SSI Open Water Diver course in Plakias, Crete

The SSI Open Water Diver course is the certification most people mean when they say they learned to dive. When you finish it, you can dive with a buddy, without a professional, to eighteen metres, anywhere in the world. We teach it in Plakias, on the south coast of Crete, over three to four days, with the theory done on your phone before you arrive. This page covers how the course works here, what each day looks like, where we dive, and how to decide whether it is the right start for you.

Why learn with SSI in Plakias

We are the only SSI centre in Plakias; the village is otherwise served by PADI centres. Both agencies are recognised worldwide, and a certification from either lets you dive at centres everywhere. The difference you notice as a student is where the theory happens.

With SSI, the learning materials are digital. You work through them in the app at home, at your own pace and in your own language, before your holiday starts. On a one-week trip that gives you back about a day and a half that would otherwise be spent in a classroom. When you arrive in Plakias, we review what you have learned together and then get in the water.

What the course covers

The Open Water Diver course has three parts, and they build on each other.

1. Theory. How pressure affects your body and your air, how your equipment works, how to plan a dive and how to deal with common problems. You study this online before you arrive, and we go over anything that is unclear at the centre.
2. Confined water. Your first breaths underwater, in shallow, calm water where you can stand up at any time. You practise the core skills here: clearing your mask, recovering your regulator, controlling your buoyancy and sharing air with a buddy.
3. Open water dives. Real dives in the sea, where you repeat the skills and, more importantly, start to enjoy diving. Each dive goes a little further than the last, up to the course limit of eighteen metres.

The pace is set by you, not by a timetable. If a skill takes you longer, it takes longer. Guests who were nervous at the start often say that was what made the difference.

A typical course, day by day

Every course is a little different, because it depends on you and on the sea. This is the usual shape.

• Before you arrive. Theory in the SSI app, at home, in your own time.
• Day one. Review at the centre, equipment fitting, first session in shallow water.
• Day two. More skills in shallow water, then your first open water dives.
• Day three. Open water dives, with more time spent simply diving.
• Day four, if needed. Remaining dives, and time to relax into it.

Where you learn

We dive three sites around Plakias, and the course uses the ones best suited to learning.

• The old harbour of Damnoni. A gentle, shallow slope with no sudden drop-offs. This is our main training site: calm, clear water where you can settle your skills before the seabed starts to fall away.
• Schinaria. Excellent visibility, rock formations, a large cave and reefy areas. The profile can be kept gentle for a new diver, and it is where many students have the dive they remember.
• Peristerovolakas. A long shallow reef near Souda that slopes into deeper blue.

The south coast faces away from the prevailing wind that hits the north of Crete, so the water around Plakias is usually calm and clear, which is exactly what you want while you learn.

Who teaches you

Your instructor is Giannis, who has over ten years of diving experience. Guests mention him in their reviews more than anything else about us, usually for the same reasons: he takes his time, he explains things, and he does not rush anyone who is nervous. He teaches in Greek, English and German. With at most six guests on the boat, and small groups in the water, you get his attention rather than a share of it.

Is Open Water the right place to start?

It depends on how sure you are.

• Never breathed underwater and not sure you will like it? Start with a try dive. It takes about four hours with the theory, and it counts towards the Open Water certification if you carry on, so nothing is wasted.
• Short on time? SSI Basic Scuba is a shorter course, two to three days, for supervised diving to twelve metres with a professional. It counts towards the full Open Water certification later.
• Sure you want to dive? Go straight into Open Water. If you know you want to keep going, the Open Water and Advanced package takes you from beginner to advanced in six to eight days, and costs less than taking the two courses separately.

After Open Water, the natural next step is the SSI Advanced Adventurer course, which adds deep, navigation and boat diving. You can compare everything on our SSI courses page.

Coming from nearby villages

Most of our students are not staying in Plakias itself. Guests in Myrthios and Sellia have the centre just below them, and guests in Spili or Agia Galini often choose the course precisely because the digital theory means every day they drive down is a day in the water. Tell us where you are staying and we will set the meeting times around the drive to Plakias.

Before you book

• Medical questions. Diving has medical requirements. If you have a condition or take medication, tell us when you message so we can talk it through before you arrive.
• Swimming. You need to be comfortable in the water. You do not need to be a strong swimmer.
• Flying. Plan your last dive so you leave a gap before your flight home. We will help you schedule the course so it fits.
• What to bring. Swimwear, a towel and sun protection. All diving equipment is included.

Ready to start?

Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and where you are staying. We will tell you how to get the SSI app set up before you travel, and when to meet us at the centre in Plakias.