PADI e-Card Replacement Certification Card Now Available
You now have the option of selecting between a PADI eCard™, a plastic replacement card or both!
Not sure what to choose?
Read more 
I just got my PADI Open Water Diver certification…what’s next?
Remember when you first received your PADI Open Water Diver certification card? Think of the sense of accomplishment you felt after achieving a worthwhile goal. I can remember the day I finished my Open Water Diver training dives at the local quarry….cold water, low visibility, and a thick wetsuit. I remember filling out my logbook and having my Instructor sign it. Then I went home and thought…”OK, now what?”
This is a question we receive many times from our Open Water students either during their training or just after their certification dives. Let’s take a few minutes to share some options for continuing your diving education, and help answer the question: “I just got my PADI Open Water Diver certification, now what?”
Here are some options and suggestions for taking the next steps in your diving education.
You have a few options when it comes to the next class to increase your knowledge and experience. The most obvious option is to take the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course. During the AOW course, you will make five dives in a variety of environments and performing different skills. At this level, we assume you already know the basics of diving, but in the AOW class, you will learn more about navigation, deep diving, improving your buoyancy, searching for lost objects, and maybe even night diving. Each Instructor has their favorite dives to do for Advanced, so be sure to ask what dives are going to be done for the class in which your are interested. We have some additional details on a previous post on 10 Reasons to Become a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
You can also take a variety of PADI Specialty Diver courses as an Open Water Diver. These can include but aren;t limited to:
- AWARE Fish Identification
- AWARE Coral Reef Conservation
- Boat Diver Specialty
- Digital Underwater Photographer
- Drift Diver
- Drysuit Diver
- Enriched Air Nitrox Diver
- Emergency Oxygen Provider
- Equipment Specialist
- Night Diver Specialty
- Peak Performance Buoyancy
- Underwater Naturalist
- Underwater Navigator Specialty
- Underwater Videographer
So, taking the next step in your diving education can be something to help with buoyancy, learning more about navigation or night diving, or maybe even learning how to take better pictures underwater. The choice is yours, don’t stop learning. For more details on any of the classes listed about be sure to check out our website PADI Specialty Courses Page
An easy to keep New Year’s Resolution
So, if you have any questions, or need more information, you can contact us online
DEMA Show Recap
The 2012 DEMA Show ends today and here are some of my impressions….
The show floor itself was smaller than in years past, probably due to the economy and the fact that many manufacturers chose not to attend. Some of the big names were conspicuously absent, and some had very small booths, like DUI drysuits and Dive-rite. In fact the show was in the smaller north concourse rather than in the much larger south concourse.
PADI had a very large presence as did Oceanic and Aqualung. Some new products bring introduced, especially in the rebreather arena with PADI introducing their new recreational rebreather courses and Oceanic showing their new Explorer rebreather. They also were showing some new dive computers from their Hollis line. A new BCD is coming out in the spring and will be a jacket style with an attractive price point. Aqualung will be coming out with some redesigned regulators, BCDs and computers in late December/early January. A new line of super lightweight bags for both local and traveling divers were on display and will be available from them in the same timeframe. DAN had a nice section of the show floor and during my Instructor Trainer update talked about the new consolidation of courses from 14 to 8, eliminating duplication and combining course content where appropriate. They are also revising their materials to support the new courses.
In terms of travel destinations, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands had the largest areas with the Philippines and Malaysia and Indonesia close behind. Lots of travel specials going on for the show but nothing particularly earth shattering.
There are always smaller manufacturers and distributors at the show and some had interesting products to offer, like the underwater metal detector that us in the shape of a long wand about 4 feet long. Probably the most popular booth was the GoPro area. Every day of the show there were crowds of people around their HD televisions watching the sample videos. At 3pm every day they would hold a raffle giving away some of their camera systems, hats, t-shirts and other prizes.
After the drawings were completed, they would bring out a beer tapper and serve free beer to anyone who wanted some. The lines to buy things from them sometimes were 50 people long.
So next year’s show will be in Las Vegas a week later than this years’.
New PADI Dive Center Locator App
The new PADI App is a convenient way customers can find a PADI Dive Center or Resort and go diving…The App lets customers search for PADI Dive Centers or Resorts around the world by city, state (if applicable) or postal code. Conveniently, users can also select their current location to find the closest PADI Dive Center or Resort. Here’s the LINK
PADI Dive Center App
New PADI Specialty Instructors
Congratulations go out to Bruce DeGarmo and Jim Bushelle who completed their PADI Drysuit Instructor and Digital Photography Instructor courses today with me. We spent a few hours in the classroom discussing how to teach these two specialty courses, then did some open water training at Lake Nagawicka. Visibility was about 15-20 feet, with a water temperature of 50 degrees.
Bruce reviewing his photos
Jim getting ready to download his photos
Jim reviewing photos
Bruce DeGarmo, Colin Zylka, Jim Bushelle
PADI Announces updated Divemaster Course
PADI has recently announced standards changes to the Divemaster course.
In the most recent revisions, divemaster course competencies reflect the goal of producing more skilled and experienced leaders. For example:
• An increased diving experience prerequisite.
• More in water and workshop time with the instructor,learning the practical aspects of divemastering—supervision, leadership and role-model skills.
• Practical experience in all programs/experiences dive-masters are authorized to conduct once certified.
In addition, the dive theory knowledge requirements were revised for more effective learning. Until now, divemaster candidates have had to master instructor-level dive theory in a single step. The revised course creates a better bridge between Rescue Diver and Open Water Scuba Instructor theory knowledge.
Ask anyone who has completed the PADI Divemaster course, and they will tell you it was well worth the time and effort to achieve this rating, and helped them become better divers. Stop by any of the three stores to get more details about the Divemaster course.