This week seems to have flown by and with the end of the week brings another group that has passed they're PADI Open Water course. As per usual all participants passed with flying colours and have now earn't themselves a fundamental diving qualification. This will set them up nicely to continue perusing further experience and knowledge around the skill of diving, and if they so wish attain further qualifications such as the PADI Advanced Open Water and the PADI Rescue Diver qualifications.
Although they are renowned qualifications this does not mean that they are hard to attain. Anyone can learn to dive and in a relatively short space of time. All qualifications are run in South Wales. The Open Water Course is primarily taught in a pool session in Hebron Hall, Cardiff, and this session will aim to teach you the fundamental skills for diving. As it is in a controlled pool environment there is no risk to your safety during training. The pool skills and theory test are all done on one day so the process is not dragged out, in case you wanted to learn before a holiday. The final skills examination is then done in another area of South Wales, near Newport, where over a weekend you will complete four open water dives. Its just that simple.
The PADI Advanced Open Water course is an extension of the initial PADI Open Water Course which is meant to hone your skills of navigation and buoyancy so that you have a more professional knowledge of how to dive. The pool session is not necessary for this qualification and merely consists of 6 open water dives over a weekend.
The Rescue Diver course will then focus on what to do if trouble were to occur and gives you a knowledge of first aid so that you and whoever you are diving with is more protected. This higher qualification requires individuals to partake in a comprehensive rescue theory test and two days of open water rescue diver training.
These skills are what allows us to do the things we do, as well as being commercial we are also a research diving company currently investigation the effect of sea grass on global warming. This is coming from both a biological standpoint through a marine biologist within the company and a chemistry perspective through a chemist currently studying in York. The next blog will go more in depth as to what we are currently finding with our research.