Open Water Diving

There is a quote often referred to by mountain climbers or hikers, which goes...

"Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know." Rene Daumal

For divers though, it comes from a completely different angle of course!

"Between the air and the water a steel wave quivers. What people call the surface is also a ceiling. A looking glass above, watered silk below. Nothing is torn on the way through. Only a few bubbles mark the diver's channel and behind him the frontier soon closes. But once the threshold is crossed you can turn back slowly and look up: that dazzling screen is the border between two worlds, as clear to the one as to the other. Behind the looking glass the sky is made of water." - Philippe Diole. The Undersea Adventure. 1951

There is so much pleasure that can be derived from diving, and there is no better way to start than to learn the skills needed to survive underwater. Theoretically it revolves around a very simple strategy - just breath continuously through your apparatus. The rest of what appears to be quite basic ideas are very essential, because like everything else in life, sometimes you'll never know what will happen and that apparatus you're so biting into may be knocked off your mouth (what to do then?)

Fortunately the course is specifically design to equip the person with these skills, techniques and practical application.




From the Padi Official Website - Requirements for Open Water Diving

• 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.

After passing the final exam, you will receive a temporary diver's card while the laminated ID card is under process. A mail is sent out to the nearest Padi office and they will mail it back to you. Either way, you've just led yourself into a whole new world of fun and adventure!

are they bubbly or what? :)