Learn to Dive in North Sulawesi
Imagine taking your first breaths underwater while exploring vibrant coral reefs, surrounded by colorful tropical fishDive with sea turtles, find Nemo (and his friends), and be spellbound by Indonesia's underwater realm
Get Certified to Dive
Learn to dive at some of the best dive sites in the world! Our PADI Instructors have years of experience and are passionate about sharing their love of the ocean with divers from around the world.
The PADI Open Water Course
Taking your first breaths underwater is an experience you’ll never forget – and here in North Sulawesi, we have some of the richest reefs and most incredible marine life on earth!
The PADI Open Water Course is the first level of diving certification. You’ll learn to become a safe and confident scuba diver while having a lot of fun and making real dives out in the ocean! Once certified as an Open Water Diver, you’ll be able to dive to 18meters anywhere in the world. The PADI Open Water certification is your ticket to a lifetime of incredible scuba diving adventures!
What’s Involved?
The PADI Open Water Course takes 4-5 days and contains three key components: Knowledge Development, Confined Water Practice, and Open Water Dives.
Knowledge Development: This is the theory component of the course and there are 5 sections to complete. You will learn about scuba diving equipment, key diving principles, dive safety, marine environments, and the effects of pressure on the human body.
You study the knowledge development sections online from home before your trip with PADI eLearning. The program is highly interactive and eLearning enables you to study from the comfort of your own home, and at your own pace. To get started with PADI eLearning, click here.
Confined Water Practice: The confined water component of the course is where you will learn and practice scuba diving skills with your instructor in a calm and safe environment. We recommend taking or at least starting, your PADI Open Water Course at Murex Manado Resort which is where our purpose-built scuba diving training pool is located. The pool has varying depth levels, up to 4 meters, and provides you with ideal conditions for practicing and perfecting your skills.
If you opt to learn to dive and take the PADI Open Water Course at Murex Bangka Resort, we conduct the confined water sessions on a shallow sandy area or reef according to the calmest sea conditions.
Open Water Dives: This is what it’s all about! Making real dives out in the ocean! You’ll make 4 Open Water dives as part of your course and unlike other operators, we include an additional 5th dive which you make as a certified diver!
During your PADI Open Water course dives, you’ll show your instructor that you can complete the skills you learned in the pool, out in the ocean. That’s not all, during each dive there will be plenty of time to swim around and explore the dive site. You’ll see incredible marine life and stunning coral reefs (think NatGeo but for real!)
Murex Manado: When you learn to dive at Murex Manado we conduct your first dives on our stunning house reef which is located just off the beach. This is diving at its most leisurely, simply stepping off the beach and into an incredible underwater world.
We want you to experience the best diving that our region has to offer, so for your later dives, we go by boat to the world-famous Bunaken Marine Park. During the boat ride, we often spot pods of dolphins that love to race alongside us, pilot whales and at certain times of the year, we even see huge sperm whales.
During your dives in the marine park, you’ll have the chance to meet the resident population of green sea turtles. The waters in this area also offer incredible visibility, schooling fish, passing eagle rays, and hoards of tropical reef fish.
Diving Bunaken Marine Park from Murex Manado:
Murex Bangka: If you are making your open water dives from Murex Bangka, you certainly won’t be disappointed by Bangka islands thriving underwater world. The reefs surrounding the island offer a kaleidoscopic experience – they are bursting with color and teeming with life!
Divers travel from around the world to dive and photograph Bangka’s incredible reefs and marine life – and you’ll be seeing all of this on your very first dives. At Murex Bangka, we’ll take you out by boat to visit some of the most iconic and colorful dive sites. You’ll have the opportunity to see schooling yellow snappers, sea turtles, sea horses, moray eels, lionfish, schools of incredible reef fish and we often see white tip reef sharks resting underneath ledges. Lucky divers have even seen dugongs around the islands too!
Diving Bangka Island from Murex Bangka:
Learn to Dive FAQs
Can anyone learn to dive in Indonesia?
Almost, yes! Providing you are a minimum of 10 years old, in reasonable health, and feel comfortable and able to maintain yourself in water, you shouldn’t have any problems.
There is a medical statement to complete prior to starting the in-water components of your course. You can download the medical statement here.
How long do I need to stay to learn to dive and get PADI Open Water certified in North Sulawesi?
We recommend staying for at least a week so that you can enjoy making dives as a certified diver after completing your course. If you don’t have a week free you can stay for as little as 4 days if you have completed eLearning prior to arrival.
Are there any medical conditions that will prevent me from diving?
If you have asthma, epilepsy, diabetes or recurring ear problems you should consult with a doctor to avoid any disappointment. Guidelines can be found in this medical statement.
Do I need to have my own diving equipment?
When you learn to dive with us full equipment is included in the price of your course. If you are visually impaired and wear contact lenses or glasses, you may want to consider purchasing a prescription mask prior to traveling here. If you want to purchase your own equipment, contact us for advice prior to making an investment.
Are there dangerous sea creatures in North Sulawesi?
As in all coral reef areas around the world, there are some corals that may sting if touched – this is why your instructor will remind you not to touch anything underwater. The marine species found in North Sulawesi are extremely docile and more afraid of divers than you need to be of them!
Where can I find travel and general information about North Sulawesi?
Take a look at our comprehensive travel information page here.