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PADI Open Water Diver Course Details
If you’ve always wondered what lies beneath the surface, now’s the time to find out. Start the journey of a lifetime with the PADI Open Water Diver course. It will change you forever.
In the PADI Open Water Diver course, your PADI Instructor takes you through the basics of learning how to scuba dive.
You start in a pool or pool-like conditions and progress to the open water (ocean, lake, quarry, etc.) getting the background knowledge along the way.
Earning your PADI Open Water Diver certification is just the beginning. As a certified diver, fabulous dive destinations, exciting people, unparalleled adventure and uncommon tranquility await you. And, as you continue your adventure and gain experience through higher training levels, your opportunities expand.
Learning to dive isn’t difficult, but like any activity worth doing, it requires some time and effort.
While taking the PADI Open Water Diver course, you’ll enjoy three phases: Knowledge Development, Confined Water Dives and Open Water Dives Overview:
- Number of Dives: Five Confined Water Dives and Four Open Water Dives
- Knowledge Development: Five sessions
- Prerequisites: 10 for Junior Open Water Diver and 15 for Open Water Diver. Good health, reasonable fitness and comfort in the water.
- Materials You’ll Need: PADI Open Water Crew-Pak, PADI Open Water Video or DVD, Log Book.
Equipment you’ll use during the course includes: Mask, fins, snorkel, tank, regulator, buoyancy compensator, submersible pressure gauge and exposure protection as required by the local environment. Becoming a diver opens a door to a whole new world. Open yours and step through. For more information on dive gear check out the links at the bottom of the page.
Schedules The PADI Open Water Diver course is incredibly flexible and performance based, which means a wide variety of schedules, and paced according to how fast you progress. It’s possible to complete your confined and open water dives in as few as three or four days (provided you take care of reading the manual and watching the video/DVD ahead of time). However, many people prefer a more leisurely schedule. Contact our shop to find out the schedules or ask about a private or semiprivate course.
- Knowledge Development – This develops your familiarity with basic principles and procedures. You learn things like how pressure affects your body, how to choose the best gear and what to consider when planning dives.
You complete Knowledge Development on your own, reading each of five sections of the PADI Open Water Diver Manual and watching the corresponding section of the PADI Open Water Diver Video/DVD (which also previews skills you’ll learn). If you like learning with a personal computer, you can also get the Open Water Diver Manual and Video together as a CD-ROM. You briefly review what you studied in each section with your instructor and take a short quiz to be sure you’re getting it.
At the end of the course, you take an exam that makes sure you’ve got all the key concepts and ideas down.
- Confined Water Dives – This is what it’s all about – diving. You develop basic scuba skills in a pool or in a body of water with pool-like conditions. Here you’ll learn everything from setting up your gear to how to easily get water out of your mask without surfacing. You’ll also practice some emergency skills, like sharing air – just in case. Plus, you may play some games, make new friends and have a great time.
There are five confined water dives, with each building upon the previous. Over the course of these five dives, you attain the skills you need to dive in open water.
- Open Water Dives – After your confined water dives, you and the new friends you’ve made continue learning during four open water dives with your PADI Instructor at a dive site. This is where you have fun putting it all together and fully experience the underwater adventure – at the beginner level, of course. You may make these dives near where you live or at a more exotic destination on holiday.
For more information on becoming a PADI Open Water Diver, please contact our shop 250-768-3335 or 1-877-768-3335
The PADI Open Water course allows you to dive with any certified diver to a maximum depth of 60’.
You have a couple of options to attain this rating
Option #1
Complete the entire two week course here in the Okanagan by participating in 4/5 pool sessions and 4 open water dives. Included in the course is a PADI Academic Student Kit and all your gear except the following personal items - Mask, Snorkel, Fins, Boots and Gloves.
Our store carries a great selection of this gear with prices ranging from $200.00 to over $500.00
If you have your own gear, your welcome to use it and we have a rental package available for $50.00 + GST.
If you choose to rent and decide to purchase sometime during the course we will credit the $50.00 against the package price.
We provide students with Dry Suits for the Open Water dive. There is no charge for this option, but if you’re interested you can receive a PADI Dry Suit Specialty Course rating for a fee. You are not obligated to purchasing this rating.
The advantage in learning to dive here is that having a certification card identifying you as a cold water diver is recognition when you travel to warmer waters. There are more challenges to diving cold water but in the end you’re more proficient.
The PADI Student Kit is designed for self-study so we spend less time in the classroom and more time in the pool and open water. The training, manual is divided into 5 sections. At the end of each section is a Knowledge Review which you write like an open book exam. When you come to the class session we focus on the academics you find challenging rather than review information you know. We test you with 4 quizzes and a final exam and you’re expected to get a passing make of 70% for certification. Each section of the manual outlines the Confined Water pool sessions and you’re provided with a DVD for the course for a visual picture of the skills you learn.
Option #2
Complete the Academics and the 4/5 pool session only. This option is designed for those who are planning a tropical holiday. Once you’ve met the requirements for the academics and pool portion of the course we provide you with Referral Documents that are presented to a Dive Training Facility at your travel destination. With this facility you complete the required 4 open water dives and they process your certification. The cost for the Open Water dives runs anywhere from U$250.00 to U$350.00. The dives are usually conducted from a boat and should include the dive gear.
Academic options
You have two choices for the academic portion of the course.
· Included in the above fees is the PADI Student Kit. The kit includes the manual, a Log Book and training Record and a calculator for planning dives.
· Or you can choose to complete the academic using the PADI E-Learning program. The cost for this option is U$120.00 and allows you to learn in the comfort of your home on a computer. This eliminates classroom sessions at the store and you focus on the pool sessions and open water dives. We have students from North and South of us in the Okanagan Valley and others on holidays that use the option to maximize their time and still meet the PADI training requirements. With this option you have to purchase a Logbook and Dive Planning Calculator package for $48.95.
· If you choose to register for the E-Learning package, register on-line @ www.padi.com and input Serpent Aquatics as the training facility. Our store number is 30160. PADI notifies us by e-mail that you’re on-line and then we work out scheduling for the pool and or open water dives.
Continue to learn and expand your knowledge and skill sets with the PADI Advanced Diver Certification Course. Learn to dive safely to a depth of 100 feet along with advanced skill sets that allow you to Navigate, Night Dive and more. THE PADI ADVANCED DIVER ACADEMIC MATERIALS are NOW AVAILABLE thru the PADI E-LEARNING Program. Once you sign-up on-line you have lifetime access to the ADVENTURES IN DIVING modules for the Advanced Course and Adventure Dives.
There is a unique relationship between PADI Adventure Dives, the Advanced Course and Specialty Course certifications. If you participate in Adventure dives, they can be used as a credit towards either your Advanced or Specialty course certifications.
The PADI Rescue Diver teaches you skills to help yourself and buddies in and underwater. Take the challenge, improve your skills while acquiring skill sets specific to making your dive adventures as safe as possible.
And if you acquire 5 Specialty Course Certifications, you are recognized as a PADI Master Scuba Diver, the highest rating you can receive as a recreational diver.
During July and August Serpent Aquatics offers Adventure Dives weekly. Contact the Dive Centre to find out what activity is planned for these fun filled learning experiences.
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