Congratulations on making the decision to become a SCUBA diver. You’ve made a major commitment to participate in this exciting sport. I am dedicated to giving you the
knowledge and skills you need to be confident and safe underwater--in other words, to become a diver.
You probably have many questions about the course. Before it starts, I’ll help you get your bearings by outlining it. . .
Like other sports, diving requires good health and some paperwork. PADI Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Agreement, PADI Standard Safe Diving
Practices Statement of Understanding, and PADI Medical Statement (RSTC Medical form). If you have any of the conditions listed on that form, a medical exam
and sign-off by your physician will be necessary.
Also like other sports, diving requires equipment. I require that you buy your own mask, snorkel, fins, weight belt, and weights. If your fins are the open-heel type (a
strap on the back) you will also need to purchase boots. I will be happy to assist you. I supply everything else you'll need for the course. If you wish to keep your video
at the end of the course, you may purchase it from me, otherwise it must be returned, prior to any checkout dives, in the same condition as it was when you received it.
If you choose the PADI eLearning option, disegard the following paragraph. You will come in on the day of the first pool session and complete a short review.
The information contained in your OWD manual and its companion DVD is designed to be studied and absorbed at home. There are Knowledge Reviews at the end of
each section to check your understanding. I expect you to have read sections 1, 2, and 3 and answered the questions at the end of those sections, before the 1st
classroom session of the course. The book "How to Choose and Use a Dive Computer and the associated Knowledge Reviews must be finished before the 2nd session.
Additionally, you must have watched the entire video prior to our 1st meeting. In fairness to the other students, if you have not done your home study, you will be
asked to move to the next Open Water class.
A typical course has six sessions. Courses are offered every two weeks, starting on Monday and finishing on Sunday. Times listed are start times, please arrive a few
minutes early:
Monday – Thursday from 5-8 for class and pool sessions. Many times we will finish early. Saturday and Sunday's checkout dives take place aboard a local dive boat in
the morning or afternoon (the class will decide on a time).
I also offer private and semi-private classes, which allow you to set a schedule that works for you. There are additional fees involved.
Each OWD training session starts in the classroom. I will review a section from the manual, ask and answer questions, and apply the information to real diving
situations. After the academics, you’ll move to the pool to learn and practice diving skills and become familiar with assembling and using SCUBA gear. The pool is
where most of your training takes place.
Your course concludes with checkouts where you will complete four dives, accompanied by me. These are your application dives—I will observe you as you apply your
skills in a real diving environment and build confidence and comfort. Think of them as your “Road Test”.
By the end of the course you will know how to assemble and use diving gear, how to judge what gear is right for you, how to plan, execute, and log a dive, and how to
deal with problems underwater. You’ll have a Certification Card ("C-Card") and a diver’s logbook. These allow you to rent dive gear and to book diveboat trips and diving
vacations around the world.