The RAID Open Water 20 course certifies you to dive with a buddy to 20 metres, using a mix of digital theory and instructor-led practical sessions. You study the academics through RAID’s FREe-Learning platform at your own pace, then complete confined water and open water dives with a RAID Dive Centre to prove your skills. The next step is straightforward: register for FREe-Learning and book your practical training with a centre such as Borneo Dream Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd in Kota Kinabalu.
TL;DR:
- The course typically requires four open water dives and can be completed in as few as three days when studying online beforehand.
- The focus on buoyancy, hovering, and body control aims to improve safety and comfort, given the course’s technical diving origins.
- Certification is recognized internationally and allows diving to 20 meters with a buddy, using digital proof instead of a physical card.
- Booking with Borneo Dream Travel & Tours in Kota Kinabalu offers a streamlined, local experience with small group sizes and emphasis on buoyancy mastery.
Table of Contents
- What is RAID diving and what does Open Water 20 involve?
- What skills will you actually learn?
- How is the course structured from start to finish?
- Who can take this course, and what are the basic requirements?
- How does RAID’s FREe-Learning platform actually work?
- What does the certification let you do, and where is it recognised?
- Diving with Borneo Dream: what to expect in Kota Kinabalu
- Ready to book your RAID Open Water 20 course?
- Sources
- FAQ
What is RAID diving and what does Open Water 20 involve?
Before booking anything, it helps to know what you are actually signing up for. Here are the numbers that matter:
- Open water dives: typically multiple sessions used to sign off the practical skills you learn in confined water.
- Maximum depth: 20 metres once certified, which covers the vast majority of recreational reef and wall dives you will encounter on a Sabah diving holiday.
- Minimum age: most centres set this at a young age for junior versions of the course, and a higher age for the full adult certification, though this varies by centre.
- Medical requirement: a standard medical declaration form, completed before you start diving.
- Total time: can range from a few days for an intensive course to several weeks if you prefer to spread your theory study around work or travel.
That flexibility is one of the quieter advantages of RAID diving. Because the academic side is entirely online, you are not tied to a classroom schedule, which suits travellers who want to start reading up on buoyancy control before they have even booked their flights to Borneo.
What skills will you actually learn?
The RAID Open Water 20 course is built around one priority above all others: control in the water. Buoyancy, hovering, and trim get more attention early on than in many other beginner programmes, because RAID’s training heritage comes from technical and rebreather diving, where poor body position is not just untidy, it is a genuine hazard.
Expect to work through:
- Equipment set-up and pre-dive checks, including mask clearing and regulator recovery.
- Neutral buoyancy and hovering, practised repeatedly until it becomes automatic.
- Controlled ascents, descents, and basic emergency procedures such as out-of-air responses.
- Buddy checks, simple compass navigation, and awareness of your surroundings, including reef and marine life etiquette.
Each of these skills gets rehearsed first in confined water, usually a pool or a calm, shallow bay, before you take it into open water where currents, visibility, and depth all add complexity.
Pro Tip: Practise breathing slowly and evenly on land, in a chair, before your first pool session. Divers who arrive already comfortable with slow, deep breaths tend to master hovering days faster than those who don’t.
How is the course structured from start to finish?
The path from sign-up to certified diver follows a consistent sequence, even though the pace can flex around your schedule.
- Register and study online. You work through RAID’s FREe-Learning modules and end-of-chapter quizzes at your own speed, from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Confined water sessions. An instructor walks you through each skill in a pool or sheltered bay, correcting technique before you dive in open water.
- Open water dives. Four dives typically complete the practical sign-off, building from shallow, guided dives to slightly deeper ones as your confidence grows.
- Certification. Once your instructor confirms you have met the standard, your certification is issued.
Most divers complete the whole thing in three to five days if they arrive with academics already finished, or closer to a week if they are studying and diving in the same trip. If a quiz locks after repeated failed attempts, that is normal. Contact your chosen RAID Dive Centre directly and they will unlock it once they are confident you have reviewed the material properly.
Who can take this course, and what are the basic requirements?
Recreational diving is remarkably accessible, but a handful of checks exist for good reason.
- Age: junior options usually start from 10, with the standard adult certification available from around 15, depending on the centre.
- Medical declaration: every candidate completes a standard health questionnaire before diving.
- Physician clearance: required if you answer yes to any question on the medical form, covering conditions like asthma, heart problems, or recent surgery.
- Fitness basics: you do not need to be an athlete, but reasonable cardiovascular fitness and comfort in water are expected.
- Insurance and limits: consider dive-specific insurance, and always stay within your certification’s depth and buddy requirements once qualified.
None of this is designed to gatekeep. It exists so that the first time you breathe underwater is also a safe one.
How does RAID’s FREe-Learning platform actually work?
FREe-Learning is where the theory happens, and understanding how it works before you start saves you frustration later.
Once you register, you get lifetime access to the manuals and course materials, meaning you can revisit them years after certification if you want a refresher before a dive trip. Quizzes sit at the end of each chapter, and you need a passing score before moving on. Fail one too many times and the module locks, at which point you contact your RAID Dive Centre rather than the platform itself.
A sensible study rhythm looks like this:
- Read one chapter a day rather than binging the whole manual in one sitting; buoyancy and physics concepts land better with a night’s sleep between them.
- Attempt the quiz the same day you finish the chapter, while the material is fresh.
- Watch a few equipment familiarisation videos before your first pool session, so terms like “BCD inflator” and “octopus regulator” are not brand new vocabulary on day one.
Pro Tip: If you’re travelling to Sabah for your course, finish as many FREe-Learning chapters as you can before you fly. It frees up your holiday for actual diving instead of screen time.
What does the certification let you do, and where is it recognised?
Once certified, you can dive with a buddy to 20 metres almost anywhere in the world, using your digital e-certification (e-cert) as proof when booking dives with any recognised dive operator. You show it the same way you would a physical card, usually via an app or PDF, which makes travelling with your qualification considerably simpler than carrying paperwork.
RAID references ISO training standards for several of its courses, including alignment with ISO 24801-2 for entry-level open water diving. That matters if you ever want to switch dive schools or agencies, because it signals your training meets a recognised international benchmark rather than an in-house standard.
If 20 metres starts to feel limiting, which it often does once divers get comfortable, RAID offers progression routes including deep diver, nitrox, and rescue diver courses that build directly on your Open Water 20 foundation.
Diving with Borneo Dream: what to expect in Kota Kinabalu
Borneo Dream Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd has been running dive courses out of Kota Kinabalu since 2007, and buoyancy is where we spend the most time with every new diver, not as a formality, but because divers who trim out properly enjoy the water more and disturb the reef less. Groups stay small, sessions mix boat and shore access depending on conditions, and instructors adjust pacing to how each diver actually progresses rather than a fixed clock.
What sets training here apart is patience with the fundamentals. We are not a PADI Dive Centre; we are a RAID Dive Centre, and that shapes how we teach: technology-supported, buoyancy-first, and built on decades of watching what actually makes divers safe and confident underwater.
— Billy
Ready to book your RAID Open Water 20 course?
Borneo Dream Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd gives you a direct, local route to certification, without hunting between separate providers for theory access, pool sessions, and open water dives. Everything runs through one team in Kota Kinabalu that has been guiding divers through Sabah’s reefs since 2007, with small groups and an unusually strong focus on getting your buoyancy right from day one.
Booking is simple: reserve your place, complete your FREe-Learning modules at your own pace, then schedule confined and open water sessions once you land in Sabah. Full details on scheduling, pricing, and what to bring sit on our RAID Open Water 20 course page. If you are still deciding what else to combine with your dive training, our guide to planning your diving holiday is worth a read before you fly. Reserve your dates now and let us handle the rest.
Sources
FAQ
How many dives do you need to complete Open Water 20?
Most Open Water 20 programmes use four open water dives for practical sign-off, following confined water skill practice in a pool or sheltered bay.
How difficult is the RAID Open Water exam?
The FREe-Learning quizzes are multiple-choice and self-paced, so most beginners pass comfortably by reading each chapter carefully; if a quiz locks after repeated attempts, your RAID Dive Centre unlocks it once you have reviewed the material.
Is RAID diving harder than other diving certifications?
RAID diving is not harder, but it does place more early emphasis on buoyancy and trim than some other agencies, which some beginners find more demanding in the pool but more rewarding in open water.
What is RAID diving, exactly?
RAID, or the Rebreather Association of International Divers, began with a technical and rebreather focus and has since expanded into recreational open-circuit courses like Open Water 20, delivered through digital academics and instructor-led practical training.
Can I book RAID Open Water 20 training directly in Sabah?
Yes. Borneo Dream Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd is a RAID Dive Centre based in Kota Kinabalu offering the full RAID Open Water 20 course, from FREe-Learning registration through to open water certification dives.