Advanced Open Water Diver

The SSI Advanced Open Water Diver course at Diver's Club Crete runs two to three days and involves five specialty dives. Two are mandatory: Navigation and Deep. The remaining three are chosen from Night Dive, Search & Recovery, Boat Dive, Underwater Photography, Underwater Naturalist, Peak Performance Buoyancy, and Fish ID.

The north coast of Crete gives this course real variety. The Deep dive can go to sites like El Greco Reef or Stavros Cape, where the bottom drops off well beyond recreational limits — guided to 30 or 40 meters in visibility that often exceeds 25–35 meters. The Night Dive option runs along the center's house reef or other selected sites, using the same locations that form the regular night dive program.

Each dive lasts approximately three hours including briefing and gear preparation. After certification, maximum depth increases to 30 meters. Minimum age is 15 for the standard certification, 12 for the Junior Advanced Open Water Diver version.

Prerequisite is Open Water Diver, CMAS Level 1, BSAC Novice, or equivalent. The course is run under SSI by instructors including the owner, Dimitris Drakos, who holds 3-Star CMAS and IANTD Advanced Nitrox credentials in addition to his SSI rating.