The Cheapest Places in the World to Get Dive Certified in 2026

PADI is the largest of the agencies that certify recreational divers.

Roughly eight out of ten certified divers worldwide hold one of its cards, and the entry-level qualification, the “Open Water Diver”, is a first step that matters: it lets you rent equipment and book a dive almost anywhere on the planet without an instructor holding your hand!

What it takes to get it?

Officially just three or four days of training!

The card then has no expiry date, and works from Sharm to Cozumel!

It basically certified that you’ve got the basic notions to dive and survive at moderate depths 😉

As diving is becoming more and more popular around the world for both tourists and travelers alike, a lot of wanderers end up building entire trips around getting their first PADI certification!

And here is exactly how this article happened xD

I was idly checking what an Open Water course would cost me in Italy (where I am from).

Then, out of curiosity, what the same course costs on Koh Tao (as a friend talked me about it!).

The gap was wide enough that I opened a second tab, then a fifth, and eventually a spreadsheet (the “nerd me” woke up! xD).

Two hours later I had researched the actual prices for PADI from around the world converted them into the same currency, and wrote plenty of notes on what each one actually includes and where the numbers hide things 🙂

Leaving all that in a spreadsheet felt like a waste, so here I thought of sharing with you my shortlist of what I believe to be the most interesting places to get a diving cert!

Let’s dive right in! 🙂

💡A QUICK SPOILER:

PADI issued 1,317,383 certifications in 2024, the highest total in its history. And according to PADI’s own data, the five countries where those cards are issued most often are the USA, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt and the Philippines.

Four of those five are on my list.

The USA is not, because it costs about three times as much!

Jump to a destination 👇

Malaysia — best value once you count what’s included
Egypt — the cheapest course here, and the shortest flight from Europe
Honduras — cheapest in the Americas, hardest to reach
Thailand — the volume champion, for better and worse!
Philippines — the most marine life per euro 🙂
Indonesia — where haggling is officially banned xD
Colombia — no longer the bargain everyone still calls it, but still good!

First, how to read a dive course price

This is the part most comparisons skip in my opinion, and it is why two courses advertised at the same price can differ by 200 or 300 euros in the end.

An “Open Water” course has five separate cost components.

Cheap operators quote you one or two of them and mention the rest on day three.

Instruction — the instructor’s time, normally 3 to 4 days

eLearning — PADI’s digital theory, billed separately by a lot of shops

Equipment rental — BCD, regulator, wetsuit, tank, weights (in cheaper countries, you normally save on gear!)

The PIC — the Positive Identification Card, what PADI charges the dive centre to actually issue your certification

Local fees — marine park entry, harbour tax, boat surcharge

A course advertised at 200 euros that excludes eLearning, gear and the PIC lands at around 330.

And so in that case, a 290-euro all-inclusive package would be cheaper!

TIP: Ask which of the five are in the number before you pay a deposit!

Then check one more thing that never appears on a price list: how many students per instructor!

PADI standards permit up to eight in open water.

Some more premium centres cap it at four.

Those are little details that you will not likely notice the difference when booking, but will notice it on the day you have to clear a flooded mask! ^^

Diving is a beautiful experience, but learning how to use your gear correctly is VITAL!

So, personally, in my choice it is better not economize too much, but choose a quality centre with an dedicated instructor (learn good once, dive forever! :)).

Said that, let’s dive into the shortlist! 🙂

1. Malaysia:

Best value once you count what’s included!

Snorkellers in clear water off a Malaysian island

Malaysia sits right on the equator, so the water on its east coast stays at a steady 27–30°C all year round, and the diving in the Malaysian waters is genuinely good: calm, current-light bays with 10–20m visibility…very forgiving for a first certification!

The only catch to be aware of, is the northeast monsoon, which shuts the whole east coast from roughly November to February, so the season is shorter.

The two islands worth checking out for Padi courses are Tioman (the more developed of the two – a two-hour ferry from the mainland), and the Perhentians further north, smaller and popular with backpackers willing to do their first course on a lower budget.

Most operators on both run from 1 March to 20 November.

The course alone runs at roughly RM 1,200–1,500 (€250–310).

Full Tioman packages then, including three nights, nine meals and return ferry, normally range between RM 1,500–2,500 (€300–500), including the room and the food (all in one!).

All in all, Malaysia is third in the world for PADI certifications issued, behind only the USA and Thailand, a strange ratio for a country of 35 million people, and it says a lot about how concentrated the industry is on this handful of islands.

Malaysia is also one of the few budget destinations where the alternative route into the water is priced sensibly: a four-day free diving course on Tioman costs RM 1,400, about the same as Open Water, with no tanks, compressor or boat needed for most of the training.

What’s good

course, gear, permit, meals, room and ferry usually bundled into one figure;
warm water year-round with no wetsuit needed;
sheltered, beginner-friendly bays;
marine park rules have kept the reefs in noticeably better shape than most of the region.

What’s not

The season closes for roughly three months;
getting there eats most of a day each way (bus or car from Kuala Lumpur, then a ferry);
fewer big-animal encounters than the Philippines or the Red Sea.

2. Egypt

The cheapest course here, and the shortest flight

Egypt’s Red Sea coast enjoys a true desert climate: next to no rain, and summer air that regularly passes 40°C!

Water in Egypt only drops to around 21–22°C in the coldest month (January) but still it remains warm enough to dive comfortably 🙂

That warm, clear water sits right off a shoreline reef, which is exactly why Dahab (mall town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula) built its whole backpacker economy around teaching people to dive 🙂

On the Sinai peninsula, nearly all training happens shore-entry, straight off the house reef, so most of the course needs no boat at all!

Courses start from 13,000 EGP, and several Dahab centres quote $230–260 with free dorm accommodation included for the duration.

Egypt ranks fourth globally for certifications just after Malasya, and the lack of a boat is the single biggest reason the price stays this low:)

What’s good

the lowest verified prices on this list, often with a bed thrown in;
easy-to-reach from Europe
shore entry means more time in the water and no seasickness.

What’s not

summer air regularly passes 40°C;
winter water needs a proper suit;
the Blue Hole has a long, well-documented history of diver deaths among people exceeding their training (so just be sure to stay in the safe zone!)
reef condition at the busiest Dahab sites has reportedly declined in recen years

3. Honduras

Cheapest in the Americas, hardest to reach

Honduras runs hot and humid nearly year-round on its Caribbean side.

The only real weather risk here, is the hurricane season, running from June to November.

The reason people fly all the way out here anyway is Utila’s position on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-largest reef system on the planet.

In the Bay Islands, Utila is a small, walkable island with 14 dive shops (an incredible concentration!) and one of the very few places where whale sharks show up in almost any month (personally, I don’t see it as a plus as that makes me still a bit scared, but I am still a novice eheh).

Open Water runs around $270, and most of those shops throw in a free dorm bed for every day you dive with them.

Accommodation stops being a separate cost here, which is unusual outside Malaysia and Egypt as you will see soon!

All in all, in Honduras you could get the cheapest certification in the Americas by a wide margin, but the flight is where the saving disappears: Roatán or La Ceiba, then a ferry, comfortably €700–900 return from Europe 😛

What’s good

lowest price in the Americas by a wide margin;
free accommodation is the norm here, not a promotion;
whale shark encounters year-round, peaking March–April and August–September.

What’s not

the flight wipes out the saving unless you stay for a proper stretch or you are already located in America
hurricane season runs June to November;
mainland Honduras has genuine safety problems, though the Bay Islands themselves are calm.

4. Thailand

The volume champion, for better and worse

Thailand’s Gulf coast is tropical and generally calmer than the Andaman side.

That’s one reason Koh Tao can run courses almost every single day of the year.

It’s also the most competitive dive market on earth: a few square kilometres hold dozens of dive centres, all needing students!

That keeps prices down and standards uneven in roughly equal measure.

Koh Tao is often called the second-biggest source of certifications anywhere after Cairns, though no agency actually publishes figures by island, so treat that one as industry folklore rather than data.

What is certain: Thailand ranks second worldwide for PADI certifications overall.

Courses run 9,900–12,000 THB (€270–325), with 11,000 THB as the going rate 🙂

What’s good

huge supply keeps prices down and courses start daily;
shallow, easy training bays with cheap food and beds all around them.

What’s not

class sizes frequently sit at the standards’ maximum of eight, so ask before booking;
visibility swings between 5m and 25m depending on plankton and season;
dive sites are visibly worn after decades of traffic, and the island’s reputation for hard upselling on continuing education is earned.

5. Philippines

The most marine life per euro

The Philippines, located off the coast of South-East Asia, are an archipelo of over 7000 thousand islands all enjoying a tropical monsoon climate!

A typhoon season runs June to November on the Pacific-facing coasts.

Put up with that geography and the payoff is a country sitting entirely inside the Coral Triangle, the highest marine biodiversity on Earth.

Three main spots carry the diving schools here: Panglao in Bohol, Moalboal for its sardine run, and Malapascua for near-guaranteed thresher shark sightings.

Turtles turn up more or less everywhere across all three 🙂

The Open Water course here runs around ₱19,500 (€285) on Panglao, with Moalboal and Malapascua more or less in the same band.

Overall, the Philippines ranks fifth in PADI’s certification numbers, and arguably first on biodiversity.

What’s good

thresher sharks, sardine runs and turtles across the three main spots;
Thai-level prices for better marine life;
English spoken almost universally, which genuinely helps during theory sessions;
somewhere in the country is diveable in any given month.

What’s not

internal transport is the hidden cost (it’s a huge archipelago!) and reaching Malapascua or Moalboal usually means a flight to Cebu plus three to five hours of road and boat;

typhoon season runs June to November and can strand you for days.

6. Indonesia

Where the dive shops fixed the price

Indonesia is equatorial, hot and humid with no real winter.

On the Gili Islands, off Lombok, the water stays warm and calm enough for training almost all year outside the November–March wet season and Bali and Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan enjoy the same weather too!

A peculiarity of getting the course on the Gili, is that while haggling is completely normal in Indonesian markets, taxis and life in general, here all diving shops have the same fixed prices!

This happens why Gili Trawangan and Gili Air both belong to the Gili Indah Dive Alliance, where a price agreement between the local dive shops is reached in a way that fixes what every member charges for the same course.

It sounds like a cartel, and we can say it is more or less is one.

The odd upside: with price off the table, shops compete on group size, instructor experience and how new the gear is instead.

Courses run $300–370 across both islands, whichever shop you pick, plus a small reef tax that goes to the local Gili Eco Trust.

What’s good

you cannot be charged more than the shop next door;
turtle sightings on ordinary training dives are close to guaranteed;
no cars or motorbikes on either island.

What’s not

accommodation isn’t included in the course price;
more expensive than Malasya, Thailand or the Philippines for similar conditions;
Gili Trawangan’s party reputation is accurate, and audible, until around 3am.

7. Colombia

No longer the bargain everyone still calls it,

but still good!

Colombia has diving on both coasts, both enjoying tropical climate, and yet they’re not really comparable (but apparently both great!).

Taganga, just outside Santa Marta on the Caribbean side, is where most people get certified: cheap, casual, close to Tayrona National Park.

The diving there is fine, not great, modest visibility, and water that drops to 20–22°C between December and April.

Then there are San Andrés and Providencia, further out in the Caribbean, which sit on a reef system locals call the third-largest in the world.

On one side, San Andrés has healthy coral and shallow wrecks and is still fine for a first certification.

On the other, Providencia is smaller, harder to reach, yet protected as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve: so expect to find better coral, fewer divers, but also no real infrastructure for beginners!

Malpelo is the last outlier.

It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, a barren rock 506km off the Pacific coast, and since 2018 only two liveaboards are allowed to dive it at all, the Ferox and the Sea Wolf, both departing from Buenaventura on a 30–36 hour crossing.

The reason people go: recorded aggregations of 200–300 hammerhead sharks per dive, plus hundreds of silky sharks.

It’s not a place to learn, it’s a place advanced divers fly across the country and cross open ocean for…but can be a goal for further in the future! 🙂

Courses in Colombia run roughly between COP 1,200,000–1,600,000 (€265–355).

For years, Colombia offered the cheapest certification on earth; but lately it lost the title sitting now mid-table: Thai money for noticeably worse conditions.

What’s good

still the cheapest Caribbean option outside Honduras;
easy to combine with Tayrona and the rest of the coast;
courses in Spanish are everywhere

What’s not

water drops to 20–22°C between December and April;
visibility is modest next to anywhere else on this list;
Taganga itself has a mixed reputation after dark;
no longer meaningfully cheaper than places with far better diving.

What actually sets the price

Three things, and the country’s cost of living is not one of them.

Boat time. The biggest variable by far. Dahab is cheap because training happens off the beach. Anywhere that needs a 40-minute crossing twice a day is structurally more expensive, no matter how cheap the beer is!

How many shops are competing. Koh Tao has dozens inside a few square kilometres. The Gilis signed an agreement not to compete at all. Both are market structures rather than economics.

What gets bundled. Malaysia looks expensive and is not, because the €420–580 package contains the room, the food and the ferry you would be paying for separately somewhere else.

Compare all-in totals. Course fees on their own tell you almost nothing.

Frequently asked questions

Is a cheap Open Water course worth less than an expensive one?

The certification itself is identical, because PADI standards are the same everywhere. What changes is the student-to-instructor ratio, the age of the equipment and how rushed the schedule is. A €250 course with four students per instructor beats a €600 course with eight.

How long does it take?

Three to four days. The eLearning theory can be done at home beforehand, which shortens the in-water part but does not reduce the total cost.

Do I need to be a strong swimmer?

You need to swim 200m unaided, or 300m with mask and snorkel, and float for 10 minutes. Neither is timed. Being comfortable in water matters far more than technique.

Is freediving cheaper than scuba?

To learn, roughly the same: a four-day course sits in a similar price band. To keep doing it, much cheaper. No tanks, no air fills, no boat for most dives, and the gear costs a fraction of a scuba kit.

Does the certification expire?

No. However, most operators will ask you to do a refresher if you have not dived in about 12 months, which costs €50–100.

Can I do the course as a complete beginner with no experience?

Yes. Open Water assumes nothing. The minimum age is 10 for Junior Open Water and 15 for the full certification.

Conclusions 🙂

If I had to compress two hours of spreadsheet into one sentence: Egypt for the lowest total spend from Europe, Malaysia for the best value once everything is counted, the Philippines if what you actually want is to see things! 🙂

All in all, what I took from this research is that the advertised course fee is the least informative number in the whole comparison: consider where you are now, the flights, the boats, the accommodation, the food and the quality of the centre, at the end of the day they will all impact more your wallet and your safety in the water!

So, before you go: