TYPES OF DIVING COURSES
JUST DIVE
OPEN WATER DIVER
The Open Water Diver course is where it all really starts – all you need is to be over 10 years old, have adequate swimming skills and be in (medically-certified) good health. The course is straightforward and consists of three phases: firstly, theory, or ‘knowledge development’, which studying online, independently or in a classroom to get you up to scratch with the basic principles of scuba diving; secondly, five confined water dives to learn all of the basic skills; and, lastly, four open water dives to put your skills and knowledge into practice and start exploring the magnificent underwater world now available to you.
ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVER
You don’t need to be advanced to take this course, rather it advances your existing diving skills. You have to be at least 12 years old to take the course, and to have passed your Open water Diver certification, after which you’re free to plan your advanced learning path with your instructor by successfully logging a total of five ‘specialty’ dives. Two are mandatory: ‘Deep’ – to equip you to deal with the physiological effects of deeper scuba diving, and ‘Underwater Navigation’ – to fine tune your compass, visual landmark and time skills. The other three are entirely up to you.
RESCUE DIVER
Rescue Divers are the emergency services of the underwater kingdom and this course is hallowed as the most challenging, but most rewarding, of all diving courses. It’s all about learning to prevent and manage problems that might occur under the water – not just for you, but for others too. You’ll need to be at least 12 years old and have gained your Advanced Open Water qualification with Underwater Navigation specialty dive, plus you need to have completed a CPR and First Aid training course within the past 24 months. You may study this alongside your Rescue Diver certification, it’ll just mean adding more work to an already pretty heavy course.
DIVEMASTER
Pre-requisites: age 18+, Rescue Diver, 40 logged dives to begin and 60 to qualify. For those who catch the diving bug really badly, becoming a Divemaster is about honing your knowledge and skills to a professional level with a view to becoming a mentor and motivator of newbie divers, supervising activities and assisting with training. Whether you want to pack in your day job and become a dive instructor in a far flung destination, or get a weekend job at your local dive shop, the Divemaster Course is geared those who want to dive as a career, not as a hobby.