What to Expect During Your Open Water Diver Course

Patrick Cosgrove   Jun 30, 2026

So you’ve decided to learn to scuba dive. That’s one of the best decisions you’ll ever make — and we mean that. Whether you were inspired by a snorkeling trip, a nature documentary, or just a lifelong curiosity about what’s beneath the surface, you’re about to experience something genuinely life-changing.

At Midwest School of Diving, we’ve been certifying divers in the Twin Cities for over 20 years, and we’ve helped thousands of people take that first step. Here’s exactly what to expect when you sign up for your PADI Open Water Diver course with us — from the first form you fill out to the moment you surface from your final certification dive.

The Big Picture: How the Course Is Structured

The PADI Open Water Diver course has three main components that work together to build your knowledge, skills, and confidence:

1. Knowledge Development — learning the theory of diving (physics, physiology, equipment, and safety)
2. Confined Water Dives — practicing skills in a controlled pool environment
3. Open Water Dives — applying everything you’ve learned in a real lake environment

Each phase builds on the last. By the time you reach open water, you’ll feel genuinely prepared — not thrown in the deep end (well, not without good reason).

Step 1: Sign Up and Complete Your Paperwork

Before anything else, you’ll need to take care of a couple of important forms. We know paperwork isn’t the most exciting part of getting certified, but these two documents are required for your safety and ours.

RSTC Medical Statement

The Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) Medical Statement is a standard health questionnaire used by dive training agencies worldwide. It’s not a physical exam — it’s a self-evaluation where you answer a series of yes/no questions about your medical history.

Why it matters: Scuba diving is a physically active sport that places unique demands on your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Certain medical conditions — like untreated asthma, recent surgeries, or heart conditions — can increase risk underwater. The form helps you identify whether a physician sign-off is recommended before you dive.

What happens if you have a “yes” answer? That’s not a dealbreaker. It simply means we’ll ask you to visit your doctor and get medical clearance before starting.

Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Agreement

Like all adventure sports, scuba diving carries inherent risks. As part of your enrollment, you’ll sign a standard liability waiver that acknowledges those risks and releases Midwest School of Diving and PADI from liability for incidents arising from the normal risks of the sport.

We take safety extremely seriously — our instructors are trained, our equipment is maintained, and our student-to-instructor ratio is 6:1. But diving does involve the natural environment, and this form ensures you understand that going in.

Both forms are completed prior to your first pool session. We’ll send them to you digitally when you register, or you can complete them in-store during your orientation.

Step 2: Knowledge Development

Before you get in the water, you’ll work through the foundational knowledge portion of the course. PADI’s flexible eLearning system lets you study at your own pace from your phone, tablet, or computer — so you can read through the material, watch videos, and complete knowledge reviews on your own schedule before your first class session.

Topics covered include:

• How scuba equipment works (and how to set it up)
• Basic dive physics — pressure, buoyancy, and how your body responds to depth
• Dive planning and dive tables
• Underwater communication and buddy procedures
• Safety practices and emergency protocols

Each section ends with a short quiz, and the course wraps up with a final exam that your instructor will review with you. Don’t stress — it’s not a trick test. If you’ve read the material, you’ll be fine.

Step 3: Confined Water (Pool) Training

This is where things get exciting. Your confined water sessions take place at Centennial High School in Circle Pines, MN — just a short drive from our shop in White Bear Lake.

What You’ll Practice

Your confined water training is a single 4-hour session held on a Friday evening. In that time, your instructor will guide you through all the core skills every diver needs:

• Assembling and donning your scuba gear
• Clearing water from your mask
• Recovering a regulator if it’s knocked from your mouth
• Buoyancy control — hovering, ascending, and descending smoothly
• Air sharing with a buddy (the “octopus” regulator)
• Emergency ascents and out-of-air procedures
• Removing and replacing equipment underwater

The goal isn’t perfection on the first try — it’s building real competence and comfort. Your instructor will practice each skill with you until you feel confident, not just check a box.

Class Size and Instructor Ratio

We keep our classes small on purpose. Open water classes run 6 to 12 students, with a 6:1 student-to-instructor ratio in the water. You’ll get actual individual attention, not just a demonstration from across the pool.

What to Bring

Bring a swimsuit, a towel, and yourself. All essential gear is included in your course fee — mask, fins, wetsuit, BCD, regulator, air tanks, and weights. You don’t need to buy anything to get certified with us. (That’s not typical — many dive shops charge separately for gear rental, which can add $250 or more to the cost. We don’t do that.)

Step 4: Open Water Certification Dives

Once you’ve completed your knowledge development and confined water sessions, it’s time for the real thing.

Location: Square Lake, Stillwater, MN

Your open water certification dives take place at Square Lake in Stillwater, Minnesota — one of the clearest lakes in the state and a perfect training environment.

Site details:

• Depth: under 30 feet for certification dives
• Visibility: typically 10–25 feet
• 4 permanent underwater platforms for skill practice
• Easy entry and exit points
• A genuinely beautiful lake to experience your first real dives

Square Lake is a well-established training site that we’ve used for decades. It’s comfortable, predictable, and close to home — which makes it ideal for new divers building confidence.

What Happens During Open Water Dives

You’ll complete 4 open water dives over the course of a weekend (typically a Saturday and Sunday, or across two separate days depending on your schedule). Each dive builds on the last:

• Dives 1 & 2: Focused skill performance — you’ll demonstrate the techniques you practiced in the pool, at depth, in real conditions
• Dives 3 & 4: More exploration-oriented, putting your skills together as an actual diver

Your instructor will be right there with you throughout. You won’t be handed a slate and sent off alone — this is guided, structured, and supportive.

What to Wear and Bring

We provide full wetsuit coverage for lake dives. Minnesota lakes are refreshing (read: cold), so proper exposure protection is essential and included. We’ll advise you on what to wear underneath based on water temperature at the time of your dives.

Bring water, snacks, sunscreen, and a change of clothes for after. Dives are conducted in the morning and early afternoon, so plan to be at the shop by 8:00 AM on Saturday, and at the lake at 9:00 AM on Sunday.

Timing: How Long Does It Take?

The PADI Open Water course is designed to be completed in one to two weekends, depending on how you schedule it. Here’s a typical timeline:

Phase	Time Required
PADI eLearning (self-paced)	8–12 hours (complete before pool sessions)
Pool Session (Friday night)	1 session, 4 hours
Open Water Dives	2 days at Square Lake (4 dives total)

From registration to certification: most students complete the course in 3–5 weeks, accounting for scheduling and the time needed to finish eLearning. We recommend registering 3 to 6 weeks before your target certification weekend to ensure your preferred dates are available.

Course dates fill up — especially in spring and early summer. If you have a specific goal date in mind (a vacation, a trip, a milestone birthday), register early.

After Certification: What’s Next?

Your Open Water certification is recognized worldwide and never expires. Once you’re certified, you can dive anywhere in the world to a depth of 60 feet with a buddy.

But most divers don’t stop there. A few popular next steps:

• Advanced Open Water — extends your depth range to 100 feet, introduces specialty diving styles
• Drysuit Specialty — opens up year-round diving in Minnesota (our most popular specialty)
• Nitrox — increases your bottom time by diving with enriched air
• Ice Diving — yes, it’s a real thing, and yes, we teach it (we run the only internationally recognized ice diving festival in North America)

We can take you from your very first breath underwater all the way to a PADI Instructor certification under one roof. But that’s a conversation for after you’re certified.

Ready to Get Started?

The hardest part is signing up. After that, we take it one step at a time.

If you have questions about the medical form, scheduling, gear, or anything else — give us a call or stop in. We’re in White Bear Lake, open Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM and Saturday from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

The underwater world is waiting. Let’s get you there.

Register for Open Water Diver →

Midwest School of Diving is a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center located in White Bear Lake, MN. We offer certification training from beginner to professional instructor level, including ERDI public safety diving and HSA adaptive diving programs.