931
3651 Bastion Ln.
Raleigh NC, 27604