RAID Open Water Course in Kota Kinabalu

Learning to dive in Kota Kinabalu is an unforgettable experience because it offers some of the most accessible and diverse marine environments in Southeast Asia. Located along the coast of Borneo, this vibrant city is the gateway to the stunning Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, a cluster of tropical islands with crystal-clear waters, colourful coral reefs, and abundant marine life. Here, you can encounter sea turtles, reef sharks, clownfish, and countless macro species—all within short boat rides from shore. The calm conditions make it ideal for beginners, while the biodiversity keeps experienced divers inspired.

Choosing Borneo Dream ensures you learn with a professional, safety-focused, and environmentally responsible team. They are known for small group sizes, personalised attention, and high training standards. As a RAID-certified dive centre, Borneo Dream follows a modern, performance-based training system that emphasises real skills and in-water competence rather than just completing minimum requirements. RAID courses are flexible, digitally supported, and internationally recognised, giving you confidence and certification that travels worldwide.

By learning to dive in Kota Kinabalu with Borneo Dream and RAID, you combine world-class marine beauty with high-quality instruction—creating the perfect foundation for a lifetime of underwater adventure.

If you are staying at the lovely Gaya Island Resort by YTL Hotels and wish to book snorkelling, diving or a diving course, you must contact us directly rather than purchase any product from this site, as the price structures on this site are for guests staying in Kota Kinabalu with DBKK Jetty collections. If you purchase by mistake, we often can not offer a refund both partial or full. Many thanks for your understanding.

Flying after diving or going to Mount Kinabalu Park can be risky, and you need to know and understand this. Anytime you have been scuba diving, you should not go above 300 metres above sea level until you have met the following requirements:

• A minimum of 12-hour surface interval was recommended for the single no-decompression dive.
• A minimum of 18-hour surface interval for multi-day repetitive diving.
• Substantially longer than 18 hours after diving involving compulsory decompression or using heliox and trimix.

Further information can be found on the Divers Alert Network site or DAN – Please click here.

The RAID online learning FREe-Learning is simply amazing and has revolutionised the diving industry. Completing your online learning should take you around 10 to 15 hours. But we have known those who have busted it out in just a few hours.

All of RAID’s certification courses, such as their famous RAID Open Water 20 Diver Course, come with or are complemented by their revolutionary FREe-Learning system. This means you can gain access to 95% of the online study material for all their courses before spending a penny. To get started, it is very simple; just follow the instructions in this PDF – Start today with RAID and Borneo Dream.

All of Borneo Dream’s snorkelling and scuba diving trips, experience programs and courses depart from the all-new DBKK Jetty located in central Kota Kinabalu, behind Suria Sabah Shopping Centre and Grandis Hotel.

If coming from a city centre hotel, it is often quicker to walk than take a taxi. If you are staying at a hotel such as Ibis, Shangri-La, Sutera Resort, etc., then you are best to grab a taxi and allow at least 20 to 30 minutes. Hotel out of tow like the Shangi-La Rasa Ria, you need to consult the reception for timings as these can take in bad traffic over 1 hour.

Our standard meeting arrangements are:

Please meet our Dive Crew at the ‘DBKK Jetty Counter’ poster (https://tinyurl.com/vfwuacyz) inside DBKK Jetty (located in central Kota Kinabalu – https://tinyurl.com/4zwfzz9h) at 08:45 for a 09:00 am boat departure. Our crew will be wearing Borneo Dream polo shirts. If you are unable to locate our Dive Crew by then, please contact our hotline at +60 17 811 8149 for assistance. We will drop you off at the same jetty at approximately 15:00 to 16:00. From there, you may take a taxi or Grab back to your hotel or explore the area on foot, as central Kota Kinabalu is easily walkable.

If you can navigate your way across KL airport or through a busy shopping centre, we feel you can learn to dive. 99% Of being able to learn to dive or complete a RAID Open Water 20 Diver Course in Kota Kinabalu is a right positive mental attitude and believing in your own abilities. All we ask is that you are fit and well and have the ability to swim 200 metres in water too deep to stand up in.

If you are 15 years old or older on the date you complete your RAID Open Water 20 Diver Course in Kota Kinabalu, you can dive to 20 metres in theory. I say this: even if your Lamborgini can go at 200mph, should you not first learn to drive slower? Always build up your experience gently in a controlled manner. It tends to make you live longer :-)

There is a very old but correct saying – You get exactly what you pay for. The cost of a Open Water Course in Europe is far higher than it is in Asia. This is to do with the cost of living and peoples potential income levels. The same way a Big Mac is RM 1.00 in Malaysia but 5,00€ in Europe. Looking at prices across Asia I would say Malaysia is near the top in value for money or cheapest price range. Borneo Dream’s prices are not the lowest in our area but our dedication to safety and quality speaks volumes. Take a look at our reviews on TripAdvisor or Google Maps.

Fail is not something we at Borneo Dream like to say or use unless we have to. Generally, there is always a reason why someone fails to complete an Open Water Course. It can be as simple as ill-prepared, maybe a very strong fear of water, or this is just not for me. Our professional team are there to train and mentor you and guide you in the right direction. We will make every hurdle manageable for you. If you have any concerns about taking part in an Open Water Course, then why not contact us in advance?

The RAID Open Water, 20 Diver Course in KK ‘Kota Kinabalu’, is just three days with approximately 10 hours of online study beforehand. Prices for this excellent underwater adventure start from RM 1325.00/Student or USD 275.00/Student. The price includes return transfers from DBKK Jetty in central Kota Kinabalu, complete diving equipment, lunch on diving days, RAID materials (FREe-Learning), and, of course, a professional smile.