Diving Instruction

Recreational Diving Instruction

Resort Diver

This class is for first time divers who would like to try diving while on vacation! This is not a certification program but an ‘experience program’ providing a safe and fun forum for you to check out this fun social sport! We start out at 9:00am at our shop where we head out to the pool deck, talk about the most important things you need to know about diving, show you the equipment and how it works and then get into the pool. Once in the pool we take you through a few basic skills to familiarize you with the gear and what you need to know out on the reef. After this we take a lunch break and then take you out on our boat at 1:00pm for a dive to a maximum depth of 40 feet in the Caribbean.

Open Water Diver

We offer a full Open Water Certification Course through PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). The course takes 3 full days and encompasses academic learning, pool skills training and 4 open water dives. You will need to read the PADI Open Water Manual prior to the start of the course and complete your knowledge reviews to ensure that you have a good base level of knowledge prior to the start of the program. Expect to to spend two half days completing your academic training, two half days in the pool doing skills practice and two half days diving in the ocean (total 4 dives) to complete this program.

E-Learning Open Water Diver

In keeping with learning online, PADI now offers E-Learning as on option for your academic portion of your Open Water Diver Course. Save your vacation time for the water and get all your bookwork done on your own schedule prior to arrival. We are happy to assist should you have any questions regarding the academic portion of your course. Once you arrive here we will complete the pool skills sessions and open water dives of your course. To complete your Open Water Certification we will conduct 5 confined water sessions over two half days and four dives over two half days so we will require 2 full days of your time.

Referral Dives – Open Water Diver

Another great option to complete your Open Water Certification is to complete a of your academic and pool work at home before heading out on vacation! Once your local instructor has signed off your pool skills and academic work, you will bring your paperwork to us where we will set up your 4 Open Water referral dives for you! We do these dives over 2 days, 2 dives per day. The cost for the referral dives is $275 USD including equipment.

Refresher Course

If it has been over 24 months since your last dive or you feel as though you need a ‘reminder’ of dive skills you will need to take a Refresher Course prior to diving in the ocean. This is a great way to ‘knock off the rust’ and re-introduce yourself to equipment, skills, knowledge and buoyancy. We start out at 9:00am at our shop where we head out to the pool deck, spend some time talking about the most important things you need to know about diving such as physics, physiology and dive tables. We then revisit the equipment to ensure that you are comfortable with its functionality and then get into the pool. Once in the pool we take you through several skills to familiarize you with the gear and what you need to know out on the reef. After this we take a lunch break and then take you out on our boat for a dive or two!

Advanced Open Water

We offer Advanced Open Water Certification Course through PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). Broaden your skill set and get more comfortable in the water! This program consists of some academic work and 5 open water dives each focusing on a different aspect of diving. Of the 5 dives, 2 core dives which must be completed are a deep dive (100’ max) and a navigation dive where we use a compass as well as natural underwater features to ensure that you become a competent underwater navigator. The other 3 dives are elective and you can choose from the following dives:

• AWARE Fish Identification
• Boat Diver
• Multi-Level and Computer Diver
• Night Diver
• Peak Performance Buoyancy
• Search & Recovery
• Underwater Naturalist
• Underwater Photography
• Underwater Videography
• Wreck Diver

Pre-requisite is Open Water Diver Certification and be 15 years of age (12 for Junior Advanced Open Water).

Specialty Courses

Choose from a wide array of Specialty Courses through PADI! Learn more about the areas that interest you most. Please see www.padi.com for a full list and descriptions of each course!

Rescue Diver

In this intensive and rewarding program you will spend the better part of one day on academic work and a solid half day in the ocean doing rescue scenarios. This is a great program to move from a focus on yourself as a diver to a focus on other divers. This is the next stepping stone to Divemaster! In this course you will learn:

• Self Rescue
• Recognition and Stress Management in other divers
• Emergency Equipment/Emergency Management
• Panicked diver rescue
• Unresponsive diver rescue

Pre-requisites for this program are Advanced Diver and a current CPR/First Aid Certification. You must be 12 years old to participate.

  

Free Diving

Discover Free Diving

This is a half day program designed to introduce you to the sport of Freediving or Breath-hold Diving. Sometimes described as “advanced snorkeling,” skills taught in this program will include breathing techniques, finning techniques with am emphasis on safety. A short academic session will be followed by in-water practice!

Open Water Free Diver

This one day program begins to educate free diving students on the history of breath-hold diving and an overview on the beginnings of the human mammalian dive reflex. We start to cover free diving safety standards and procedures, breath up patterns and descents and ascents. The course will start with half the morning in class followed by a pool session. After a light lunch students will head out for an afternoon of ocean dives. Depth limit for Open Water Free Diver is 33ft/10m.

Advanced Free Diver

A two day program focused on increasing students breath-hold knowledge and free diving abilities. The Advanced Free Diver class involves lectures focused on safety protocols, problem identification, emergency procedures and rescues. There are also discussions involving dry land training, diet and fitness programs for Freediving. Dry land exercises are described and practiced. Pool sessions designed to develop static breath-hold capabilities are held moving towards open ocean dives to increase diving depths. Ocean dives are held in a safe environment allowing students to push personal limits. Depth limit for Advanced Free Diver is 66ft/20m

Master Free Diver

A three day course to allow advanced free diving students to safely push their personal limits and increase their deep free diving capabilities. Lectures focus on advanced breathing techniques, hypoxic exercise routines, advanced rescue and emergency procedures featuring shallow water blackouts. Static tolerance tables are practiced to allow students to physically experience hypoxia and hypercapnia in a controlled pool environment. Other areas of focus involve buddy responsibilities, advanced breathing techniques and advanced decent and ascent techniques. Depth limit for Master Free Diver is 99ft/30m.

Technical Diving Courses

Nitrox

Nitrox training is your first step towards technical diving and teaches you to utilize breathing mixes from 22% to 40% oxygen up to 130 fsw. This one day program encompasses a half day of classroom work and 2 ocean dives using EANx. Training includes physics and physiology, oxygen safety and gas analysis. Divers may choose to take advantage of either longer bottom times or a higher margin of safety. You will learn about safety, equipment considerations, oxygen exposure management and table/computer Nitrox profiles. Prerequisite; Open Water Diver.

Deep Diver

This program is focused on providing responsible training to divers wishing to explore up to 130 fsw using air. This four day program includes training in theory, skills, performance and planning deep dives. This is a four day program which involves training in decompression theory, breathing techniques, oxygen concerns, physiology, psychology and much more! This course includes 4 dives and can be combined with the Advanced Nitrox Diver course.

Advanced Nitrox

This four day program is the first course involving decompression diving. With oxygen mixes from 22%to 40% and up to 50% for decompression, skills practice and knowledge base provides a solid foundation for further technical training. This course includes a skills dive plus four ocean dives.

Technical Diver

This six day course focuses on training divers between 100 fsw and 170 fsw utilizing custom breathing gases. Academic sessions include complete knowledge of Nitrox limits and use of Nitrox and Oxygen for decompression mixes. The information provided during this program is the fundamental knowledge base for Trimix training. During the 6 day course you will complete a skill dive plus 5 ocean dives.

Normoxic Trimix

This intense six day curriculum is intended for divers wishing to diver between 130 fsw and 200 fsw safely. Bottom mixes utilize Normoxic (normal O2 levels) mixes. Starting from Advanced Nitrox, this course includes one three hour skills session and six ocean dives. Two dives will be made on air ranging in depth from 100 fsw to 130 fsw. Four dives will be made on Trimix with two of these dives ranging up to 165 fsw and two dives up to 200 fsw. Once all requirements have been met the diver will be qualified to use Normoxic Trimix mixes to 200 fsw maximum.

Full Trimix

This course is dedicated to those divers already involved in deep diving. This is not designed to entice divers to try deeper profiles who are content to remain in normal recreational diving profiles. Training during this program focuses on self sufficiency. This program teaches advanced physics and physiology and utilizes dual stage bottles. Trimix affords divers a safer method of exploring depths up to 333 fsw using Hypoxic Trimix bottom gases and decompression mixes up to 80% Oxygen.