Learn to dive

The adventure of discovering Tasmania’s world renowned diving is yours in the Open Water Diver course! You’ll gain an internationally recognised qualification enabling you to:

• Dive to 18 metres;
• Go on dive trips here and overseas, buy scuba gear and obtain air fills;
• Extend your diving skills and interests in other continuing education courses.

The course is your first big investment in diving and we want it to be the best value for you. With us, your Open Water Diver course is all-inclusive and we’ve structured it to give you the best possible learning experience and skill development rather than cut corners and costs. Remember, differences in price reflect differences in course delivery and you should make an informed decision about what you want for your money.

So, here’s what you’ll get with Underwater Adventures Tasmania:

• All initial scuba skill development in a heated pool to maximise your learning and comfort
• Use of all scuba equipment including dive computers
• A pair of neoprene gloves and zip-sided dive boots that are yours to keep
• Your course materials including log book and certification
• Two shore dives and two boat dives
• Personalised equipment and continuing education counselling, and the most important thing -
• Our guarantee that you’ll develop the skills and confidence you want and have paid for.

What we don’t do is also important: we don’t ask you to buy any gear for the course (in fact we believe that to make an informed decision about gear, you have to dive first and know where you want out of diving); there are no hidden extras; and no course/gear package deals that turn out to be more expensive. (We can of course give you a good price on gear!)

You’ll also want to know a bit about your instructor. Sue Wragge has been teaching diving since 1988 and has introduced thousands of people to snorkelling and scuba diving. Sue’s known for her patience and thoroughness, and has extensive experience teaching junior divers. In fact, she’s received a regional award from PADI for her work with young people. And she’s been involved in aquatics and water safety professionally since the early 1980′s.

HOW WE ORGANISE YOUR COURSE

Your course has 3 components: knowledge development; at least two pool dives in which you learn how to use scuba gear; and 4 open water dives in which you apply the skills you learnt in the pool.

You can start your knowledge development as soon as you wish. You can choose how you want to learn: online e-learning; self-study by reading the course manual and watching the course DVD at home; or classroom -based lectures combined with reading your course manual. (Strangely, no-one seems to choose the classroom option!)

Our experience is that divers learn faster and better in a controlled environment and so we run all of our initial skill development in a pool. We use shallow water for your introduction to scuba and then progress to a 5m pool where you can practise and refine your buoyancy and equalisation skills at a realistic depth before the open water dives.

Our shore dive sites are usually Tinderbox Beach or Crayfish Point (Taroona). We prefer Crayfish Point in summer to avoid the heavy boat traffic and parking congestion at Tinderbox. Our boat leaves from Battery Point public jetty and we often head to George’s Reef within the Tinderbox Marine Reserve where you’ll be amazed at the colour and diversity of marine life.

Finally, a couple of notes before you get started. The only pre-requisites are that you:

• Are medically fit to dive (a full dive medical to Australian Standard AS 4005 is required)
• Can swim 200m or snorkel 300m, and tread water or float on the surface unaided for 10 mins
• Can handle the equipment – sometimes diving can be physically demanding
• Are aged 15 or older

Youngsters aged 12-15 can do the Junior Open Water Diver course at the instructor’s discretion. Juniors must dive with an adult at all times and can upgrade to full Open Water status at 15.)

The medical must be passed before you start practical sessions. We recommend that you do it before you start your knowledge development, if only to avoid disappointment!