The Padi Open Water Certificate is the most widely accepted an issued diving qualification worldwide. The open water introduces you to the concepts of diving, Scuba equipment and breathing compressed gas underwater. The course consists of 4 dives and a fair bit of theory, along side practical exposure to diving skills in a confined environment. This means either in a shallow bit of water (where you can kneel, or in a pool).
The aim is simple, to make sure you are comfortable, safe and aware when you are diving. Passing your Padi open water is not guaranteed, you have to correctyl pass the exams, both practical and theory, but with the required levels of effort you can pass easily.
It is not difficult, but you also need to put in the ground work too!
The open water qualification limits you to a maximum depth of 18 metres, (to do deeper you need your Advanced Open Water Certification). The reason for this limit is because diving is considerably less risky if remaining above 18 metres, due to smaller uptake of nitrogen in your blood.
To see what goes on during the dives of your open water have a look here.
He spent a few weeks doing some Muay Thai training and diving in Thailand.
After 1 and a half months on Koh Tao, I now have 3 days left on the island to fill with last minute souvenir hunting and leftover muay thai sessions.
My last week here has been slightly different as I finally got round to starting my PADI Open Water course, which only lasted 3 days but was really amazing – I have never been scuba diving, or even snorkelling before [and to be honest I'm not even a very good swimmer!], but 3 days of teaching, with 4 dives at 4 different dive sites around Koh Tao, has been more than enough to make me feel comfortable scuba diving [and I hope to use my certification when I travel to Australia to go on a shark dive!].
The teachers are all really friendly and funny [especially Claude and Sarah, who taught me!], and there really were some amazing sites to be seen at the various dive sites – damselfish, eels, and just swimming through a school of angelfish, along with a pretty colossal triggerfish, were all incredible. We also had a photographer on our last two dives [as they have for all Open Water courses apparently], who filmed us underwater as we scuba’d around – I’m really looking forward to seeing the video this evening! [if only to make sure there was nothing in between my teeth]
Overall the scuba diving course has proven a really nice ending to my time here on Koh Tao – although I am looking forward to the rest of my travels, as I will now be spending 6 weeks in rural China, I know there are some things I will definitely miss from Koh Tao – the trainers from muay thai [although perhaps not the situp routine], the weather [and my tan!], and most of all the endless supply of mango shakes!
fitness holiday | Gap Year Diving |Wild life Conservation Gap Year | Gap Year Diving
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