SSI Advanced Open Water DiverGo further
2 days on the Great Barrier Reef, 3 dives a day — 6 dives across 5 SSI specialties, Deep Diving and Navigation included. No pool, no classroom. Come out certified to 30 metres.
6 dives across 5 SSI specialties
SSI Advanced Open Water Diver
2 days, 3 dives a day — 6 dives across 5 SSI specialties, Deep Diving and Navigation included. Come out certified to 30 metres. Every dive happens on the Great Barrier Reef at Moore Reef, and you’re home in Cairns each evening.
Ages 12+ · 2 days · Max 30 m · Open Water required
18 metres becomes 30
Open Water taught you to dive. Advanced is the course that makes you good at it.
SSI built this program to be completely focused on practical diving skills — there is no final exam. Over two days at Moore Reef you complete five different SSI specialty dives with an instructor beside you, drop your depth limit from 18 metres to 30, and come out with a certification recognised anywhere in the world.
Six dives on the Great Barrier Reef. No pool, no quarry, no classroom in a back street — and you're home in Cairns each evening.
Your training happens on the reef
The only SSI Training Centre in Cairns where every course runs entirely on the Great Barrier Reef — no pool, no liveaboard, home every night.
image© Predrag VuckovicTwo days, three dives a day
Day 1 — the deep dive comes first
SSI requires your deep dive to be signed off before any other dive on the course goes past 18 metres, so it's dive one. You go beyond 18 metres under instruction and learn what depth actually does — to your air consumption, to your no-decompression time, and to your head — and how to plan for it. Two more specialty dives follow the same day.
Day 2 — navigation, your last specialty, and you're certified
Natural navigation and compass work: how to leave the boat, swim a reef and come back to exactly where you started without surfacing to look. It's the single skill that separates a diver from a passenger. Then your final specialty dive, and your sixth dive is yours to spend how you like. Your instructor signs you off and your digital card lands on your phone.
Five specialty dives, a sixth dive that's yours to use however you like
And every one of them on the Great Barrier Reef. Most Advanced courses spend a day of that in a classroom.
Two are set. Three are chosen for you.
Every SSI Advanced course is built from five specialty dives. SSI sets two of them — Deep Diving and Navigation. We build in the other three ourselves, chosen for a well-rounded education rather than left as a pick-and-choose menu.
Deep Diving — set by SSI
The dive that unlocks the rest. Past 18 metres for the first time under instruction, planning a deep dive properly and understanding what changes down there. It’s also one of the two mandatory specialties for SSI Master Diver, so this dive counts a long way down the track.
Navigation — set by SSI
Natural navigation and compass work. Leave the boat, swim a reef, come back to where you started — without surfacing to check.
image© Predrag VuckovicYour other three:
Perfect Buoyancy
The most popular SSI specialty in the world, and the one that makes every dive after it better. Weighting, trim, breath control — hovering instead of finning, so you use less air and touch nothing.
Photo & Video
How to actually come home with reef photos worth keeping: light, distance, angle, and why your first hundred shots were blue.
Fish & Coral Identification
Learn to read the reef instead of just looking at it — the families, the coral types, and what the Great 8 are doing on the day you dive. We’re an Eco Certified operator on a World Heritage reef; this is the dive that uses it.
Five dives are training. The sixth is yours.
Five of your six dives are specialty training dives with your instructor. The sixth is a straight reef dive — no skills to demonstrate, just everything you learned in the two days before it.
Or don't dive it. You're on a Moore Reef day trip, not a training charter, so you can trade that slot for the rest of the pontoon instead:
Snorkel with your family
The people you came with have a full reef day whether they dive or not. Spend your last slot in the water with them instead of with an instructor.
The waterslide
You've just spent two days being sensible about air consumption. Go and be twelve for half an hour.
The glass-bottom boat
See the coral you've been navigating over from the surface — and stay dry doing it.
A scenic helicopter flight
The reef from 500 metres up, straight off the pontoon. Extra cost, and the one thing you can't do anywhere else on this course.
What two days on an Advanced course actually looks like
You're on the standard Moore Reef day trip both days — same boat, same terminal, same 5.30pm finish. No pre-dawn start and no overnight.
Day 1 — the deep dive
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 8.45am | Check in at the Cairns Reef Fleet Terminal. Check-in runs 8.45 to 9.45am. |
| 10.15am | Depart Cairns. Ninety minutes out to the reef with morning tea on the way, and your instructor runs the deep-dive briefing and dive planning on board. |
| 11.45am | Arrive at the Moore Reef pontoon. Safety briefing, gear fitted and checked. |
| Midday | Dive 1 — Deep Diving (40 minutes). Past 18 metres under instruction. Once this one's signed off, every other dive on your course can go deep. |
| 1.00pm | Buffet lunch (30 minutes) on the pontoon while you sit out your surface interval. |
| 1.45pm | Dive 2 (40 minutes) — your first elective. |
| 2.45pm | Dive 3 (40 minutes) — your second elective. |
| 3.45pm | Depart the reef. Log your three dives with your instructor over afternoon tea. |
| 5.30pm | Back in Cairns at the Reef Fleet Terminal. |
Day 2 — navigation & certification
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 8.45am | Check in at the Reef Fleet Terminal. |
| 10.15am | Depart Cairns. Navigation briefing and compass work theory on the way out. |
| 11.45am | Arrive at the pontoon. |
| Midday | Dive 4 — Navigation (40 minutes). Natural navigation and compass work: leave the boat, swim a reef, come back to where you started. |
| 1.00pm | Buffet lunch (30 minutes). |
| 1.45pm | Dive 5 (40 minutes) — your third elective. Your last training dive. |
| 2.45pm | Dive 6 (40 minutes) — or not. Take a straight reef dive with no skills to demonstrate, or trade the slot: the waterslide, the glass-bottom boat, the underwater observatory, or a snorkel over the coral with whoever came with you. |
| 3.45pm | Depart the reef. Final logbook sign-off, and your SSI Advanced Open Water Diver card lands in the app on the way home. |
| 5.30pm | Back in Cairns, certified to 30 metres. |
Every dive on this course counts twice
Each of your five specialty dives is credited as the first training dive of that full SSI specialty course. Do the Perfect Buoyancy dive here, decide three years from now to finish the whole Perfect Buoyancy specialty, and you start at dive two. SSI puts no time limit on that credit.
It also starts stacking your SSI recognition ratings:
| Rating | What it takes |
|---|---|
| SSI Specialty Diver | 2 specialty programs + 12 logged dives |
| SSI Advanced Specialty Diver | 4 specialty programs + 24 logged dives |
| SSI Master Diver | Deep Diving + Diver Stress & Rescue + 3 more specialties + 50 logged dives |
Advanced is the fastest legitimate way onto that ladder — five specialty programs banked in two days, and the deep dive is one of the two Master Diver mandatories.
Where the card gets you in
Dive to 30 metres with a buddy of equal or higher qualification, in conditions similar to your training
Book the deeper sites, the liveaboards and the trips that ask for an Advanced ticket
Carry credit toward five full SSI specialty certifications, with no expiry
Continue straight into Diver Stress & Rescue, and from there the professional pathway
You can do this course at 12
A few things change:
Maximum depth is 21 metres, including the deep dive
You're certified as a Jr Advanced Open Water Diver and dive with a dive professional or a certified adult until you turn 15, when it upgrades to the full card with a single upgrade dive between 21 and 30 metres
We run a smaller group — four students to one instructor — so tell us at the time of booking if anyone in your party is under 15
Anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign consent, and to be present
Worth knowing: the standalone SSI Deep Diving specialty won't take anyone under 15. Inside the Advanced program, a 12-year-old can do the deep training dive. It's one of the few ways a younger diver gets that experience properly supervised.
What's in the price
Training
SSI digital learning and all materials, your SSI instructor, and all six dives on the Great Barrier Reef across five SSI specialties.
Equipment
All scuba equipment for the duration of the course, plus wetsuit or stinger suit.
Your reef days
Both Moore Reef day trips, lunch and refreshments, and everything else on the pontoon — waterslide, glass-bottom boat, snorkelling gear. The reef trip is in the course price; there's nothing to add on.
Certification
Your SSI Advanced Open Water Diver digital card, issued through the free SSI app. It never expires.
Not included: travel to and from the Cairns Reef Fleet Terminal, a dive medical if you need one, and underwater photos.
Five things to know
You'll need your Open Water card
SSI Open Water Diver, or the equivalent from any recognised agency — PADI, SDI, RAID, NAUI, CMAS. Bring it, or have it on your phone.
The RSTC Diver Medical form
Every diver completes the RSTC Diver Medical — Participant Questionnaire before getting in the water. Same form, every course, every diver. If you answer no to everything, you're cleared to dive. If you answer yes to anything, the Physician's Evaluation section has to be signed by a doctor first — get that done at home before you travel and bring it with you.
Allow enough time
Two days on the reef, plus at least 18 hours between your last dive and any flight. Don't book this for your last two days in Cairns.
Weather, and plans that change
If we can't run a day due to conditions, we'll move you to the next available one. Free cancellation or rescheduling up to 24 hours before your course commences.
If you run out of days
If you can't finish all five specialty dives with us, we can issue an SSI Advanced Open Water Dive Recognition Card for up to three completed dives. It's proof of what you've done, and you finish the rest at any SSI Training Centre in the world.
Questions everyone asks
What's the minimum age?
This course is 12 and up. The SSI Open Water Diver course starts at 10, but Advanced Open Water and Diver Stress and Rescue both require 12. Anyone certified under 15 receives a Junior Diver certification and dives with a dive professional or a certified adult until they turn 15. Divers under 18 need a parent or guardian to sign a consent form and to be present.
Do I need a medical?
Every diver completes the RSTC Diver Medical questionnaire before getting in the water. All “no” answers and you're cleared to dive. Any “yes” needs a doctor's signature first — we send the form at booking so you can sort it at home.
I certified with PADI years ago — can I do your courses?
Yes. PADI, SDI and NAUI certifications are recognised for our continuing education courses and refreshers.
How long before my flight home?
Allow at least 18 hours between your last dive and any flight. Don't book a course right up against your departure.
Can I cancel or reschedule my course?
Yes. Free cancellation or rescheduling up to 24 hours before your course commences.
When do courses start?
From 1 October 2026, every day of the week. 1 October isn't a single fixed start date — once courses open, you can start any day that suits you. Register your interest below and you'll be the first to know when bookings open — founding-class spots will be limited while our instructors run small early groups.
Do I need my Open Water card?
Yes — SSI Open Water Diver, or the equivalent from any recognised training agency.
Is there an exam?
No. There are short academic sessions in the SSI app, but the Advanced program is built around diving, not testing.
How deep will I actually go?
To 30 metres, and 21 metres if you're 12 to 14. The deep dive comes first — SSI requires it to be signed off before any other dive on the course goes past 18 metres.
How many dives is it?
Six over two days, three each day. Five are specialty training dives; the sixth is a straight reef dive you can take, or trade for a snorkel with your family, the waterslide, or the glass-bottom boat — or treat yourself to an upgrade like the scenic helicopter flight to celebrate your new cert (extra cost).
Can my family come if they don't dive?
Yes, and they should. You're on a Moore Reef day trip both days, so anyone with you gets the full reef day — snorkelling, the waterslide, the glass-bottom boat, the pontoon. They're not waiting on a wharf for you.
Is it a real certification?
Yes. SSI Advanced Open Water Diver, issued as a digital card into the SSI app, recognised worldwide, and it never expires.
Do I have to do the whole course with you?
No. If you run out of days we can issue a recognition card for up to three completed dives, and you finish anywhere in the world.
What happened to Advanced Adventurer?
That's the old name. SSI replaced the Advanced Adventurer program with Advanced Open Water Diver. If you see the old name on another operator's site, it's the same family of program.
Download the free SSI app before you start
Your theory lives in the app, and so does your certification card once you pass. It’s free, and it works offline — handy on a plane.
Search for SSI App — Education and Fun, or scan below.
Click to learn more
What is "Perfect Buoyancy" actually training?
Controlling your position in the water with your breathing and a few small adjustments, so you're not kicking up sand or crashing into coral. It's the skill that makes diving feel effortless.
What does a Navigation dive test?
Finding your way underwater using natural references and a compass — useful for guiding your buddy back to the boat without surfacing early.
How deep can I dive after Advanced Open Water?
Up to 30 metres, with your Deep Diving specialty covering the extra physiology and safety considerations that come with it.
Do I need Open Water first?
Yes — Advanced Open Water builds directly on it. Bring your Open Water card, or have it on your phone.
Be first in the water
Bookings open soon. Leave your details and we'll email you the moment your course can be booked — before it's released anywhere else.
No payment, no obligation — just first access when bookings open.