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The first step in becoming a PADI
certified diver is to gain your Open Water Certification.
However, if you're nervous to try diving, and you want to
'sample' before you buy I recommend taking a Discover Scuba
Course. It lasts one day, and just covers the basics in a
controlled environment. The Open Water course covers your basic
skills, and teaches you how to use the Recreational Dive Planner
Table to help you stay within your residual nitrogen limits on a
dive. An Open Water Diver is certified to dive to 60ft below the
surface. The class length varies depending on where you go to
get your certification and what time spreads they offer.
Generally, they recommend that you provide your own mask, fins,
snorkel and booties for hygiene-related reasons. The class
itself is split between the Academic and pool sessions and the
four required Open Water Dives.
The Class:
Each student is required to pass a
swim/float test before they can continue with the rest of the
class.
Before each class the student will read
through the corresponding chapter in their Open Water Dive
Manual and fill out the Knowledge Review at the end.
The instructor will go over the
Knowledge Reviews and any questions the students may have at the
next class session. He will then go over his own lesson plan
following the PADI curriculum.
The Pool:
After each academic session a short
pool session follows. During the pool sessions the
instructor will teach the student, and then ask them to
demonstrate basic skills such as mask clearing, regulator
recovery, and controlled emergency ascents. These skills
will be repeated in the four Open Water dives later in the
course.
For Information on further course
requirements or continuing your dive education please visit the
link to the PADI site at the bottom of the page!
©ReefNet,
Inc. Red Lip Blenny
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In case you were wondering about my
background in diving, here it is:
My first dive took place when I was 18 years old. My dad had to
practically drag me to the dive site because I was so nervous.
The beauty of the Bahamas won me over though, and I fell in love
with being underwater. Half a year later, I did another discover
scuba course in the USVI with my mother, and decided that I
wanted to become certified. I gained my certification through
Dive Connections in Virginia in 2006. To me, being underwater is
being at peace. Its quiet, its beautiful, and its untouched. Its
an entirely different world than the one we live in on the
surface. I'm currently working on my Advanced Open Water
Certification and hope to become a Divemaster one day. I hope
that the information and the pictures in this site helps you to
understand some of the beauty that I find underwater, so that
perhaps one day you can choose to see it for yourself.
© K.Cornelius 2007
My mother and our Divemaster BJ
on the Little Sister dive boat in Cayman Brac, BWI
This is how most small dive boats are
set up, with the gear locked in and to the sides so that there
is plenty of floor space in the middle of the boat for easier
movement when it comes time to enter the water
© ReefNet,
Inc.
The above
picture is a Fairy Basslet. A small, saltwater fish that is
about 8cm in length. The Fairy Basslet has a variety of colors
and is a tropical fish.
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