Advance Open Water SCUBA Class

The PADI Advance Open Water Diver Course involves one evening of class and five open water dives. There are two required dives - a deep dive and a navigation dive - and three optional dives selected by your instructor. At Sea Lions Dive Center we usually do three of the following; a Night Dive, a Search and Recovery Dive, a Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive or a Wreck Dive. These individual dives can be applied as the first dive of the individual specialty courses that lead to specialty certifications.

In the Deep Dive Class you will learn to consider your physical and psychological preparation for the dive, special equipment you might need, how to ascend and descend, how to avoid low and opt of air situation and how to handle the situations if they occur, the effect of depth on buoyancy, how to handle the effects of nitrogen of narcosis, and how to avoid, recognize and emergency treatment for decompression sickness.

At Sea Lions Dive Center we do the deep dive at Haigh Quarry where there is a deep well that drops to eighty feet. At eighty feet there is a platform. Your instructor will normally have you perform a simple skill at the surface and again at depth to demonstrate the effect of nitrogen narcosis. Your instructor may also have a color chart to show how the water filters color and a sealed plastic soda bottle to show you the effect of pressure

In the navigation portion of the course you will learn the basics of compass navigation and also how to find you way using natural navigation such as follow a quarry or reef wall, following sloping bottom and other methods.

For more on underwater navigation CLICK HERE

In the Night Dive Class you will learn about equipment including flashlight you will need. You will learn that it is best to dive a familiar site. You must also monitor conditions more carefully as adverse conditions have a bigger effect on night dives. You will also learn the best way to ascend and descend, how to find you way back to the boat or shore and communication at night.

In this course you will learn how to search for lost objects such as weight belts. You will study search patterns in teams. Once you find the object you will learn how to raise it to the surface safely including proper use of lift bag. You will also learn knows useful in securing and lifting objects.

Peak Performance Buoyancy is always a good class for the new diver. It gives you a chance to work on you buoyancy and better understand why you have trouble keeping off the bottom or are rising to the surface. You will learn about the change in buoyancy as you change equipment, work on proper weighting and streamlining yourself in the water.

On this dive you will be introduced to wreck diving which is probably the most popular type of diving here in the Midwest. You will learn some of the hazards that wrecks can present and how to avoid them. You will learn about special equipment used in wreck diving and the hazards of penetration diving. Wrecks which are metal or have collapsed in random patterns can present navigation problems so you will learn how to navigate wrecks.

For More information on wreck diving visit these sites.

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the Prins Willem
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