Learn to Dive
in Austin, TX
Every diver in the world started exactly where you are today. Tom’s has been turning curious people into confident divers for more than forty years: in a warm indoor pool, with experienced instructors, on your schedule.
Try it for $99 with no commitment. Get fully certified for $619. Or call us and we’ll help you figure out the right first step.
Already certified? Explore Continuing Education →
Your First Breath Is Only the Beginning
Breathe Underwater. Then Go Somewhere Extraordinary.
Start in our warm Austin pool. Build real confidence. Then follow the path wherever it takes you: reefs, wrecks, night dives, turtles, travel, rescue skills, precision diving, professional leadership, and the kind of underwater moments most people only see in photographs.
This is what Open Water certification opens up. Every experience above starts from where you are right now. Explore Tom’s dive travel →
The Journey
Your Open Water Certification Is Graduation Day
It is not the end of learning. It is the day you stop learning how to dive and start discovering what kind of diver you want to become.
Every diver starts somewhere
Where Are You in Your Journey?
New to diving, or a little rusty?
I’ve Never Been Scuba Diving
I’m curious. I want to know what it feels like to breathe underwater. I’m not ready to commit to a full course yet.
Try Scuba →I’m Ready. I Want to Get Certified.
I’ve decided. I want to become a certified diver. I want a real SSI certification I can use anywhere in the world.
Open Water Course →Certified but Out of Practice
You have the card. Life got in the way. The SSI Scuba Skills Update gets you back in the water confidently, at your own pace. Pool-based, no open water required. Schedule with as little as 3 days notice.
Scuba Skills Update →Already certified?
Four recreational pathways. Two gated tracks. One clear next step.
Recreational CE: Control / Comfort · Explore & Enrich · Optimize · Access
Beyond CE: Precision / XR · Lead / Pro
We build divers we would trust with our own families.
That is not a tagline. It is the standard every Tom’s instructor brings to the water. Since 1982, we have believed that confidence comes from preparation, not luck. Real capability is not something a card represents. It is something you feel the moment buoyancy starts to click, navigation feels more reliable, and you are calm in conditions that would have rattled you six months ago.
We get there by coaching before we criticize, by treating every student as an individual with a specific goal, and by building a team of 30 or more active instructors who are genuinely invested in where you go next. Over 400 five-star Google reviews and more than 5,000 certified divers later, what people tell us they remember is not the card. It is the moment diving clicked.
Forty-plus years teaching Austin divers
Tom’s opened in 1982. That kind of staying power comes from building a reputation one diver at a time, over four decades, in the same city, with the same commitment to doing it right.
We coach before we criticize
When something does not click the first time, that is information, not a problem. Our instructors treat every hesitation as a signal about what to work on next, not a reason to judge. That approach, calm and honest and focused on what you can do, is what builds confidence that holds up outside the pool.
Instructors who are divers first
With 30 or more active SSI-certified instructors, we have the depth to match you with the right person. Working divers, active in the water, who teach because the sport means something to them. That shows up in every session.
The right environment changes everything
A 91°F pool warm enough that you are never fighting discomfort instead of learning. Open water checkout dives at Lake Travis and Spring Lake. Four recreational Continuing Education pathways, plus Precision / XR and Lead / Pro when you are ready for more.
You’re joining more than a class
Tom’s divers become part of the Austin Aquanauts dive community: local dives, group travel to Bonaire, Cozumel, Fiji, and beyond. The divers who started at Tom’s in the 1980s are still diving together today.
Ready to get started?
Try Scuba: $99 · Austin, TX
No experience needed. One pool session. If you love it, $50 applies toward Open Water certification. Call (512) 451-3425 or check the calendar below.
SSI Certification · Tom’s Dive & Swim
Why SSI Certification?
Tom’s has been an SSI Dive Center in Austin since 1982. Here is what makes SSI the right choice for a lifetime of diving.
Lifetime Certification
Your SSI Open Water certification does not expire. No renewal fees, no expiration dates. The card you earn is yours for life, and if you are out of practice, a Scuba Skills Update is the right way to get comfortable again before your next dive.
Recognized Worldwide
SSI certifications are recognized at dive shops, resorts, and liveaboards around the world. Your card is accepted broadly, though individual operators may have their own requirements for certain sites, depths, or conditions.
Digital-First Training
Complete academics at your own pace on the MySSI app. No heavy manuals. Your certification card lives on your phone.
Flexible Schedule
Study on your own schedule through the MySSI app. Come to Tom’s for pool sessions and open water checkout dives when you are ready.
One of the World’s Leading Agencies
SSI is one of the world’s leading scuba training organizations with dive centers in more than 110 countries.
Full Education System
From Open Water through continuing education, technical diving, and professional training. All of it available at Tom’s.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Begin Your Journey?
Whether you want to learn to dive, try scuba, get certified, refresh your skills, or choose your next step, Tom’s has a class for where you are right now: