Hello and welcome to Cowa Diving
Since you clicked on the English menu Dutch is probably not your preferred language but no worries you can follow our courses in English and Italian. Course material is also available in many other languages but our instructors don’t speak all of them.
Cowa is a PADI 5-Star IDC dive center in Antwerp run by Riccardo Chiancone and Hilde Aerts.
If you are new to diving, the Open Water Diver course is the place to start. More information below.
If you already have the PADI Open Water Certificate the next steps are the Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver & Emergency First Response courses. Or if you just want to refresh your skills that is also possible.
If you want to go Pro, COWA runs the Dive Master course, the Assistant Instructor training and the Instructor Development Course (IDC) which prepares you for the Instructor Exam.
Finally, we also offer the following specialties: Night Diver, Dry Suit diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Equipment Specialist, Digital Underwater Photographer, Enriched Air Diver, Underwater Navigator and Deep Diver.
The pool sessions are on Monday evening in swimming pool ‘Den Bessem’ in Mortsel and /or Friday evening in swimming pool ‘Wezenberg’ in Antwerp. The open water dives take place in the Oosterschelde and the Put van Ekeren.
A detailed description of all these courses can be found on www.padi.com. Please contact us on if you want more information or want to enlist. Due to exceptional circumstances we are currently only reachable by mail info@cowadiving.be
You can enlist for a course via Registration Form and you can always reach us via the Contact Page
Looking forward to meeting you.
Riccardo Chiancone & Hilde Aerts
Open Water Diver Course
What do you learn?
The PADI Open Water Diver course is modular and consists of three parts:
- Theory (online) to understand the basics of diving.
- 4 to 5 pool sessions on Monday evening in swimming pool ‘Den Bessem’ in Mortsel and /or Friday evening in swimming pool ‘Wezenberg’ in Antwerp to learn the basic skills of diving. We plan the data together in mutual consultation.
- 4 open water dives to repeat your skills and to discover the underwater world! The outdoor water dives are usually organized on Sundays. Other days can also be arranged by appointment. We dive in the Oosterschelde and/or in the ‘Put van Ekeren’ (domain Muisbroek).
Admission requirements
To participate in a PADI Open Diver course or Junior Open Water Diver course you must be 10 years of age or older (due to international internet rules, PADI eLearning requires an additional registration step for students under the age of 13)
What’s fun?
What’s the best part of this course … basically everything because learning to dive is a great experience. The first time you breathe underwater is an incredible experience which you will never forget. You will learn everything to safely become a certified diver. During this course you will make at least 4 sheltered water or pool dives and four dives in the open water under the supervision of your PADI Instructor.
Are you ready to start your journey?
What are the costs?
€495,- including all pool modules, 4 outdoor water dives, certification costs, use of all the necessary diving equipment, Cowa logbook and the online theory module. As soon as we have received the course fee we will provide you with an access code for the theory part of the course.
€15,- for the dive permit in the Put Van Ekeren which is valid for 1 year.
If diving takes place in diving installations such as eg. Nemo33, Transfo dive tank or Todi then the entrance for this must be paid separately. This is not included in the course price. Such dives are discussed in advance and are not mandatory for obtaining your certificate. If you are not sure that diving is something for you, which we highly doubt, you can always follow an Initiation session in the pool. This costs 30€ but will be reimbursed to you when you enlist for the Open Water Diver course.
Price List
Please find our price list below. When you contact us we will inform you in detail of what is and what is not included in the price.
Please note that only the Open Water Diver course included a temporary Dive Insurance. For all the other open water dives the diver needs to obtain proper insurance at his own cost.
| Initiation session | 30€ |
| Refresher | 30€ |
| Re-Activate (refresh with certificate) | 80€ |
| Open Water Diver (Starter course) | 495€ (+15€ for the dive permit Put Van Ekeren) |
| Referral Course* | 302€ |
| Advanced Open Water | 325€ (+15€ for the dive permit Put Van Ekeren) |
| Rescue Diver | 435€ (+15€ for the dive permit Put Van Ekeren) |
| Emergency First Response | 140€ |
| Dive Master | 580€ |
| Assistant Instructor | 420€ |
| Instructor Development Course | Please contact us |
| Specialties | Prices for specialties are exclusive equipment |
| Night Diver | 215€ |
| Dry Suit Diver | 248€ |
| Peak Performance Buoyancy | 165€ |
| Equipment Specialist | 138€ |
| Digital Underwater Photographer | 135€ |
| Enriched Air Diver | 140€ |
| Underwater Navigator | 180€ for Advanced Divers, 215€ for Open Water |
| Deep Diver | 275€ |