The PADI Advanced Open Water Course is your chance to develop your dive skills and experiment with new types of diving. It’s exciting, fun, and there are a lot of awesome dives to choose from when you are diving in Queensland.
Imagine diving to 30 meters, swimming over incredible coral reefs, or even mastering the art of underwater photography. It’s all possible when you are diving in the Gold Coast. During your Advanced Course you’ll make 5 incredible dives in Queensland, which include some of the most famous dive sites in Australia.
There are two required dives – a deep dive and an underwater navigation dive – and another three dives which you can choose from the following options –Drift diving, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Night diving, Underwater Naturalist, Fish ID, Wreck Diving, Boat Diving, Search and Recovery, Underwater Photography and Multi Level & Computer diving.
Let’s take a more in depth look at the two mandatory dives and some of the options which we offer when you are diving the Gold Coast with us:
Deep Dive: (Mandatory)
Once you are certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver, you’ll be able to dive to a maximum depth of 30 meters, so it’s essential that you practice deep diving procedures during your course. In the theory section you’ll take a more in depth look at decompression issues as well as nitrogen narcosis, you’ll also learn how to plan dives before making one for yourself and discovering the amazing depths of scuba diving in Queensland!
Underwater Navigation: (Mandatory)
Remember the compass skills from your open water course dives? The Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive refines your compass navigation skills, helps you better navigate using kick-cycles, visual landmarks and time. You’ll also discover some of the pitfalls of navigating underwater due to conditions and currents.
Peak Performance Buoyancy Diving: (Optional)
Are you still going up and down more than you’d like to? Do you use your air faster than your buddies? Do you have trouble staying still underwater? In the peak performance buoyancy dive you’ll put an end to your buoyancy problems. You’ll learn how to gauge the weights you need for diving, how to use breath control to fine tune your positioning, how to kick efficiently and ultimately how to be more streamlined, comfortable and efficient underwater.
Drift Diving: (Optional)
Drift diving is easy when you know how and it opens up a range of new dive sites. You’ll learn how to plan a drift dive and how to (literally) go with the flow. After making a drift diving entry and descent you’ll explore one of our favourite Gold Coast dive sites and learn how to ‘read’ the currents along the way. At the end of the dive you’ll make a controlled ascent before being picked up by the boat.
Night Diving: (Optional)
Why limit yourself to seeing only the marine life that’s active during the day? As the sun goes down so many of Australia’s most cryptic critters come to life! You’ll learn how to plan a night dive, communicate with your buddy during a night dive, as well as mastering navigation at night. Be aware thought that night diving can become strangely addictive!
Fish Identification: (Optional)
Finding ‘that silver fish’ in marine life books is never easy so during the fish identification dive you’ll learn how to identify various families of fish by sight. You’ll learn how to record sightings including which features are most important to take note of in order to be able to identify the species later. You’ll find that the fish books which used to be appear overwhelming suddenly make sense! With over 75% of the word’s tropical fish found at our dive sites you’ll have plenty to learn!
Underwater Naturalist: (Optional)
Many divers know the names of fish and various species found when scuba diving in Queensland, but few divers know about the entire marine ecosystem, what it includes and how it all co-exists. During the underwater naturalist program you’ll extend your knowledge beyond fish to plants, corals and the symbiotic relationships which hold the pieces of the puzzle together. This is a great dive for anyone interested in nature and eco-systems.
Underwater Photography: (Optional)
It’s hard to think of a better Instagram moment than when you are diving over stunning corals or exploring a wreck or watching a passing sea turtle – all of which are possible here in Queensland. Say goodbye to blurry and blue images and say hello to crisper focus and colour! In this optional dive you’ll put into practice the SEA method (shoot, evaluate, adjust) and you’ll learn camera and housing preparation for dives, how to use underwater lights, camera settings, how to read histograms and invaluable underwater shooting techniques for capturing even the flightiest of fish!
Wreck Diving: (Optional)
Discover a piece of history at the bottom of the ocean. During this dive you’ll learn how to plan a wreck dive, navigate a wreck and learn how to identify key parts of the wreck. This is an exciting dive and one that you will never forget!
Search and Recovery Diving: (Optional)
In this adventure dive you’ll learn a variety of underwater search patterns and when to use each one and you’ll learn techniques for using a lift bag for lifting negatively buoyant objects off the bottom. During your dive you’ll put these techniques into practice – which is a rewarding challenge and a lot of fun! This is a great choice for anyone who plans to make underwater cleanup dives, or enter the diving industry on a professional or commercial level.
Multilevel and Computer Diving: (Optional)
When diving in Queensland we often dive on sloping reefs which are ideal for practicing multilevel diving. A multilevel dive allows you to explore more of a dive site and have longer and safer dives than staying at depth. You’ll plan your multilevel dive then you’ll lead your instructor from level to level according to your plan! You’ll also learn how to read a dive computer, how to use it for dive planning and how to retrieve dive information for your logbook after diving.
Advanced Open Water with Surfers Paradise Divers
Remember the reading and theory from the open water course? The good news is that the Advanced has far less and we usually complete the course in 2-3 days.
If you opt for eLearning there is a quick review (quiz) on your first day and you may need to read additional sections in the manual according to your dive choices.
For divers taking the complete Advanced Open Water in Queensland, there are 5 chapters to read (one for each dive) and some theory questions to review with your instructor. There is no exam for the Advanced Open Water course and reading can be done in afternoons or evenings when you are not diving.
Are you ready to take the plunge and become a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver? For more information or to make reservation click here or send us an email to info@aquaadventures.com.au and we’ll get right back to you.
We look forward to scuba diving in Queensland with you soon!