allowed to dive with only ow cert?

[waikatoboy]

Got some mates coming over to catch up with me in thailand are OW certified diver allowed to dive in thailand on andaman or gulf of thailand??

probably a stupid question but was mentioned to them by some one that it wasn't possible with out at least taking an advanced course.

 

[stevenl]

No problem for them to go diving.

Basically the Open Water certification trains you to dive unsupervised to a depth of 18 meters/60 feet in similar circumstances as your training dives were conducted.

Normally they will be diving with a divemaster, so they will be supervised. Of course not all divesites are suitable for them. The King Cruiser wreck in the Phuket area for example goes down to 30+ meters, with quite often limited vis and strong currents. So that site I would not recommend to them.

It makes a lot of sense however for them to do the Advanced Course. A fun course with lots of diving, and not that much more expensive than making the same amount of dives just as fundives. But now with an instructor gaining more experience.

 

[malaysia-islands]

I'm one of those just gotten my regular OW certificate. It's definitely OK to dive. Yes, you must have a Dive Master. I've logged about 6 dives in total. Most of them not exceeding 15 meters. The dive center will advise you accordingly when you present your SCUBA card.