Phu Quoc trains divers under both of the big systems.
- Vietnam Active is a PADI 5 Star centre.
- Ecodive and Vietnam Explorer are PADI centres, and Flipper Diving Club is a PADI centre too.
- Phu Quoc Diving Club works under SSI.
For a traveller the choice of agency matters far less than three practical numbers: what the course costs, how many boat days it eats, and what has to happen before it.
The published course prices. Open Water Diver: $440 at Vietnam Active with eLearning included, 430 USD at Ecodive. Advanced Open Water: 400 USD at Ecodive. Scuba Refresher: $110 at Vietnam Active, two dives, all included.
What does certification cost here?
Vietnam Active publishes the Open Water Diver course at $440, and states in words that the price is per course and that eLearning — the theory part you can start before the trip — is included. Ecodive publishes 430 USD for the Open Water Diver course and 400 USD for the Advanced Open Water Diver, the follow-on qualification for people who already hold an entry-level card.
Those figures sit above the day rates by design: a certified diver's day of two dives is 90 USD per pax at the same centre, so a course is roughly five dive days' worth of money — and it buys a card that works anywhere, not one holiday's diving.
How many days does it take?
Count in boat days rather than hours, because the island's logistics are fixed. The dive boats leave once a day: Vietnam Active picks up at 7:30–8:30, sails at 9:00 and returns at 14:00–15:00; Phu Quoc Diving Club departs at 9:00, dives at 10:00 and 11:30 and is back at 15:30.
Two dives per outing is the standard unit on Phu Quoc. That means course days are full days, not afternoons — you cannot fit training around a morning excursion, and a course occupies consecutive mornings.
None of the island's centres publishes the number of days its course runs, so ask for the calendar when you book, together with the start dates available in your week. Ask it early: on a seven-day winter trip the course and the no-flying rule have to be planned against your departure.
Before the course: two cheaper steps
The first is a single dive with an instructor. Vietnam Active's Discover Scuba Diving is $100 per person for two dives at two different sites, maximum two guests per instructor; Phu Quoc Diving Club's Try Scuba is $100 with one instructor per one or two guests and includes basic skill practice; Ecodive's Discover Scuba is 100 USD per pax, one-on-one. None of them is a certification, but all of them answer the only question that matters before you spend four hundred dollars.
The second is the pool. Flipper Diving Club sells a half-day pool option for 800,000 VND (about $31) and offers it in combination — Discover Scuba Diving with the pool session comes to 3,800,000 VND (about $146). For someone nervous about the mask or the regulator, that is the cheapest way to meet the equipment in water you can stand up in.
Coming back after a long break
If your card is old and your last dive was years ago, the centres sell a short reset rather than a new course. Vietnam Active publishes a Scuba Refresher at $110 for two dives, all included. It costs slightly more than a day of fun diving at the same centre and rather less than starting again.
| Programme | Centre | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Water Diver | Vietnam Active (PADI 5 Star) | $440, eLearning included | per course |
| Open Water Diver | Ecodive (PADI) | 430 USD | per course |
| Advanced Open Water | Ecodive (PADI) | 400 USD | per course |
| Scuba Refresher, 2 dives | Vietnam Active | $110, all included | per person |
| Pool session, half day | Flipper Diving Club (PADI) | 800,000 VND (about $31) | per person |
| Discover Scuba, 2 dives | Vietnam Active · Phu Quoc Diving Club · Ecodive | $100 | per person |
Frequently asked
PADI or SSI — does it matter?
Both systems are represented on the island: Vietnam Active is a PADI 5 Star centre, Flipper, Ecodive and Vietnam Explorer are PADI centres, and Phu Quoc Diving Club is an SSI dive centre. The certification cards of both are recognised internationally; on Phu Quoc the practical differences you can check in advance are the group size, the harbour and the language your instructor works in.
What language will the teaching be in?
English at every centre that publishes the question. Phu Quoc Diving Club and Ecodive run English and Vietnamese, OnBird states Vietnamese and English for its in-water guiding, and Poseidon Diving School says its instructors speak French.
When should the course fall in the trip?
Not at the end. The PADI centres repeat the rule: after diving, wait 12 to 18 hours before flying. With course days running to a 15:00–15:30 return, put the last dive at least a full day before your flight, and remember that the northern sites only work from November to April.
Updated 4 September 2026. Course prices are quoted from the centres' own published pages, read on 4 September 2026; day-trip prices and timings from the operators' product pages.
