This is the fifth and final post in my learn to dive series. In the previous posts I have discussed why you should learn to dive, is one training agency better than another and is it better to learn to dive at home or when on holiday? I have also broke down a PADI Open Water Course to give you an idea what you will do when you learn to dive and what you can do after you gain your dive qualification.

In this final post I’m going to let the pictures do the talking. Now please remember that the pics you see were taken by me and I am by no means a great underwater photographer, nor do i have a proper underwater photographic equipment. I have tried to include images that provide an insight to what it would be like to learn to dive and what you may see. I could waffle on about each image and what is happening in them but I won’t, I will however describe them .

This was a bunch a divers I taught in Ao,Nang Krabi. They are on the way to there first ever open water dive and the 2 people on the left continued after the course to do PADI Advanced Open Water with me.

The image on the left is a diver exploring a reef near Maya Bay off Phi Phi, Krabi. The image on the right is a rare sight indeed, this is me on open water on a safety stop.

A collect of fish swimming over shallow rocks in Donald Duck Bay in the Similan Islands.

A view from inside the King Cruiser Wreck Thailand. This is no longer possible since wreck penetration is not allowed here anymore.

The exit of a swim through near Maya Bay, Phi Phi island.

The next 3 images were all taken during personal dives in the waters around Thailand, I can just about remember their names, do any of you know them? If so you should let other know in the comments.

I hope this series of posts on learning to dive has been helpful in someway and maybe answered a few questions. If you have missed any of these posts there is a list of links at the end targeted to individual posts. If there is anything you would like to know about scuba diving or learning to dive in particular then leave a message in the comments and I’ll try and answer it. That’s enough from me now so what are you waiting for go learn to dive.

Happy Diving!

Learn To Dive – Part 1 Why Learn To Dive?

Learn To Dive – Part 2 Where To Learn To Dive

Learn To Dive – Part 3 What Will I do On The Course

Learn to Dive – Part 4 What To Do After You Become A Diver

This fourth post in my learn to dive series will expand on the available training in scuba diving after your initial training. In the previous posts I have discussed why you should learn to dive, is one training agency better than another and is it better to learn to dive at home or when on holiday? I have also broke down a PADI Open Water Course to give you an idea what you will do when you learn to dive.

So you are now a fully qualified diver with a new shiny badge to say so, now what. Well the first thing you may notice is that when you try to book a days diving not all the dives will be available to you. To understand why this is you need to go back to your training and remember that as an open water diver you are restricted to depths of 18m or less. Although the majority of coral and life are within this 18m area there are sometimes, well lots of times actually, when going below this depth will reward you with some wonderful dives. Many wrecks are below the 18m depth and large pelagic’s usually rest in waters deeper than 18 m. So your convinced, you want to get below the 18m mark but how do you do it?

What Will I Do On the Next Course?

Back to training for this but before you all run away listen to what is need to get you down to a maximum depth of 30m. Unlike your Open Water course there is no classroom or pool work this time, but you will have to read a bit more and complete the knowledge developments again but the big thing is there is NO EXAM!

The PADI Advanced Open Water Course takes only 5 dives in open water and their corresponding knowledge developments from the book. From the 5 dives one must be a deep dive to 30m and one must be a navigational dive were you learn to use a compass underwater, the other 3 dives are made up from a list of about 20 options. When I say about 20 that’s because some of these are dependent on location but you will have a great deal to choose from regardless of where you dive.

When Should I Do An Advanced Course?

There is a lot of discussion about this on forums and in diver publications and the answer is, in my opinion, when you feel comfortable with your diving skills. Now what I mean here is that some people complete the PADI open water course and curse the fact they have been missing out on life underwater, others feel that there was not enough instruction, that they have not mastered the skills yet or that they just don’t feel 100% comfortable underwater. These less confident people would be better to complete a few dives with a guide for some support and comfort, the other more confident people could further their training and move straight on to the next course.

It is possible to complete the first course and move straight onto the next without any dives in-between, but what I have always recommended is that you should try for at least 10 dives after your first qualification, 20 dives if you are a home diver and have more access to dives.

These 10 dives will give you some practice at buoyancy control and other skills you learnt during your Open Water Course. It also allows you some time to make sure it really is the next hobby you want to take up, scuba diving equipment is not really expensive in comparaison to other hobbies like skiing or golf, but you still don’t want to waste your money.

When Does This Training End?

In reality you will never stop learning to dive. Every dive will bring up new situations that you will learn from, but if its academic style training then you can always continue this also.

After the advanced course you could take on the PADI Rescue Diver Course, but be warned this is not a fun course and most people will find it exhausting and difficult but very very rewarding. It teaches you how to spot and prevent incidents before they happen and to react to incidents in a calm manner and how to deal with anything that may happen while on a days scuba diving, both above and below the water.

As you gain more confidence in the water you may find you have a liking for a particular type of dive, drift dive or coral dive, or for something you do while on a dive photography of videography. PADI has a whole bunch of specialities were you can learn more about these types of dives. So as you can see after you learn to dive you can go on and learn some more!

So far I have discussed why and where you should learn to dive, I have also talked about what you will do on your course and what to do after it. In the next post I’m not going to talk about learning to dive or courses but what I do plan to do is try and convince you that diving is something you should learn as soon as possible.

Learn To Dive – Part 1 Why Learn To Dive?

Learn To Dive – Part 2 Where To Learn To Dive

Learn To Dive – Part 3 What Will I do On The Course

His Majesty the King of Thailand celebrated his 80th birthday during June 2008 and as part of the worldwide celebration there was a festival held in Trafalgar Square to celebrate Thai culture and food. This was the first ever Thai festival in the square and was seen to be successful. Normally the festival is held every year in Battersea Park but was moved for this special occasion. With Lanna drums, Thai dancers, and a puppet show were performed by the Londond based Thai Dance Academy and Thai Music Circle but to perform the martial art Muay Thai the boxers were flown in from Thailand.

Thai food was available to the uninitiated but with over 1700 Thai restaurants in the UK, if you haven’t tried Thai food already you would probably be in a minority. On offer from the stalls was the famous pad thai (stir-fried Thai noodles) and kaeng khiew wan gai (green chicken curry) as well as food carving demonstrations.

I wasn’t aware of this event, held on June the 14^th, but would have liked to have been there if only to have witnessed the Thai ambassador Kitti tell the crowd, “There’s scientific proof that Thai rice makes you sleep better and smile. You should have enough rice and when you’re back home, smile at your family members.”