Open Water Diver (OWD) Certification
Our History of Teaching Open Water Diver
The Owatonna Dive Club has offered classes for new divers for over 30 years. We pride ourselves training and preparing new divers to be safe, confident, and knowledgeable about the sport of scuba diving. These classes have been led by club member instructors with several organizations including Scuba Schools International (SSI), Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), YMCA, National Association of Scuba Diving Schools (NASDS). Currently we have PADI instructor.
What Certification Looks Like
The course is a hybrid of online education along with in-pool skills and experience. There are 5 sections of the online learning and 5 pool sessions to go with the skills form those sections. After completing the course you must do 4 open water dives to show proficiency of the knowledge and skills learned. Those dives can be completed with us or we can give you paperwork to be completed at a different time (i.e. you are going on a trip to the Caribbean and want to do your 4 dives there)
What is the Timeline
We provide the course twice a year. The first one starts the first Wednesday of November. The second one starts the first Wednesday of February. The start date can change depending on pool availability. The course goes for approximately 6 weeks, meeting each Wednesday night, 7:30 to 10:00, at the Owatonna Middle School for pool skill. There are days when the pool is closed because of the school calendar or bad weather. The first week is completing preliminary paperwork, finding gear that fits and doing the prerequisite swim test.
Prerequisites to Joining the Course
- At least 10 years old
- Fill out a scuba medical questionaire
- Swim 200 yards w/o stopping, 300 if using mask, fins and snorkel
- Tread water for 10 minutes
Equipment Needed
You are required to provide your own mask, snorkel, and fins that are suitable for scuba diving. During the confined pool dives and the 4 open water dives we provide you with tanks, regulators, BCD and weights. For the 4 open water dives, we also recommend that each student wear appropriate thermal protection such as a wet suite, hood, gloves, and booties. If a student chooses to wear a dry suite during the open water dives, they will be required to participate in a dry suite orientation before attending the open water dives. Thermal protection can be purchased or rented at a local dive shop.
What is the Cost
We charge $400 for the course and open water dives combined. The average cost if you were to go to the Twin Cities or Rochester is roughly $350 for the class and pool confined dives and an additional $200 for the open water dives.
Our next class is scheduled to begin Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
To Join the Class
After submitting the above information, you will be contacted by Owatonna Divers about how to take the next steps.