Private, personal, customized diver training is our sole purpose.
Our training model extends the core PADI Open Water Diver course, plus you get:
* Up to 100% more underwater practice time than in a group course.
* A dedicated buddy/mentor relationship between student and instructor.
* Better diving experiences than you'd get in a group.
* Freedom to develop skills and manage risks at your own natural pace.
*Training equipment includes use of a dive computer, at no extra charge.
* A 20% discount on all equipment purchases when you're enrolled in any of our courses.
*Free Student Medical Coverage from Divers Alert Network (DAN) during your Open Water Diver course.
PADI Open Water Diver course
Single diver: $1,300* Buddy pair: $2,200*
* Prices include all taxes, full equipment rental, PADI Open Water Diver course materials and safety accessories, certification fees, an original training logbook, 9 hours at the pool, and 4 open water dives in Howe Sound. Transportation is provided from downtown Vancouver.
Add a Drysuit Specialty course for the discounted price of $250. This will get you a fifth open water training dive plus the Drysuit Specialty certification.
Our private Open Water program is your smartest investment in proper training.
Here's a bunch of reasons why:
- All your pool and ocean dives will be in a drysuit. Wetsuit training is offered as an option May-October.
- Many new divers regret having taken commodified group training, feeling that they didn't learn enough skill to dive confidently. You'll finish this course with superior skills and more confidence than a comparable student from a group course.
- We supplement the basic Open Water Diver course manuals with additional readings and insights into the realities of diving. You'll be a better informed new diver.
- Pool sessions are held at the UBC Aquatic Centre on most evenings and weekend days, subject to pool availability.
- We video you underwater in the pool and post footage to You Tube, to provide visual feedback as you're developing your skills.
- We work with your schedule. Group schedules are inflexible and will proceed whether you're there or not. If you miss a session you'll be forced to wait and join a later group.
- You'll develop at your own natural pace, not at a standardized pace set for a diverse group of total strangers.
- We sign you up for free Student Medical Insurance during your Open Water Diver course, provided by Divers Alert Network (DAN).
- We schedule 9 hours training at the pool: 3 hours on the deck and 6 hours in the water. Compare that to a full group dive shop course, where you should expect to get less than one hour of personal attention from the instructor at the pool before your ocean dives.
- Private training is the most efficient way to develop your skills. You will not be obliged to waste any precious time or tank air kneeling on the bottom in a cloud of silt, watching others in a group demonstrate their skills while waiting your turn to perform.
- Your practice time underwater will not be reduced or interrupted by any other student's problems or rapid air consumption.
- You'll experience better diving conditions because groups always disturb the silty bottom and degrade the visibility.
- You'll pay less for equipment purchases and rentals. Get 20% discounts at partner dive shops.
- A Drysuit Specialty course (and certification card) can be added to the Open Water course for $250 ($375 if taken separately). This certification is required if you plan to rent drysuits in the future.
PADI policy states that safety is the #1 objective on every dive, so why would you ever entrust your personal safety to an assigned classmate who is an uncertified novice and possibly a complete stranger?
- Private training is safer and lower risk for the novice student.
- The guiding principle behind PADI's education and training program is that diving is a "buddy sport", meaning that pairs of divers plan and execute a dive together, with a commitment to each other's safety. In the real world of diving, strong buddy skills are crucial to dive safety.
- In a group course you'd be buddied with...and required to trust... another unskilled novice possessing no rescue skills, who might be a complete stranger with no personal investment in your safety. Buddy abandonment happens frequently on group dives.
- Group instructors have no time or mandate to mentor or buddy with individual students. In a group course you simply have not paid for that level of attention. In our course you'll get direct personal feedback, guidance and mentorship throughout the course.
Course Details
The Open Water Diver course is segmented into three parts:
Dive Theory and Knowledge
Confined Water Dives
Open Water Dives
Dive Theory and Knowledge
- Academics are structured for independent home study. There are no organized classroom sessions. You'll read the course manuals, watch the course DVD, answer questions and quizzes, and write a final exam. All quizzes and exams are multiple choice.
- PADI course materials are augmented with additional readings to give you a heads-up on diving conditions and considerations in the real world.
- Time commitment is about 20-24 hours.
- Correspondence as you work through the academics is by email and telephone.
Confined Water Dives
- Pool sessions are designed for you to learn, practice and gain confidence in a broad range of fundamental diving principles & skills in a safe, warm water environment before going to the ocean. Nine hours of pool time are included in the course price (3 on the deck and 6 in the water), which is enough time for most people to learn the basics. Some students will struggle and need more pool time. We have to charge extra for that.
- Pool sessions are held at the new UBC Aquatic Centre, evenings or weekends, subject to pool availability. The training requires 3 or 4 weeknight evening sessions or two weekend afternoon sessions.
- We video you in the pool as you practice and post footage to You Tube to provide feedback and help guide your development.
Open Water Dives
- Two days of diving in Howe Sound at the best dive sites: Whytecliff Park, Britannia Beach, Kelvin Grove and Porteau Cove. Click on site names for details.
- Standard dive shop group dives are frequently as short as 20 minutes each, and can be suddenly cut short if someone in the group has a problem, gets cold or depletes their air supply. Our private training dives are specifically planned around your personal abilities, strengths, weaknesses and interests. Our training dives typically last 30-45 minutes....that's often double the bottom time you'd get in a group course.
- PADI's updated Open Water course emphasizes the use of dive computers over the traditional dive tables, but a computer is not mandatory. If you wish to dive with a computer to enhance the course experience, we will provide one at no extra cost to you.
- Successful completion of the course will earn you the PADI Open Water Diver certification, the most widely recognized diver certification in the world. More than that, you'll be a better informed, more knowledgeable, more skilled and more confident diver than a comparable graduate of an off-the-shelf dive shop group course.
The Schedule
- The course schedule is flexible to meet your availability and pace of progress.
- Finish the training in as little as three weeks or over a period of months.