Advanced Open Water Diver Certification in Andaman

If you already fill up some pages of your dive log and had already gained experience being a certified open water scuba diver,  then its time to learn more underwater skills through adventure dives and by signing up in the Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver Certification Course.

The Advanced Open Water Diver Course

Sanctioned by the Scuba Schools International (SSI), the Advanced Open Water Diver Certification is designed to build your underwater confidence by expanding your knowledge while performing several adventure dives. The course will start with the knowledge development or classroom lecture and the rest of the course will involve actual adventure dives. Of all the adventure dives, deep diving and underwater navigation are mandatory skills that you will need to perform.

Underwater Navigation

While you may have some knowledge of navigation, doing it underwater is pretty much challenging due to the vast expanse of your dive site and everything tends to look the same underwater, especially for newbies. This adventure dive will refine your skills with the use of navigational tools. Of course, we know that an underwater compass will give you the direction, but how about the distance? In this section of the Advanced Open Water Diver Course, you will be taught to use kick cycles to estimate the distance you have just navigated. In short, your aim is to navigate to a pre-determined underwater landmark using a compass and kick cycles. You will also be taught to read natural landmarks such as ledges, mounds and crest to mark your specific location on the reef.

Deep Diving

Deep diving is defined as any dive deeper than 18 meters (60 feet). However, this does not mean that you can go as deep as you want. You have to be aware that the maximum depth set for any recreational scuba diving is 40 meters (130 feet). But for Advanced Scuba Divers, your depth limitation will only be up to 30 meters (100 feet). You will also be taught on how to monitor your air consumption, depth and bottom time to prevent nitrogen narcosis, decompression sickness and other deep diving related illness.

Night Diving

As a general rule, you are not allowed to go night diving when you haven’t explored a dive site during the day. So most probably, the site that you have explored during the day will be the site for your night diving. Although not a mandatory adventure dive, night diving is one of the many advanced skills you will love the most. You will be surprised when you go night diving in Andaman Islands as the regular reef residents of the day will take refuge where you can see them leaning under cracks and crevices while the nocturnal sea creatures such as crabs, squids and octopus come out to feed. Your instructor will further teach you how to use your underwater torch as a means of communication.

Underwater Photography

During the advanced open water diver course, you will be taught to shoot a subject underwater using the easiest and most efficient way possible. This will also depend on what type of camera you will be using where the common types are the digital camera with an underwater casing or the sophisticated dSLR with powerful external strobes. Shoot, Examine and Adjust are some of the method that will be taught in this course. You can also discuss with your instructor as to what type of camera is best suited for you.

Wreck Diving

One of the adventure dives you can choose during the advanced certification course is wreck diving. You will be taught on how to safely explore the perimeter of a wreck in such a way that you will not cause any damage to the wreck or to yourself. Considerations in navigating the wreck, survey, mapping techniques and proper fining will also be taught.

Requirements and Schedule

You should be a certified Open Water Scuba Diver and have some basic swimming skills to qualify for the Advanced Open Water Diver Certification Course. Age requirement should be at least be 15 years of age. Junior Advanced Open Water Certification will be given for ages 12 to 14 years old.

Tentative 2-3 days schedule for the Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver Certification Course:

• Day 1 – Knowledge development and advanced open water dives 1, 2 and 3 that includes deep diving and underwater navigation.
• Day 2 and 3 – Knowledge development and advanced open water dives 4 and 5.

Advanced Open Water Certification Card

After you have successfully completed all the requirements, your Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver application will be sent to SSI for processing. Within a month, you will receive your certification card that will indicate your certification level, name, student number, date of certification and the name of your SSI instructor. You have to remember that you need your certification card when you rent or purchase scuba equipment and accessories. Further, dive shops may require you to present your certification card when you rent or airfill your scuba tanks.

Now, we are sure that you will be exploring more challenging sites as you have already gained the advanced skills. After a while when you further gained experience, you might consider enrolling in the Rescue Diver Course.

Video courtesy from LakeHickoryScuba