Every figure below is all-in as published — USD, per person, instruction + equipment + certification per the centre’s own list; the usual extras (marine-park fees, hotel transfers, separately-billed eLearning) are flagged below — ask the centre for the all-in figure in writing. Each figure carries the date we read it. How we price.
What the course costs
A PADI Open Water Diver course in Zanzibar runs $500–550, taken from the dive centres’ own published price lists, re-checked 2 Aug 2026.
$500-550 is what we recorded on (read -1 days ago).
Ledger row padi-ow-band — source; every point dated and sourced.
Range = the lowest and highest we have recorded, not a market estimate. We do not predict prices. We publish every figure we have recorded, dated and sourced, and you can check each one.
| Dive centre | Course | Price | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fun Divers Zanzibar | PADI Open Water (Zanzibar) | $500 | 2 Aug 2026 |
| Fun Divers Zanzibar | PADI Open Water (Pemba) | $550 | 2 Aug 2026 |
| One Ocean Zanzibar | PADI Open Water | $550 | 2 Aug 2026 |
Both centres publish these rates on their own sites. One Ocean states its list is cash only, in US dollars — worth knowing before you arrive expecting to pay by card.
The cheaper way in, if you are not sure yet
Open Water is a three-to-four-day commitment on Fun Divers’ own course description. If you only want to know whether you like breathing underwater, both centres on this page sell a single-day taster instead:
- Discover Scuba Diving — $120 at Fun Divers Zanzibar (Zanzibar), $130 in Pemba, quoted on their own price list, 2 Aug 2026.
- Discover Scuba, pool session plus two dives — $200 at One Ocean Zanzibar, same source and date.
The gap between $120 and $200 is what you get: One Ocean’s price includes a pool session and two open-water dives, Fun Divers’ entry price is the shorter version. Read what is included rather than comparing the headline number.
Going further
If you already dive, the next certification is priced close to the entry course: Advanced Open Water is $470 at Fun Divers Zanzibar, and from $500 at One Ocean, both 2 Aug 2026.
What these prices do and don’t include
Published course prices generally cover instruction, equipment and certification. They typically do not cover the marine park fees charged at some dive sites, transfers from your hotel, or the PADI eLearning materials if the centre bills those separately. Ask for the all-in figure in writing before you pay a deposit — the difference is usually small, but it should not be a surprise.
How we checked
We opened each dive centre’s own price page and read the published rate. No resellers, no aggregators, no prices relayed by a booking platform. Where a centre lists a course “from” a price without a full breakdown, we have said so rather than presenting it as a fixed rate. When we re-check, the superseded reading is kept, dated, in our public fact ledger — history accumulates; it is never overwritten.
Spot an error? Every figure here is checkable, and we correct in the open: the corrections log.
30
facts verified at source
14
independent sources cited
39
dated observations on record
our oldest still-standing check
For kitesurfing lessons, see kite lesson prices in Paje. For day trips, see the original Safari Blue truth page.