How to choose
Try dive or diving course? How to choose for your case
The question is not which is better. It is what you plan to do afterwards, and that changes the answer completely.
15 September 2026
The difference between the two is not how long you spend underwater or how deep you go. It is what you can do the next day. After a try dive, nothing on your own: you will always go down with an instructor, here and anywhere else. With the Open Water certification, any centre in the world will rent you kit and take you diving. That is the whole line.
Choose a try dive if…
- You have never breathed underwater and you do not know whether you will love it or panic.
- You are on holiday and want a morning's activity, not a plan spread over several days.
- You are going with someone who wants to try it and you are keeping them company.
- You do not fancy studying theory, not even online.
Choose the course if…
- You have done a try dive before and came out wanting more.
- You know you want to dive in other places, not just this once.
- You can give it several days in a row, and not the last of your holiday.
- It suits you to do the theory on your own before you come.
One specific case: if what you really intend is to certify, say so before you book the try dive. Depending on the format, some first dives count towards the course if you enrol afterwards and others do not, so they can point you to the one that carries over.
See the Open Water courseA detail almost nobody mentions
For a try dive you do not need to be a strong swimmer. For the course you do: the certification requires you to demonstrate a basic in-water assessment — swimming a short distance and staying afloat for a while. No technique or speed is asked for, but if you are not comfortable in water, the try dive is your option and the course is not, however much you want it.