Scuba Certifications in Northern Virginia: On Line Scuba vs Traditional Scuba Courses

Scuba Diving is becoming more and more popular.  As a consequence there are more people wanting to learn to scuba dive then ever before, and since we are in a computer based world today, how does Scuba Instruction on line compare to traditional classroom instruction?

First, it is important to understand that there are three parts to learning to scuba dive:

1.    Classroom, where the theory and basic knowledge about scuba diving is learned.

2.    The swimming pool or other confined water where the actual scuba diving skills are mastered.

3.    Open Water Training Dives, a body of water larger then a swimming pool where the new scuba diver can demonstrate that they not only have mastered the basic skills of scuba diving but can do so without a Scuba Instructor assisting them.

Needless to say, the on line portion can only replace the classroom.  The pool and Open Water Dives cannot be mastered on a computer.

The Advantages of PADI On Line Scuba Training

If you’re looking for a flexible way to fit a scuba certification into your busy schedule or if you just prefer web based learning, then PADI’s online scuba programs are an excellent way to go.

You can get started immediately with scuba knowledge development and work at your own pace using the PADI eLearning system.  Since you log onto the classes at your convenience, any hour of the day or night, you have the opportunity to learn when you are best prepared to do so, not just when classes are scheduled.  You also have the flexibility of completing your knowledge  development at home, at work or on the go as it best fits your schedule.

The Advantages of Traditional Classroom Scuba Training over PADI E Learning

Since the traditional class is taught by Instructors who are present, they will personalize the classroom to include examples that match the type of scuba diving that you will be doing.  Needless to say, they are happy to answer all of your questions as well.  The most major disadvantage of On Line Instruction is that is very broad based to convey the general principles of scuba diving.  On Line programs do not necessarily answer personal questions.

Lastly, On Line Scuba Classes tend to be more expensive then traditional Scuba Classes.  The cost of setting up and operating a computer based system adds the the cost of the program.  Even though the Traditional Class  & Pool price is often discounted for those taking the On Line Program the extra costs of the computer learning exceed the discount for not taking live classroom.

Other On Line Scuba Training Classes:

In addition to the Open Water Course, PADI offers an array of classes that have portions that can be taken On Line.  Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, PADI Enriched Air – Nitrox Diver and Scuba Tune Up – a review course for certified divers who have not scuba dived in a while are all popular options.

Which ever you decide upon, you can be assured that you will receive the most up to date knowledge available.  Scuba Diving is fun, enjoyable and exciting.  It is definitely worthwhile whichever way you take it.

Learn to Scuba Dive – Northern Virginia – The PADI Master Scuba Diver

Over the past few weeks we have looked at several of the many scuba classes that are available to us in Scuba Continuing Education.   We started with the entry level scuba certification or Open Water Course and worked up to the Professional Scuba Diving Certification or Divemaster Program.

Scuba Diving Courses and Scuba Diving Certifications: Recreational vs Professional

From the beginner scuba course or Open Water Course to the more advanced like the PADI Advanced Open Water Course you learn basic scuba diving skills.  When you add the PADI Rescue Diver certification you add skills in dive accident management.  This in turn makes you a better diver and a safer scuba diver.

We spoke about the PADI Divemaster program as recognizing those that achieve professional level dive skills and entry to the professional scuba diving certification, perhaps leading on to Scuba Instructor.

However, what distinguishes the recreational diver that achieves a higher skill level?  That is one of the benefits of the PADI Master Scuba Diver Certification.

The PADI Master Scuba Diver Certification

PADI Open Water Diver and PADI Advanced Open Water Diver

The PADI Master Scuba Diver Certification is a recreational rating that denotes a scuba diver who has achieved a well rounded background in scuba diving and has also amassed a certain amount of scuba diving experience.   Just what is a PADI Master Scuba Diver?

To earn this distinguished scuba diving certification a diver must have completed not only the Open Water Diver Certification but the PADI Advanced Open Water Certification as well.  These two scuba diving certifications show that the scuba diver possess not only the basic skills to properly scuba dive but has taken the time to add five more dives and several more  essential skills and experiences.

The PADI Rescue Diver

The PADI Rescue Diver course is also required showing that the scuba diver not only has general scuba diving skills but also has knowledge about potential problems that can occur when scuba diving and more importantly how to safely deal with these problems.  Divers completing the PADI Rescue Diver Course must also be current in CPR and First Aid and have usually completed the Emergency First Response First Aid & CPR Course.

The PADI Specialty Diver

PADI offers a host of Specialty Dive Courses that offer the scuba diver the opportunity to experience several different types of scuba diving.  A few of the more popular PADI Specialty Courses are: PADI Underwater Photography where you learn the skills required to safely take photographs underwater.  In this course you learn about underwater photographic techniques, and underwater camera equipment.  You also learn the basics about editing your photographs and proper photographic composition.  This scuba course includes completing two scuba dives using an underwater camera system.

The PADI Wreck Diver course covers the basics of safely diving and exploring sunken ship wrecks.  Proper safety techniques an precautions while wreck diving are covered and the diver will complete four dives on a wreck to enhance their experiences.

Since many ship wrecks lie in deep water the PADI Deep Diver course is another popular choice.  During the Deep Diver Specialty the diver will complete four dives at depths greater then 50 feet, learning the physiological differences in diving deep versus dives that are made to shallower depths.

As we said earlier there are literally dozens of different PADI Dive Specialties.  The PADI Master Scuba Diver is well rounded and to qualify for the PADI Master Scuba Diver certification the diver must complete any five of these exciting dive specialty courses.

Last but by all means not least the PADI Master Scuba Diver must have personally logged a minimum of 50 logged scuba dives.  This shows that the diver has a fair amount of scuba diving experience.  While the Master Scuba Diver certification is not a professional rating it does show that the diver has taken the time to become an experienced and well rounded diver.  It is an accomplishment of which to be proud.

Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy, a PADI 5 Star Instructor Training Dive Center in Northern Virginia offers many Scuba Diving Courses.

Beginner Scuba Certification:

Aquatic Adventures offers scuba lessons in Northern Virginia and offers many different courses.  Which one is the best scuba course for me?  This may vary from diver to diver.  Everyone starts with the beginner course called the Open Water Course or if a PADI Dive Center the PADI Open Water Course.  At Aquatic Adventures the PADI Open Water Course takes two weekends and teaches the basic skills and knowledge of basic scuba diving equipment needed in order to scuba dive safely.

Advanced Open Water Certification:

Once you are certified then you will want to move on to more a advanced scuba dive skill level.  The next course is usually the Advanced Open Water course or if a PADI Dive Center the PADI Advanced Open Water Course.  The Advanced course picks up where the Open Water course stops.  It includes areas such as underwater navigation, deep diving, night diver, peak performance buoyancy, wreck diver and many other options.  Since Aquatic Adventures is in the Washington D.C. area this is a popular course.  Most divers in this area appreciate the need for better buoyancy and better underwater navigation.  Going right along with these courses is the need for a good underwater compass and owning your own buoyancy control device or BCD is always a good idea.

Specialty Diver Courses:

One of the nice things about the Advanced Open Water course is that each of these five dives counts as the first dive of the respective specialty diver course.  Thus once most divers complete the Advanced Open Water course they usually will take a Scuba Diving Specialty course or two.  Some of the more popular are underwater navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy (to perfect your buoyancy skills) as mentioned above.  Underwater Photography or PADI Underwater Digital Photography is also very popular as is Night Diver, where you learn the basic for diving at night, Wreck Diver where you learn the basics of diving in or around ship wrecks, Search & Recovery Diving or the basics of searching underwater for lost or missing objects.  The single most popular of all PADI Specialty courses is the Enriched Air Nitrox or EAN Nitrox course.  Diving with enriched air or air with an oxygen percentage greater then 21% allows for longer bottom times and leaves the diver less fatigued then when diving with air.  Divers who take underwater photography will want their own underwater camera and housing.  Those diving with nitrox will want their own scuba diving computer or maybe even a computer console.

Divemaster, Assistant Instructor & Scuba Instructor:

For those of us who really like scuba diving the jump to Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or even Scuba Instructor is only natural.  Teaching diving is not only fun but it really helps you cement your own personal dive skills making you a much better diver.  Being a professional gets you “wet” or in the water on scuba much more often.  It is also a great way to meet people.  It is emotionally rewarding and can lead to a whole new way of life or even a new life style.  Once you go all the way to PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor you would think that is a far as you would go.  That, however, is not the case.  Most Open Water Scuba Instructors want to be able to teach Scuba Diving Specialty Courses so they may take the Master Scuba Diver Trainer Course, where they learn to teach five or six different specialty diver courses.  From there the next step is to help train Scuba Instructors.  You can accomplish this by taking the Instructor Development Course Instructor or IDC Course.

Technical Diving Courses:

For those who want to truly do something different you might look at Technical Diving.  There is an Introduction to Tec course, which is a pool experience using technical diving equipment.  From there the three most common technical diving courses are Tec 40, where you learn to dive to 40 meters or 131 feet.  Tec 45 takes you to 45 meters or 147 feet and Tec 50 takes you to 50 meters or 164 feet.  This is a different type of diving that is every equipment intensive.  We will have more on this type of diving in future articles.

Dive Travel

Once you have taken the scuba diving courses that interest you the next step is to simply get out and dive.  You local Dive Center can help there.  At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy in No VA we specialize in Dive Travel

and are only too happy to help you book your next Aquatic Adventure.

SCUBA Diving Lessons in Northern Virginia are offered year round at Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy.

Most people think that SCUBA Diving Lessons refers only to the initial beginner training courses.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The beginner starts with the Open Water Course and of all of the Open Water Courses available the PADI Open Water Course is the most popular.  In the PADI Open Water Course you only learn the basic scuba diving skills and about the basic scuba diving equipment that you will use when diving.  The Open Water course is easy, fun, and can be completed in very little time.   Once you are certified as a Scuba Diver you have many more options regarding continuing scuba education.

When of the best options available beyond the Open Water Course is the Advanced Open Water Course, and in particular the PADI Advanced Open Water Course.  In this course you start where the Open Water Course leaves off.  In addition to the basic skills that you have already learned you will learn underwater navigation, deep diving, night diving, and several other areas of diving that you might enjoy such as computer diving, underwater photography, search and recovery diving, wreck diving and maybe even fish identification.  Once you complete one of the dives during your Advanced Open Water Scuba Course yo might find that you really like that type of diving.  You can then continue and take the corresponding Specialty Diver Course to learn more about that type of diving.

If you are like me you will become so enthused in scuba diving that you will want the opportunity to scuba dive as often as you can.  I solved that dilemma by taking professional level scuba courses.  On the professional level you would start by taking the PADI Divemaster Course, where you learn to complete your dive skills at Instructor level quality.  You would also learn dive theory or the knowledge of equipment and theory about diving to the level of an Instructor as well.  As a PADI Divemaster you could then assist in the teaching of Scuba Courses and perhaps even leading other divers on dives.    Once you are a Divemaster you could then take the Assistant Instructor and even the PADI Instructor Training Course known as the Instructor Development Course or IDC.

Your options are endless.  It is easy to learn to dive.  It is easy to progress from there to even higher levels of certification which are more fun and exciting.  You can even go so far as to become a PADI Professional or a Scuba Instructor.  The choice is yours.

Learning to Dive – On Line or In The Northern Virginia Dive Center?

Once you make the decision to learn to scuba dive then you have to decide where to take these lessons?  There are a lot of reputable Dive Centers in Northern, Virginia, where my Dive Center is located.   How do you find them and once you find them how do you decide which to patronize?  Last week we discussed selecting your Dive Center now we will add to that selecting the type of course to take: On Line Training vs In The Classroom Scuba Training.

SELECTING THE DIVE CENTER:
Your On Line Search: Just as we discussed last week we need to start by selecting which Dive Center to associate with.  I live in Alexandria, Virginia so I would start by doing an on line search for any of the following: Dive Center, Alexandria, VA, Dive Lessons Alexandria, Virginia, Dive Classes Alexandria, Virginia, Dive Shop, Alexandria VA or even Scuba Certification Alexandria, VA.  Any of these should show several local Dive Centers.  Since PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors is the largest of the many certification agencies I would start by looking for the various PADI Dive Centers.  PADI ranks their Dive Centers by the depth (no pun intended) of the services that each Dive Center offers.  The PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center is the highest rating so I would look to see if any of these are listed.

Evaluating the various Dive Centers: Once you find a few start by looking at their webpages.  Don’t go by how flashy the webpage is but by how informative it is.  Everything should be spelled out in an easy to navigate and an easy to understand format.  Look to see if the prices for the Open Water or Beginner Certification are listed.  No one can list all of their prices but since the Open Water Course is the most common one, the prices and schedule for that should be clear.  They should be very clear on what is involved in getting certified to Scuba Dive.  Everything that is included and all prices for not included items should also be listed.  Does their schedule and location fit your needs?

The Complete Dive Center: The last thing to look for is whether or not the dive center is complete.  Do they offer all levels of scuba diving education?  Do they offer Scuba Equipment.  Do they have major lines of equipment.  Do they offer service for what they sell?  Does the Dive Center have a Scuba Diving Travel Program?  Do they have both group trips and do they offer to assist you in booking your own trips should your schedule not match the Dive Centers.  These are all things that you would want from your local dive center.

ON LINE or IN THE DIVE CENTER CLASSES:
Once you select the Dive Center that you want to affiliate with you need to decide what format of course to take.  Today, in this modern world, many people like to do things on line whenever they can.  In fact you did just that to help select the Dive Center.  There are advantages to this and there are definitely disadvantages as well.

On Line Scuba Courses:  The advantages are that they are more convenient.  You can take them when ever you want and where ever you want.  They are great to do if you are traveling as they help fill those long hours when you are not working.  However, there are some drawbacks as well.  Even though you can complete your classroom on line you still need to affiliate with a Dive Center to complete the pool sessions and the four open water dives.  On Line Scuba Courses tend to be more expensive then in the classroom Scuba Courses.  On Line courses are written for a wide range of divers and a very wide range of diving locations.  Therefore they tend to be very general in their course content.  Since you take them on your own they are far less social then the traditional classroom Scuba Classes.

Traditional Classroom Scuba Courses: The traditional course is most often less expensive then the On Line Course and while perhaps less convenient, (you take them when they are offered) the traditional course is much more personal.  The Instructors will work with you directly and answer any questions that you might have.  The traditional Classroom Scuba Course also has you specifically in mind.  While you cover the same material that is covered in the On Line Scuba Course, your Scuba Instructor will personalize the course material to fit you.  He or she will talk specifically about you, where you plan to dive and how it relates to you. The Instructor you have in the classroom is usually the same one you have in the pool and again in Open Water.  It is very nice to know each other and it makes for a more enjoyable course.

Your Scuba Instructor can also help you select any scuba diving equipment that you might want or need.  Your Instructor knows much more about Scuba Equipment and Scuba Travel opportunities.  You Instructor can help steer you in the right direction on these.  The traditional Scuba Course is also a great social opportunity.  You will meet several other new divers with whom you have much in common.  In fact that is how I met my wife – in the Open Water Scuba Course.

ON LINE CONTINUING DIVER EDUCATION COURSES:
There are a number of different Continuing Education Scuba Courses that are also available On Line.  Like the Open Water course the big advantage to taking the classroom on line is the convenience.  The down side is that it is more expensive.  Some courses like the Advanced Open Water course have several options.  Before taking it on line be sure and speak to the local dive center and find out what dives they want you to sign up for on line.  Otherwise you may still have to repeat part of the course in the traditional manner.

Now that you are familiar with what is involved in getting started.  It is time to take the plunge.  Sign up for that Scuba Course, get certified, and go on that next great Aquatic Adventure

.

Selecting A Dive Center:
Selecting just the right Dive Center involves more then just finding the one that is closest to you.  Just like an auto mechanic or someone to repair your home, you want someone who is qualified to do the job, takes pride in their work, is willing to work with you if there are problems and whose charges are reasonable.

What To Look For?
One of the best places to start is with friends who are divers.  They may already have a relationship with a local Dive Center that they would recommend.  Even if they do you might want to do some checking on your own.  I live in Alexandria which is in Northern Virginia so I might want to conduct an internet search for: Scuba Lessons, Northern Virginia or Scuba Classes, Northern Virginia or even Dive Center Northern Virginia or Scuba Certification, Northern Virginia.

Narrowing The List – Scuba Training:
Once I have received the list of Dive Centers that comes up under these searches I would try to narrow the list down.  In an earlier post I talked about the different Scuba Certifications (March 2, 2011).  I personally prefer the courses offered by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors or PADI.  Consequently, I would look to see which ones from the initial list are a PADI Dive Center, preferably a PADI 5 Star or PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center in Northern Virginia.  A PADI 5 Star Dive Center offers more courses and services then a regular Dive Center.  IDC stands for Instructor Development Course which is the training program required to train Scuba Instructors.  Therefore a PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center would offer the highest level of certifications as well.

At this point you would want to look on their webpage to see what courses they offer.  Does the course list match the areas of diving that you are interested in; such as underwater photography, Deep Diving or Divemaster or Scuba Instructor Training.

In addition to regular Scuba Courses there are many related Dive Courses such as those offered by the Diver’s Alert Network or DAN.  DAN specializes in research and training related to medical issued that influence scuba diving protocol.  Many Dive Centers offer a variety of DAN courses and the more experienced ones are designated as a DAN Training Center.

Narrowing The List – Scuba Equipment:
Scuba diving is an equipment intensive sport.  It is most helpful if your Dive Center sells and services scuba equipment.  Look to see that what lines of equipment that they carry.  No Dive Center can carry all of the lines available nor would you want them to do so.  Check to see if they carry some of the major ones, if they have a good inventory of items on hand and if the sales people in the Dive Center are knowledgeable about the products that they carry.  A few phone calls or emails can help establish this part.  Some of the major lines of scuba equipment are Zeagle Scuba Equipment, Sherwood Scuba, Aeris Scuba, Henderson Wetsuits and DUI Dry Suits.

Narrowing The List – Dive Travel:
While I really enjoy teaching scuba diving I must admit that I enjoy leading the Dive Center sponsored Dive Trips even more.  There is a big advantage to diving on trips that are led and sponsored by a Dive Center.  Most of the hard work and research are done for you.  These trips should be led by one of the staff at the Dive Center.  Preferably by a Scuba Instructor so that continuing education scuba courses can be conducted on these trips.  Going on a scuba diving vacation when all the work, the research, reservations and bookings are all done for you makes it so much easier and so much more enjoyable.  You also have a group to socialize with after the dives and usually never have to worry about finding a dive buddy for the dives since you are in a group.

Take a look at the Scuba Dive Travel section of the various Dive Center’s webpages.  Look to see if they offer Dive Travel?  Is it throughout the year?  Do they go to a variety of different resorts and locations?  Will they help you book your own trip (Individual Dive Travel) if your schedule does not match that of the Dive Center?

Adding It All Up – Making Your Selection:
Once you have looked over all of the above options you are then pretty well informed.  You should be able to see what each Dive Center offers and most often one will stand out as being able to provide everything that you are looking for.  This will probably become your own favorite Dive Center.   The next step is easy.  Go in take some classes, go on a trip, maybe add to your collection of scuba equipment and just have fun, and enjoy your Aquatic Adventure!

Aquatic Adventures:
At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy we specialize in Aquatic Adventures or Scuba Dive Travel Vacations.  Next May we have a live-a-board dive trip scheduled to the Bahamas.  Let take a moment and look at what we might see and experience.

The Bahamas Islands:
“The Islands of The Bahamas offer an array of dive experiences like no other destination in the world. There are sunken Spanish galleons, inland blue holes, caves and forest-like coral reefs, teeming with marine life. We offer 25 different dive destinations in our country. Some of the most exciting experiences allow enthusiasts to swim and feed reef sharks, an experience offered nowhere in the world except The Bahamas. More importantly, the people of The Bahamas are as committed to the art of hospitality as they are committed to preserving the unique ecology of our island home.”  Says Neil Watson, President of the Bahamas Diving Association.  This is what dive travel is all about.

Live-A-Board Diving on the Aqua Cat – May 19-26, 2012
Live-a-board scuba diving and snorkeling in the Bahamas on the Aqua Cat offers a large variety of dives: shark feeding dives, blue holes, high speed drift dives, walls and shallow patch reefs.  Each week we will cruise Nassau, Bahamas to the remote islands of the Exumas, and especially the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.  This is the ultimate escape aboard our own private luxury yacht.  Fine sand beaches, snorkeling or diving among lemon sharks and sting rays, or hiking the trails of pirates and bootleggers of years gone by.  No crowds, nor set itineraries, nothing to do but sit back, relax, and choose from an incredible variety of live-a-board activities including scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, fishing, sunbathing, and island exploring.

What will we see?
Due to its great diversity and diving we have made several land based trips to the Bahamas over the years.  On these trips the amount and variety of sea life is incredible.  An underwater photographer’s dream.  Below are a few of the underwater photographs that I have taken with my Sea Life Underwater Camera on previous dive trips.

Beautiful sand beaches mean there is usually pretty sandy bottoms at many of the dive sites.  Sandy bottoms are where you will usually find Hermit Crabs walking about.  The prolific sea life means lots of fish swimming around the coral formations.  Lion fish are from the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  Until recently that was the only place to find them while diving.  Now they are common place on most dive sites in the Caribbean since they do not have any predators locally to keep their numbers in check.

During the day squirrel fish can be seen near holes in the coral.  At night they are found roaming free.  Algae grows wildly in the warm clear waters of the Caribbean and if not kept in check they would literally cover the corals, keeping the sunlight from reaching them.  Thus the corals would die out.  Pin Cushion Urchins each the algae thus keeping it in check.   The underwater digital photograph below shows the trail that the Pin Cushion carved in the algae while grazing along.  You will also notice the bits of coral and sponge that stick to its spines – these provide camouflage that helps hide it from its predators.

Everyone talks about the fish and even take Fish Identification courses but the corals are often overlooked.  The soft corals are very pretty like the rope sponges and sea whips that sway in the current.  Many small critters hide in the reef.  Christmas Tree worms are small worms that bury themselves into the coral.  They stick their tales out to filter feed off the plankton that floats through the water.  Barrel sponges are another prolific and popular soft coral.  They feed by taking water in through their porous sides.  The water then flows through their spongy body allowing it to filter out the food, again plankton, and expelling the water out through it center tube.

One of my favorite reef critters is the Flamingo Tongue.  This snail feeds on the Gargonia or other soft corals.  It is a very plain white or off white shell but the animal has a very pretty spotted mantel that covers the shell when it is out feeding.  Spiny Lobster are cousins of the American Lobster that we see in restaurants.  These lobster do not have claws and are scavengers on the reef.  During the day they are found near holes in the coral or under ledges.  At night they roam free to feed.

The Southern Stingray swims over the sandy portions of the reef searching for food.  It eyes are on the top of its head and the mouth on the bottom.  It uses smell to ferret out small worms and crustaceans in the sand.  Stingrays are related to sharks in that they are both cartilaginous – they have skeletons of cartilage not bone.  Caribbean Reef sharks are just one of the many sharks that are plentiful throughout the Bahamas.  These beautiful creatures are majestic and fun to see cruising by.

Our trip to the Bahamas is May 19-26, 20012

.  It will not only be a great diving vacation but an opportunity to work on that diving continuing education like underwater photography course, Aware Fish Identification or Boat Diver.  Since there are so many night dives conducted while on a live-a-board dive vacation the PADI Night Diver Specialty is also a good one to work on.

With our upcoming dive trip to La Paz, Mexico and the Sea of Cortez it is only natural to want to become familiar with many of the fish that are endemic to that area.  Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy, our PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center has sponsored dive trips there a few times in the past and the fantastic sea life is always amazing.  Lets take a few minutes and look at some of the incredible sea life that we might see on our Dive Trip there this October.

The Crown of Thorns is an eater of coral.  Its job is to keep the amount of coral on a reef in check.  The reef itself is made up of many types of animals.  Starfish and both soft and hard corals can be found on many reefs.  Fish come in all sizes and shapes.  The Fanged Blenny is a very small fish found almost walking on the bottom.  Barber Fish are in the Butterfly Fish family.  They are often seen in small schools or pairs as they tend to mate for life.  You will notice that while the fish are very familiar they are different then their Caribbean cousins.  The PADI Aware Fish ID Course is great in learning how to identify these species.

One of the unique aspects of the Sea of Cortez is how diverse the sea life is.  Besides fish and corals many mammals can be seen like the playful Sea Lion.  Those who dive in the Caribbean are used to seeing Parrot Fish.  Here we see the bumphead Parrot Fish, which is larger then the average Caribbean Parrot Fish.

There are several shipwrecks in the Sea of Cortez, making this an area conducive to wreck diving and taking the PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course as well as the PADI Underwater Digital Photography Course.  Here we see a picture taken with a Sealife Digital Camera of the Mast of a Ship Wreck with thousands of small bait fish swimming around it.  On the reef if one looks closely you can spot golden moray eels hiding during the day in cracks and crevices.  Some fish like do not mind being out in the open like the Balloon Puffer Fish seen her on a ship wreck.

If you are in the Sea of Cortez at the right time of the year and if you are very lucky you might be in for a real treat.  To see whale sharks and hammerhead sharks can be a once in a lifetime treat.  We have been lucky and seen them each time we have been there.  Other treats is to see a seahorse or an octopus.  They are fascinating subjects and can make a great underwater photo to help you remember your trip.

Sea Urchins feed on top of the corals.  They eat the algae that grows on the coral and keep the algae in check and keep the corals from being smothered by the algae.  The Sea Urchin seen here has camouflaged itself with small shells for protection.  The Angel Fish seen on the side of the reef is a Panama Graysby, common in the Pacific Ocean area.  Puffers are not uncommon in the Sea of Cortez.  Here is a Spotted Sharpnose Puffer.

Scorpion Fish can be found world wide.  They camouflage themselves and prey on small unsuspecting fish.  Tarpon are a predator fish that feeds near the surface.  Here we see a school of Tarpon feeding on small bait fish.  The last slide shows a Sea Anemone and an Arrow Crab.  These creatures can be seen around the world if you take the time to just look.

The Sea of Cortez is an area that is not as commonly dived as other areas.  It is somewhat out of the way but not inaccessible.  You can book a trip there through many Dive Centers that have Travel Programs like Aquatic Adventures Dive Center in Alexandria, Virginia.  Prior to a trip like this it is recommended that you have your scuba diving equipment serviced and perhaps take a scuba refresher course like the PADI Scuba Review Course to make sure that your dive skills are up to date and that you remember the proper care and use of your scuba diving equipment.

Having said all of that the next step is to get out and dive and enjoy the world.

Continuing Scuba Diving Education – Aquatic Adventures Alexandria Northern Virginia

Now that you are a Certified Open Water  Scuba Diver you naturally want to go diving and put that training to good use.  Believe it or not, the Open Water Scuba Course is just the beginning of your scuba diving education.  During the Open Water course you learn the basics of diving.  While the use of basic scuba diving equipment and the basic scuba diving skills is enough to get you started in your scuba diving there is a lot to learn beyond the basics.  For instance there are a host of different types of diving beyond the entry level that will add to your enjoyment of diving and the underwater world.

Most divers will take the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course immediately after completing the Open Water course.  The Advanced Open Water Course picks up where the Open Water Course leaves off.  In the first course you are taught to dive to a depth of 60 feet.  This sounds deep but there are a lot of reefs, ship wrecks and sights to see that are deeper then 60 feet.  During the Advanced Open Water course you complete a deep dive and learn to dive to a recommended maximum depth of 100 feet.  In addition you complete an underwater navigation dive where you add to  the firs steps in navigating from the Open Water Course by using and Underwater Compass to navigate patterns while scuba diving.  Three more dives are included in the PADI Advanced Open Water Course.  These are usually dives in something that interests you like PADI underwater photography, wreck diving, multi-level diving

or even night diving.  The PADI Advanced Open Water Course can be completed in as little as one weekend and is well worth while.

One of the great things about the Advanced Open Water course is that it includes dives in several different types of diving.  These dives even count as the first dive of the corresponding Specialty Diver Course for these specialties, and divers who like this type of dive can go on to complete these Specialties and learn even more about them.  PADI Wreck Diving, where you learn to dive in and around ship wrecks, PADI Night Diving where you learn to dive at night when many nocturnal animals not seen during the day are out, and Underwater Photography, where you learn to safely take photographs of the sealife are among the more popular.  These can be done locally with the PADI Dive Center where you learned to dive.  Many of our former Open Water Dive Students will go on a Scuba Diving Vacation with us and complete several of these Scuba Diving Specialty courses while on vacation with us.

Divers who live or dive in cold water environments will benefit from taking the Dry Suit Diver course.  This allows you to dive in areas that might otherwise be too cold.  It also allows you to dive either earlier or later in the season when the weather and water is colder then normal.

Many great diving destinations like Cozumel offer great dives in areas with currents.  These dives are called Drift Diving since you follow the current instead of navigating back to your entry point.  This is a fun Specialty Dive Course and is often completed on Scuba vacation in these types of areas.

A fantastic course to take is the PADI Rescue Diver Course.  In this course you learn about the types of problems that can occur when diving.  By being aware of them you naturally take steps to prevent them from happening but should they occur you know what to do to minimize any problems.

The PADI Equipment Specialist course is a fantastic course even though it does not include any dives.  It focuses on the Scuba Diving Equipment that you use.  It shows you what features to look for in your Scuba Diving Equipment.  It will train you to get the most out of your equipment and even how to do field repairs and preventive maintenance.

A diver who has completed the PADI Rescue Diver Course plus any five PADI Specialty Diver Courses and has 50 or more logged dives can be certified as a PADI Master Scuba Diver.  This is a recreational diving certification that signifies that the diver has achieved experience in several different types of diving and is also prepared for emergencies.  It is a recreational certification not a professional certification or rating.

Those divers who are really hooked and want to get into diving in a deeper way (no pun intended) might want to look into the professional area of recreational diving.  Start with a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Dive Center.  At this type of  Dive Center you will be able to go beyond just recreational courses and add the professional level of courses designed to show you how to teach the recreational courses.  The first professional diver course to take is the PADI Divemaster Course.  This course reinforces dive theory and skills and teaches you to assist in teaching situations and to lead certified divers on their dives.  The Divemaster Course is followed by the PADI Assistant Instructor Course then the PADI Open Water Instructor Development Course or the IDC.  There are even courses designed to teach Scuba Instructors how to teach the Specialty Diver Courses we mentioned earlier.  The most popular of these is the Master Diver Trainer Prep Course where Scuba Instructors are taught to teach the Specialty Dive Courses by a PADI Course Director or Instructor Trainer.

What ever direction you decide is right for you it will offer many benefits.  Taking more Scuba Diving Courses will make you a more skilled diver.  It will increase your comfort level and your level of dive safety.  The more comfortable you are the more you will dive and that is the whole point.  To be an active and capable diver.

Scuba Dive Training at Aquatic Adventures – Alexandria Virginia

How do you become a Scuba Diver? The first step to becoming a Scuba Diver is to enroll is to enroll in a recognized course of scuba instruction.  The beginner or first course is the Open Water Course.  There are many worthwhile Scuba Agencies available.  Like anything else, it pays to shop around; some programs are better then others, or at least there are several differences among them.

The Professional Association of Dive Instructors or PADI, is the largest scuba-training agency in the world. Because PADI has the most complete and widely recognized diver training programs, you can be confident that at Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy, you are earning the most respected diver credentials available. The certification that you earn at our Award Winning PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center located in Alexandria, Virginia is even recommended for college credit.

The PADI Open Water Diver Course is divided into two segments.  Part One is Academic and Confined Water Training, better known as your Class & Pool Sessions.  Here the new diver learns the basic principles and knowledge of safe diving practices which leads to safe and enjoyable diving.  The Open Water Course used to be several weeks long.  Now due to improvements in the student kit or PADI Open Water Manual and DVD’s that show the new diver what these new skills look like, much of the training can be conducted at home.  Once the student completes the reading and viewing of the video they then complete the Academics with their Scuba Instructor.  The Scuba Instructor will go over these materials and personalize them so that the diver understands just how it applies to them and what they can expect when they are actually on their Scuba Diving Vacation.  Many Scuba Agencies or Organizations offer this part on-line.  The material covered is the same but the student does not have a live Instructor with which to interact and to explain exactly what to expect in particular dive locations.   On Line Scuba Courses are also usually more expensive then regular courses.

The confined water part is usually completed in a swimming pool.  The major items of Scuba Equipment, (wetsuit, Scuba regulator, buoyancy control device or BCD and Scuba cylinder) are usually provided by the Dive Center running the class.  Personal items for each student (mask, snorkel, dive boots and fins) are usually purchased by the student from the Dive Center.   These items are used when ever diving and are a good investment.   It is in the pool that the new diver learns the actual skills that will be used while Scuba Diving.    While there are several skills needed to dive many of them are actually “What Ifs”  What if something goes wrong.  Here the student learns about potential problems and how to prevent them.  And just as important if one where to occur how to safely and calmly handle the situation.

The Academic and Confined Water sessions can be safely completed in as little as one weekend if the materials are read prior to class.  Programs that try and compress all of this in one day are to be avoided.  They do not provide the necessary repetition and practice necessary to become a safe and proficient diver.

Once the first part is completed the student is ready for the Part Two: The Open Water Dives.  The Open Water Dives consists of four dives done under the supervision of a Scuba Instructor.  Here the diver demonstrates that they can dive safely and understand the basic skills.  It is not uncommon for a Scuba Student to take the Class & Pool at a local Dive Center and then complete the second part or Open Water Dives while on a dive trip or Scuba vacation.  While diving in an exotic location is fun, completing your dives with the Scuba Instructor you had in the pool has several advantages.  The Instructor knows you and knows your what you know and what you might want additional practice with.  Diving locally has other advantages as well.  You will usually learn better and learn to be more skillful in a local lake then you would at a Caribbean resort.   Which ever method you choose once you successfully complete the dive you are then Certified as an Open Water Diver.

As an Open Water Diver you are trained to dive to a depth of 60 feet.  You are also trained to know and understand the basic Scuba equipment.  Because the Open Water course only covers the basics most divers are advised to continue their Scuba Diving Education with additional Scuba Courses.  The PADI Advanced Open Water Course is the next step.