Weekend Scuba Classes in Pondicherry

It's the world's most popular scuba diving certification and your first full diving qualification. Once certified, you can dive with a buddy to 18 metres anywhere in the world, rent equipment and book dives without an instructor beside you. It's valid for life.

Our Weekend Scuba Classes are the PADI Open Water Diver course, taught over one Saturday and Sunday.

Yes, if you finish the PADI eLearning before you arrive and can pass the swim and float test. The weekend covers everything PADI requires for the Open Water Diver certification: five pool sessions and four open water dives. Nothing is skipped; the days are simply longer and fuller, starting at 6:30 AM.

You're certified once your instructor has seen you perform every skill. If you need a little more time with one or two of them, you can finish on another day, as PADI gives you up to 12 months from the start of your course.

Yes. Almost everyone feels unsure before their first scuba course, and you don't need to be a strong swimmer. If you can swim 200 metres at your own pace, with any stroke, and float for 10 minutes, you can join.

Your instructor teaches no more than 4 students, so you get real attention. You start in the pool, learn one skill at a time and only move on when you're ready. Breathing underwater is a new feeling, and you get time to settle into it before you go anywhere near the open water.

If a skill takes you longer, that's normal too. You can complete it on another day, as PADI gives you up to 12 months from the start of your course. An extra training day costs ₹5,500 + 18% GST.

Yes. You earn the same PADI Open Water Diver certification, valid for life and recognised worldwide, after the same training. Only the pace and the price are different.

If you have three days free and prefer a slower pace, the three-day PADI Open Water Diver course gives you more time between sessions.

₹25,000 + 18% GST per person, which is ₹29,500 in total. There's one price for everyone, with up to 4 students per instructor.

The price includes the PADI eLearning (the version without videos), pool training, four open water dives, equipment rental, instructor fees, certification fees and boat charges. Food and refreshments aren't included.

A 50% deposit confirms your place. The three-day Open Water Diver course costs ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 + GST, depending on the option you choose.

The minimum age is 10. Children can join as long as they pass the same swim and float test and finish the eLearning. Children up to 14 earn the PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, which upgrades automatically when they turn 15.

Junior divers have extra limits: 10- and 11-year-olds dive to a maximum of 12 metres with a parent, guardian or PADI professional, and juniors up to 14 must always dive with a certified adult. If you learn together, you can be that certified adult on your next family dive.

Two full days are a lot for a young child. If you're unsure whether your child is ready for the pace, WhatsApp us and we'll talk it through with you. There is no upper age limit for adults in general good health.

Yes. Saturday starts with the swim and float test: a 200 metre swim (or 300 metres with mask, fins and snorkel) and a 10-minute float without swim aids. PADI requires it for the Open Water Diver certification, so non-swimmers can't join the weekend classes.

You can still breathe underwater with us: the PADI Discover Scuba Diving programme needs no swimming skills, and your instructor stays with you throughout.

Yes, and this is the one rule we can't bend. The PADI eLearning takes most people about 5 to 6 hours, and we send it to you as soon as you book, so you can work through it in the evenings before you travel.

There's no time for it during the weekend. If you arrive without it finished, we can't start your training, and we can't be held responsible for a weekend missed for that reason.

Diving is a relatively low-impact activity. You don't need to be very fit, but you should be in general good health.

If you have an underlying health condition, or you're over 45, see a doctor before you book. Read the PADI Medical Questionnaire in advance so you know what to expect.

As a PADI Open Water Diver you can dive to 18 metres (60 feet) with a buddy, anywhere in the world.

10- and 11-year-olds are limited to 12 metres (40 feet). To be trained to dive deeper, to 30 metres, the next step is the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course.

It depends on the time of year. November to January is cyclone season on our coast, so winter weekends follow a fixed plan: on Day 1 your open water dives are in a calm freshwater inland quarry (and depending on conditions that day, your confined water sessions may be there too), and on Day 2 we go out to the ocean on our boats from the UNA Harbour if the sea allows. If the weather isn't right, the whole of Day 2 moves to the quarry too.

Either way, your weekend goes ahead and the quarry dives count towards your certification in exactly the same way. From February to October, sea conditions are usually good and open water dives are normally in the ocean.

On the rare occasion that neither boat nor quarry dives are possible, we give you a voucher valid for one year to complete the rest of your course, so your progress is never lost.

A new batch starts every weekend, Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 AM, with a limited number of places each weekend. The current batches run every weekend from 21 November 2026 to 31 January 2027; see the batch calendar for the places left.

To book, tap "Book this weekend" in the calendar, WhatsApp us on +91 93852 30820 or call +91 94296 90234 with the weekend you'd like. We confirm your dates, a 50% deposit secures your place, and we send you the PADI eLearning straight away.

Chennai is about 150 km away, roughly 3 to 4 hours by road. Bengaluru is about 310 km, roughly 6 to 7 hours by road or an overnight bus. From Hyderabad, most people fly to Chennai and drive down.

With a 6:30 AM start on Saturday, plan to arrive on Friday evening so you're rested. Our dive centre is at No. 3, St. Theresa Street, near Le Green Day Spa, Pondicherry.

Wait at least 18 hours after your last dive before you fly, as international diving standards require after multiple dives. With your last dives on Sunday, that means flying home on Monday.

If you're going home by road, to Chennai or Bengaluru for example, you can set off on Sunday after your course.