JUSTDIVE - Blue Academy
Rua Dr. Ernesto Moreira Lote 11, Fração F (Prageira, 2520-428 Peniche, Portugal, Peniche, Peniche, PRT
About the Center
JUSTDIVE - Blue Academy, located in Peniche, Portugal, is a dive center specializing in Freediving, Snorkeling, and Boat Diving courses. Certified by SSI and TDI, it provides a comprehensive experience for divers of all levels. Its facilities include a bar, equipment rental, and Nitrox air fills, alongside its own boat for excursions.
The center is renowned for its diving trips to the Berlengas Islands, a nature reserve of exceptional beauty. They also offer discover scuba diving experiences for beginners and special trips such as the 'Sunset Berlengas Sunset & Gin', combining the thrill of diving with moments of relaxation at sunset.
JUSTDIVE - Blue Academy also engages in recreational boating and offers courses for initial and intermediate professional diving, as well as training for lifeguards and underwater rescue courses. Its proximity to the Berlengas makes Peniche an ideal starting point for exploring the underwater riches of this protected area. Communication is primarily in Portuguese.
Available Courses
4 cursosBatismos de Mergulho
The pool baptism at JUSTDIVE is the lowest-friction entry point into scuba diving they offer — two hours in a controlled environment, with no open water and no prior experience required. The session opens with a short theory introduction covering the absolute basics: equipment function, how pressure affects the body, and the hand signals used underwater. From there you get in the water. The pool portion mixes practical exercises with games, which keeps the session from feeling like a test. An instructor is in the water with you throughout. The pacing is deliberately unhurried — JUSTDIVE describes their courses as adapted to each person's learning rhythm, and that applies here more than anywhere else since it's often someone's first time with a tank on their back. All equipment is included in the price, so you arrive and everything is waiting: BCD, regulator, wetsuit, mask, fins. Personal accident insurance is also covered. Photographs of the session are included, which is a detail that matters when it's someone's first dive and they want to document it. Pricing runs on a group scale: €60 for a solo session, €50 per person for two, and €40 per person for groups of three or more. That makes it a reasonable group activity. The minimum age is 8, making it accessible to older children who can follow basic instructions and are comfortable in water. No swimming test is required beyond being able to swim.
Open Water Diver
The Open Water Diver is the standard SSI entry-level certification and the course most people take when they decide to go beyond a single baptism dive. At JUSTDIVE, it's offered under SSI school number #735157, and the centre is licensed by IPDJ as both a dive school (LEM nº 158) and a dive centre (LCM nº 148), meaning the training and the dives happen under the same roof and on the same boats. JUSTDIVE describes their courses as personalised and adapted to each student's learning pace, which is more relevant at Open Water level than at any other: some students take to confined water skills quickly, others need more time with equalisation or buoyancy before moving to open water. The team works around individual rhythms rather than pushing everyone through the same schedule. The course includes confined water sessions — likely pool-based given the facilities — followed by open water dives. Given that JUSTDIVE's primary dive site is the Berlengas Archipelago, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2011, the open water component puts students in one of Portugal's most distinctive marine environments. Digital learning is available through the centre's online platform, allowing students to complete theoretical content at their own pace before or between sessions. SSI certification upon completion is internationally recognised. The centre also offers the Junior Open Water Diver track for younger students, with the same SSI framework but adapted for the minimum age requirements of the junior programme.
Advanced Open Water Diver
The SSI Advanced Open Water Diver course at JUSTDIVE builds on the Open Water certification and broadens the range of conditions and techniques a diver can handle independently. It sits directly above the Open Water Diver in the SSI pathway and is the natural next step for anyone who has completed their entry-level certification and wants more than guided recreational dives. The course is structured around adventure dives in different disciplines — typically including a deep dive component and navigation, with additional electives that can be chosen based on the student's interests or the conditions available. At JUSTDIVE, the Berlengas Archipelago provides varied underwater terrain for the open water sessions: the area around the main island and the Farilhões e Estelas groups offers different depth profiles and environments that map well to the skills covered at this level. JUSTDIVE also offers the Junior Advanced Adventurer track for younger students following the SSI junior progression. For adults the standard Advanced Open Water Diver qualification is the route. The centre's personalised approach — adapting to individual learning rhythms — applies here as it does throughout their recreational programme. Completion opens access to the Master Diver programme and to the full range of SSI speciality courses the centre runs, including wreck, deep, dry suit, nitrox, night diving, and others. Contact the centre directly for current scheduling and pricing.
Divemaster
The SSI Divemaster course at JUSTDIVE is the first professional-level qualification in the SSI system and the entry point into working in the dive industry. The centre is DGAM-certified for professional diver training (cert nº 6/2020), which means the professional training pathway operates under formal Portuguese regulatory oversight alongside the SSI framework. At Divemaster level, candidates move from being supervised divers to supervising others — assisting instructors during courses, leading certified divers on guided dives, and handling the logistical and safety responsibilities that come with a professional role on a dive boat. JUSTDIVE runs guided dive safaris to the Berlengas and Farilhões e Estelas year-round, which provides a real operational context for Divemaster candidates to work in during their training: actual paying guests, real sea conditions, and timed departures. The centre is licensed as both a dive school (LEM nº 158) and a dive centre (LCM nº 148) by IPDJ, and the professional training carries DGERT certification (nº 32/59/2018) for vocational training purposes. That's relevant for candidates who need the qualification to count towards formal professional credentials in Portugal rather than just an international dive card. After Divemaster, the pathway continues to Instructor Training Course and speciality instructor programmes, both of which are also offered at JUSTDIVE. Contact the centre for current intake dates and pricing.
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All guided dive packages include the return boat transfer from Peniche to the Berlengas, wetsuit and boots, personal accident insurance, and a dive guide. Additional equipment such as regulators, BCDs, dive computers, and torches can be rented separately at listed prices.
A double-tank dive at the Berlengas costs €80. The Farilhões e Estelas route, which takes you further out in the archipelago, costs €100. Single-dive options are €55 (Berlengas) and €65 (Farilhões e Estelas). Night dives are €80.
During summer, trips go out daily, subject to sea conditions and minimum participant numbers. In winter, departures operate on weekends and public holidays only. All trips depend on acceptable maritime and atmospheric conditions.
The pool baptism accepts participants from age 8 upward and runs for two hours. The sea baptism — which includes a boat trip to the Berlengas — requires a minimum age of 10 and takes half a day.
Yes. The filling station offers Nitrox from 32% up to 40%. Air fills are €10 for a 12-litre cylinder and €12 for 15-litre, both at 200 bar.
JUSTDIVE is an SSI-certified centre (school number #735157). Their recreational catalogue covers Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, Master Diver, Junior tracks, and a wide range of SSI speciality courses.
The centre's workshop services Mares and Cressi regulators and BCDs, as well as tanks and valves. Prices are on request — contact the centre directly for a quote.
Yes. Their professional division covers ROV inspections, refloating, film production support, archaeological dive work, naval maintenance, search and recovery, and 3D bathymetric surveying. The centre is DGAM-certified for professional diver training (cert nº 6/2020).
Rua Dr. Ernesto Moreira Lote 11, Fração F (Prageira, 2520-428 Peniche, Portugal, Peniche, Peniche, PRT