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Upon
signing up for your course and paying your deposit you
will be issued with your crew pack, this includes your
student record file, which you must complete, including
the medical statement and your personal details. The
main item is the open water manual;
once you get this home you should begin your own
independent study by reading through
the manual and completing all the short quizzes and the
five main knowledge reviews, one at the
end of each chapter! The knowledge reviews will
be required by your instructor on the first day of your
course, so this independent study
section of the course is very important.
Day 1:
You should aim to
arrive at Simply Scuba about 09:15 am. Upon arrival you
will meet your instructor and complete any outstanding
course registration paperwork, etc. You will then meet
the rest of the course participants. After a short talk
on site health and safety, you will be shown around the
facilities and be introduced to the rest of the staff at
Simply Scuba before returning to the classroom to begin
the formal part of your
academic training, going through
modules one and two,
including a quick quiz at the end of each
section.
In module one you will learn the
principles of buoyancy, pressure and
its relationship to volume, density at depth. You will
begin to look at dive equipment and
the buddy system.
In module two you will look at
the effects of being underwater on sight, sound,
heat loss, movement and respiration. You will
take a more detailed look at certain items of
equipment and exposure suits. You will
learn about communication signals and pre-dive
safety checks, (BWRAF). You will also look at
some of the water skills you will be learning, and why they are
so important.
Dependant upon the pool start time for day one
you will at some point leave the classroom and go to the
kit room where you will be shown how to assemble your
own equipment, this will be followed by a detailed
briefing on what is expected in the first pool
session.
During
each pool session on the course your instructor will
explain each water skill to you and demonstrate them
clearly, before asking you to perform them. You will
soon see that the skills you practice build up your
confidence in the water and in the equipment.
E.g. In pool session one you will practice
kit assembly, buddy check, surface inflation of
your BCD, shallow water entry, breathing underwater,
regulator clearing, regulator recovery, mask clearing,
buoyancy control, fin pivots and equalisation of your
ears, breathing from an Alternate air source.
You will put into practice some of the signals
youve learnt plus correct ascent
procedures and shallow water exits. Time
permitting there are other skills you will be shown and
learn, each one building upon those that you have
already completed. The exact number of skills covered
per pool session will depend upon how well everyone is
progressing. Once the pool session is finished its load
up and back to the centre to debrief the pool session
and continue the days
activities.
The day normally finishes between 18:00
18:30.
Day 2:
Begins with your arrival for 09:30 at the centre,
unless otherwise stated, where after a brief review of
the events of day 1, you will move onto academic
modules 3 and 4, hopefully completing
both of these including the quick quizzes by the end of
the day. Again at some point during the day, dependent
upon available pool times, you will break off from the
classroom and go to the pool for confined water
skills training, again building upon the
skills from pool session one.
In module three you will learn
about the dive environment, dive planning,
aspects of boat diving, problem management and basic
general open water skills. You will look at
some of the confined water skills
youve completed and some that you will be doing in pool
session two.
In module four you learn more
about various dive equipment accessories
etc. You will look at health and
fitness for diving, the effects of
breathing air at depth, Nitrogen Narcosis and
Decompression Sickness; you will be introduced
to the recreational dive planner/ tables and
dive computers and special considerations when
planning repetitive dives.
In pool session two you will
develop your skills, building upon those you learnt in
session one and learning new ones such as, deep
water entry, No mask breathing and swim, disconnecting
the low pressure inflator hose, inflating your BCD
orally. You will practice air depletion
exercises and various types of safe
ascent procedures, tired diver tow, cramp removal
techniques, weight removal at the surface and a deep
water exit. The day ends with a review of day 2
and a briefing on the agenda and time table for day
3, usually about 18:00.
Day 3:
Begins at the time specified by your instructor,
and this will in great part depend upon the progress
made by the course participants in days 1 and 2. The aim
is that on this the last day of the academic and
confined water sections of your course, you will have
only module five academics, including
quick Quiz, to complete before moving onto the
final exam, which is a multiple choice
answer paper with a pass mark requirement of 75%. Again
at some point during the day you will once again be
going to the swimming pool to complete your
confined water training and perform your
swim tests, (200 meter
swim and 10 minute float).
Module five covers special dive table and
computer procedures, using a dive computer, basic
compass navigation and additional study of the
recreational dive planner, dive safety practices and a
section on continuing your diving
education.
Pool session 3 covers the
remaining water skills including, weight belt
removal and replacement both underwater and on
the surface, Scuba unit removal and
replacement both on the surface and underwater,
CESA, and various flexible dive
skills, plus time for you to practice
independently or
have another go at any of the skills you found difficult
first time round. Once the session has ended its pack
the van and back to the centre for your final debriefing
of this section of the course, signing of your
individual training records and to discuss the next
section, going to open water!!!
At Simply Scuba we take your
safety very seriously, as such most adult students will
dive in Dry Suit when going to open water, due to our
rather temperate climate. As this requires a small
amount of additional training this is included free of
charge, in the form of a dry suit orientation pool
session, which normally takes place on one of our
regular pool nights.
Day 4:
Begins with your arrival at the centre at
the pre-arranged time agreed by your
instructor, depending upon which dive site is
going to be used that day, some sites require an
earlier start. You will select your gear with the
assistance of the instructors and staff and help load
the van, the more you handle the equipment the more
familiar you will become with it! Then its off to the
dive site, due to legal reasons we are unable to provide
transport to and from off site venues, therefore
participants normally car share for ease and
convenience.
Upon arrival at the dive site you will
have a site safety briefing to
familiarise you with that specific site and any
potential hazards appertaining to it. This is followed
by unloading the equipment ready for the days diving to
commence. Prior to each dive over these two days a
dive briefing will take place
explaining exactly who is doing what, where and when and
the emergency procedures that
are in place.
Dive, 1, This is a straight
forward orientation dive, to help you
get accustomed to the practicalities of open water
diving and its procedures, plus a general look at that
specific dive site. Duration is normally about
30 minutes dependent upon conditions. Upon
completion of this dive you will exit the water, de-kit
and have a de-briefing during your surface
interval...
Dive, 2, during this dive you
will descend underwater to a specified training
area or platform, you will then be asked to
demonstrate certain of the
practical skills that you learnt during
the confined water section, to the dive instructor
leading the dive. Dive time and conditions permitting
this will be followed by a swim around the dive site
lead by the instructional team at all times. Then its
exit the water, de-kit, dive de-briefing, disassemble
the gear and load the van before returning to the dive
centre, where you will assist in off loading and
cleaning the equipment prior to returning it to the kit
room. The dives for that day will then be
logged in your log book and signed by
the instructor, and a brief discussion held to
ensure everyone knows what is to happen on day
5.
Day 5:
This starts the same as day 4, with everyone
meeting at the dive centre and preparing their equipment
for the day, and then its off to the dive site. Once at
the dive site you will be reminded of the safety
briefing from day 4, or if its a different site
then a fresh briefing will be given entirely. Then its
down to business again, preparing your equipment and
getting kitted up ready for dive 3.
Dives 3 & 4, Both these
dives follow the same structure as dive 2, You will
enter the water and then proceed to a specified training
area where you will demonstrate certain skills
as requested by the dive instructor, upon
completion of this, each dive will end with a swim
around dependent upon dive time remaining and water
conditions. Each dive will last around 30 minutes. The
particular requirements for each dive will be
given in the dive briefing before each dive.
Upon successful completion of all four open water dives
you will return to the centre and once everything is
washed down and stored away you will return to the
classroom for a final course de-briefing and the
signing up of your log books and temporary certification
card, WELL DONE!!!
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