You’ve earned your first certification and want to keep growing: the choice here is no longer “Open Water or Advanced” (Open Water is where everyone starts), but between the Advanced Open Water Diver and specialty courses. Let’s look at the real difference and how to decide.
Updated: September 2026
With the Open Water Diver you learned to dive independently down to 18 metres: now you want to gain experience and improve. The two main paths are the Advanced Open Water Diver and specialty courses. They aren’t alternatives — often you do both — but understanding how they work helps you decide where to start.
The Advanced Open Water Diver is a “taster” course: you do five guided adventure dives, and each one matches the first dive of a specialty. In practice you try several different disciplines (deep, orientation/navigation and others of your choice) without having to complete each course.
There’s a concrete advantage: each adventure dive isn’t just a “taste” — it counts as the first dive of the corresponding specialty course. If you later decide to complete that specialty, the dive you already did in the Advanced is recognised and counts as credit: you don’t repeat it, you carry on from where you left off.
It’s the most effective way to build experience right after the Open Water, take yourself safely down to around 30 metres and — above all — work out which specialties you’re most passionate about before going deeper into them.
A specialty course, on the other hand, goes deep into a single discipline: Nitrox (enriched air), Deep, Wreck, Navigation, Perfect Buoyancy, Dry Suit and others. It involves several dives on the same theme and gives you specific, complete competence in that area.
It’s the right choice when you already know what interests you and want to get really good at it.
Choose the Advanced Open Water Diver if you want variety, experience and to “taste” several disciplines to see what you like. Go straight for a specialty if you already have a specific passion (wrecks or photography, for example) and want to dive deeper into it right away.
In most cases the natural path is: first the Advanced to explore, then specialties in whatever won you over. What’s more, the Advanced and specialties are also steps towards the higher levels (up to Master Diver and the professional courses).
There’s no one answer for everyone: it depends on what you’re after and how many dives you’ve already done. Talk to your instructor, who knows your journey and can suggest the best sequence. At Top One Diving we build the plan around you, one step at a time.
No, it isn’t compulsory: you can also sign up for a specialty directly. The Advanced, though, is highly recommended right after the Open Water, because it lets you gain experience and find out which disciplines you enjoy.
Five adventure dives, each matching the first dive of a specialty (including deep and navigation).
The Advanced qualifies you for the deeper recreational dives, down to around 30 metres, always safely and with proper planning.
Yes: the Advanced and specialties are steps on the path that leads to Master Diver and then to the professional levels (Divemaster and beyond).
Yes: each Advanced adventure is the first dive of a specialty, so you genuinely “taste” them before deciding which to explore with the full course.
Yes: the adventure dive you do in the Advanced counts as the first dive (credit) of the corresponding specialty. If you later complete that specialty course, you don’t repeat that first dive: you carry on from where you left off.