| This page is for those of you who are interested
in improving your diving skills or just want to advance to the
next level of diving education.
These are some of the classes that you can take here in the
warm, transparent, turquoise waters of Cozumel. Some of you
may already be Advanced Certified and some of you have only
done resort course diving and are curious about certification.
I hope the following peeks your interest in continuing education.
If you would like more details, or would like to make a reservation,
please email me: alison@scubawithalison.com
or send me a note from my "contact
me" page.
The Resort Course:
Includes about one hour of instruction, skills practice in
water shallow enough to stand up in; along with a relaxed, easy
dive. It is a great introduction to scuba diving and allows
you "check out scuba diving" to see if you are interested in
being certified. It also allows you to do limited diving on
vacation under the direct supervision of an instructor. (Hopefully
me...) without wasting precious vacation time studying or taking
exams.
Open Water Referral:
Includes four Open Water scuba dives. The idea is not to spend
vacation time reading or learning dive tables. You can start
at a local dive shop near your home before your next vacation.
You can get the book or CD Rom and begin studying on your own.
Then go over knowledge reviews with your instructor and practice
using scuba and learning skills in the pool with him/her. When
you complete the knowledge development and swimming pool dives,
you receive a signed referral from the instructor at home. Bring
this with you to Cozumel and I will finish the four certification
dives here in the clear waters of Cozumel. It takes two days
to complete the dives. I can certify through PADI, NAUI and
the Universal Referral Program.
Full Open Water Certification:
Includes reading the PADI Open Water Diver Manual, five quizzes,
a few hours of instruction, and five pool dives, a test of 200
yards, and treading water for 10 minutes. Following completion,
we will do four Open Water Scuba Dives. Allow at least four
full days.
It does not necessarily take four full days, but it might,
so it is better to allow for it. Doing the full course here
in Cozumel is a great option when your job or personal life
keeps you too busy to take the course at home. The course will
result in full Open Water Certification with PADI and you will
receive your "Diver's License" in the mail.
Advanced Open Water Certification:
Includes reading the Advanced Open Water Diver Manual, knowledge
review and five open water dives. There are two core dives with
the PADI course. You must complete one deep dive and one navigational
dive. There are many different types of dives to choose from
for the other three dives.
They are:
Peak Performance Buoyancy Control
Reef Fish Identification
Underwater Naturalist
Night Diving
Drift Diving
Boat Diving Manners and Procedures
Multilevel Diving
Underwater Photography
You get to choose dives that are interesting to you, personally.
For example, a newly certified diver may decide to take the
advanced class immediately following Open Water Certification
in order to gain more experience and confidence while diving
under the direct supervision of an instructor. This diver might
choose Peak Performance Buoyancy Control, Drift Diving and Night
Diving. He/she probably still feels a little out of control
in the water and can fine tune his/her buoyancy and learn to
manage their position in the current.
If you are an experienced diver and feel very relaxed and confident
in the water, you might choose Fish Identification, Underwater
Naturalist and Underwater Photography. This is a way to get
an introduction to your areas of interest and have an idea as
to what you are looking at underwater. If you just bought a
new computer and do not know how to use it, Multilevel Diving
might be your choice. I guess you get the idea.
Maybe you want to take specialty class and learn a lot about
your area of interest or curiosity.
The specialties that I teach are:
Peak Performance Buoyancy Control: includes watching
a video, instruction and two practice dives to put to use what
you learn in class. You learn proper weighting, how to maneuver
yourself in the water, streamlining and good diving techniques.
You gain confidence and look cool!
Fish Identification: includes several hours of instructions
and two scuba dives to identify fish groups, body shapes, and
behaviors and, of course, their names! I strongly recommend
the purchase of Paul Humann's Caribbean Reef Fish book before
you come. It is available at many dive shops and through Amazon
Books. Slates to write on will prove invaluable also.
Underwater Naturalist: includes several hours of instruction
and two scuba dives to identify vertebrates, invertebrates,
plants, symbiosis and effects of man. I strongly recommend the
purchase of Paul Humann's Caribbean Reef Creatures and Coral
Identification books before you come. Why not splurge and get
all three? This is my favorite class to teach. There is nothing
I enjoy more than Mother Nature underwater.
Drift Diving: includes several hours of instructions
and two practice dives. Several times per year the currents
here in Cozumel get to be EXTREMELY strong. Keep this course
in mind in case you have the good fortune of arriving during
this time period. They can not be predicted. They do not occur
during certain weeks or months out of the year. It just happens.
There are, of course, natural influences, which we learn about
in the course. We learn how to control our speed, position of
our body, and direction of travel when diving in strong currents.
This course is a must for divers when they sometimes feel "out
of control, and swept away".
Deep Diving: includes several hours of instructions and
four deep dives. Sometimes there are interesting sites down
deep like shipwrecks or coral formations like the devil's throat
at Punta Sur. Maracaibo is a deep wall and sometimes we spot
pelagic there. It is good to get some training in deep diving
techniques before we hop on the boat and explore. If you have
a new computer but you have not quite figured out how to use
it, what good does it do? Learn to dive deep safely.
Night Diving: includes several hours of instructions
and three night dives. When I did my first night dive, I was
convinced that something was "gonna get me" so I kept turning
around to look behind me. Now I know that there is nothing out
there at night that is not there during the day. I now love
night diving because the coral comes out to feed and I can see
animals not visible during the day. The flashlight makes the
colors appear brighter and night diving feels more peaceful.
If that's not enough for you, you can take Medic First Aid
and Rescue.
With the completion of five specialties and Rescue Diver course,
you can qualify as a Master Scuba Diver.
Please feel free to email me with any questions: alison@scubawithalison.com
or send me a note from my "contact
me" page.
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