Browsing Tag Open Water
How is the GUE Fundamentals course different from the PADI Advanced course?
The difference between the Fundamentals course and the Advanced course is really about the curriculum and comprehensiveness of the courses.
The Advanced course offers the new diver a chance to experience 5 other types of diving environments and covers those in a relatively quick format.
The Fundamentals course instead focuses on an individual and team’s dive skills, in order to manage these new environments effectively.
Diving and Driving, an analogy that keeps on going
The Open Water course is like the basic driving course that everybody does in order to get a driving license. It covers basic techniques, such as accelerating smoothly (propulsion kicks), parking (hovering), braking (ascending smoothly to the surface) and signaling (communication).
The Advanced course would be like getting experience driving on real roads, in real conditions. For example, driving at night (night dives), at high speed on expressways (drift dives), tight car parking spaces (peak performance buoyancy), and trying to navigate while driving in another country (navigation dives).
The Fundamentals course would be more like a defensive driving course, where you’d learn how to minimize your risk (awareness and teamwork), perform pre-trip inspections (gas management, dive planning, decompression management), and handling skids, accidents, and hazards (emergency drills).
Investing in yourself is never a bad decision
While the Fundamentals course and the PADI OW and AOW are different in terms of how they approach diver training, both are absolutely necessary for any serious diver’s training log.
Only after the basics are learned, can a higher level of skill be developed.
Personally, I would always recommend investing in yourself by taking the Fundamentals course, as it takes a more detailed and focused instruction in order to attain a higher level of skill.
I do believe that both types of courses serve their purpose well, but if you truly want to be a serious diver, then the Fundamentals course is the best place to get started.
Why are Living Seas courses so expensive?
At face value, the Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses offered at Living Seas are more expensive than other dive shops.
We are priced higher for a number of reasons, and we encourage you to read on and decide for yourself whether the extra you pay is worthwhile.
1. We teach a longer course
We conduct our Open Water course over four days instead of the typical three. This includes two days for a theory lesson and a pool practice (confined water dive) session , followed by another two days of ocean (open water) dives.
Our Advanced Open Water (AOW) course includes a theory class and a pool session on top of two days of diving. For certification bodies like PADI, the AOW course requires the student to complete five leisure dives with the instructor. This is typically done over two days, and the e-learning component is done in the student’s own time.
Between the ocean dives, Living Seas instructors take time to introduce and discuss concepts that would be relevant when you proceed to do leisure dives in the future on your own. We believe in preparing our students well and ensuring you are real divers, not just people who can do drills underwater.
2. We teach face-to-face, not online
You get more time learning with an instructor by your side, as opposed to doing much of your learning online by yourself. In our classroom, you’re able to ask questions, get feedback, and work through difficult concepts with your classmates and instructor.
Our instructors are also trained to guide students through the material, instead of just delivering what’s in the textbook. We think it’s important that our students truly understand what we teach, and be able to tease out the connecting threads between different concepts.
Diving is ultimately a sport, so practical training gets special emphasis. After our students understand the theoretical basis of concepts like buoyancy, we systematically guide our students through drills with thorough explanations of good diving practices.
We do not adopt a traditional “Just do as I say” method of instruction, and we don’t think it’s something that anyone should stand for these days.
3. We keep classes small
Our student to instructor ratio is always kept low—no more than four students are assigned to one instructor for any in-water activity. Safety is our priority, and keeping classes small means our students get more focused attention from our instructor.
With fewer students to supervise, your instructor is more likely to catch and correct your mistakes as you make them. With timely feedback, you’ll learn faster and more effectively. You also spend less time waiting, whether it’s for the other students to complete their drills or for your instructor to check your gear one by one.
Learn well during the pool session and you’ll have more time during the open water dives to swim around, get comfortable in your gear, and hone your diving skills.
This is Elaine who learnt how to dive in early 2016. Although this video shows her third-ever dive, she looks comfortable and controls her position well.
4. We include your hotel stay
Our Living Seas Open Water course package includes theory and practical lessons, gear rental and your hotel accommodation. The hotels we partner offer comfortable stays and decent amenities. If you opt to take the course in Bali, the hotel is also where our Indonesian office is based. The hotel pool spans 100-plus metres and is four metres deep. As it’s a big pool, you’ll have more opportunity to swim around and gain more experience before diving in open water. In Bali, no traveling is required on the days the course is conducted. Your room, the classroom, pool and restaurant are less than two minutes away from one another.
For courses based out of Singapore, we’ve also chosen a hotel partner that offers us the best logistics in terms of diving, accommodation and transfers. Who wants to go on a trip where more time is wasted on traveling than diving? Rimba Resort on Sibu Island is our base of choice as it allows for smoother transfers, a more relaxed schedule and a more comfortable stay.
5. We don’t upsell
As an ethical business, Living Seas believes in fair pricing. We do not support the practice of using open water courses as loss leaders. We would rather focus our attention on teaching our students to dive well, than on our bottom line.
Your learning is our priority
We believe that learning has to come first. We go the distance to make sure you have ample time, space and practice as well as comfortable accommodation, so you are less stressed and more focused on learning to dive safely.
It’s our commitment at Living Seas to make sure that you get the best learning, in the best way and format possible.