Want to Learn to Dive?

If you have been considering learning to dive and you want to know more about what's involved in the basic open water scuba diving course, below I will try to answer your questions.

What is the Open Water Course?

As mentioned above the basic scuba diving certification course will be taught by all certification agencies. They are basically the same across different agencies and will only differ slightly but they will all cover the same basic skills and knowledge you will need to be able to dive safely.

Who can enrol for the Course?

You can begin to learn to dive from as early as 10 years old but this will maybe be 12 years old depending on the country you are at and this will be classified as the Junior Open Water Course. You will need to be at least 15 years old to enrol in the Open Water Course directly, but if you learn as a junior open water course you will be automatically upgraded to Open Water Diver when you reach the age of 15 years old.

The other requirements are you will need to be physically fit and have a basic level of swimming skill.

How long does the Course take?

This will become an important question as we are typically busy and dont have much time to spare. Normally an average vacation course will take around 3 to 5 days and will depend on the time and effort put in each day. Courses can also be done over weeks or months which will generally fit into your hectic schedule after work or on the weekend.

What will be covered during the course?

Basic Knowledge Development
When the course starts you will be given text books, videos or even learn online, you can study alone before starting the lectures. Areas to be covered in your course will be basics of diving techniques, how diving will affect your body, diving safety precautions, equipment selection and how to maintenance, planning your dives, and preview the skills you will learn in the water. A test will be conducted at the end of the course.

Confined Water Training
This will be your first step into the water with your equipment, but as you have no skills it will be conducted in a safe environment such as a swimming pool. Your training will start at shallow water where you can stand and start the basic skills, as you progress in confidence you will lead to deeper water the skills will continue until you successfully complete all the skills and drills required to advance to the open water.

Open Water Training
This will be your first dive in the open water, and you will take around 4 or more dives and you will go over all the skills and drills that you previously learnt in the swimming pool until you are completely confident and can perform them in real diving situations. By the end of the open water part of the course you will be happy diving with the fishes.

What does the course qualify you to do?

When you're certified as an Open Water diver you will be able to dive to 18meters when you dive with a fellow diver with a minimum qualification the same as yours. You do not have to be accompanied by a dive master of instructor but this is recommended. Also you will be eligible to do your Advanced Open water where you can dive at night and dive to 40m.

Do I have to renew my certification in future?

The certification is a life long certificate and does not need to be renewed. However, it is recommended that if you have not dived for a while or feel you lack the confidence in your skills you should do a Scuba Review. This review is a short refresher course with a professional that can be integrated into your first dive.