Does a PADI Certification Expire?

A PADI Open Water Scuba Diving certification never expires. Your scuba diving license is valid for life.  PADI is a world renown dive organization that offers different levels of scuba diving instruction. For those interested in earning their scuba diving license, they can find a dive shop that offers PADI open water dive courses. If there are no dive shops close to you, the Florida Keys is filled with dive shops offering this course. The minimum age requirement for obtaining your open water scuba diving certification is 10 years old. If a scuba diver gets their certification and they are under the age of 15 they will receive a PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, once they turn 15 their license converts to a PADI Open Water certification. When a scuba diver completes their open water course and obtains their diving certification they are certified for life; their scuba diving certification will never expire!

Dive shops, especially in the Florida Keys, will ask about the date of your last dive before you book a dive with them. If it has been over a year since you last dove the dive shop will ask you to do a scuba refresher course before hopping on their dive boat. This course consists of going into the pool with an instructor and reviewing some of the main topics from your open water course. This will allow you to review topics that you might not remember or didn’t fully grasp from your open water course. The refresher course will also update divers on new, safer diving practices. Key Largo Scuba Diving offers this course to certified scuba divers for $209, this price includes all rental gear, instruction in the pool, and a guided two tank dive trip. The refresher course is open to all scuba divers, even if they have dove in the past 12 months. It can also be helpful to have a review of your open water course before entering a new advanced PADI course. Certified scuba divers in Key Largo can book a refresher course online with Key Largo Scuba Diving or call to get more information.