Get Your Scuba Diving Certification, Open Up New Ways to Have Fun

There are quite a number of popular certification agencies now certifying scuba divers. The system I was trained in is from Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). PADI has a long history in scuba diving. Their comprehensive training materials and level of standard with strong emphasis on safety made me felt at ease about learning to scuba dive. Don’t get me wrong. The other certifying agencies came highly recommended too. But at the time, the only certifying agency available in my area was PADI. So the choice was much simpler. To dive or not to dive.

Before going for your certification, make sure that you are reasonably fit and in good health, and comfortable in the water. Don’t worry, most dives are really very relaxing. But being in shape will go a long way towards being able to enjoy a leisurely 55 minute dive instead of a 20 minute dive due to fatigue and gulping air too fast!

You can either take the scuba diving certification for leisure, or if you intend to go professional, to have a career in scuba diving. You don’t have to decide early which path to take. In the beginning, the courses are the same.

Let’s take a look at some of the certifications available. The flow chart shows you an overview of the certification level that is available from the PADI system.

Open Water Diver Certification

The fun of diving starts with the first certification level which is the PADI Open Water Diver course. With only this certification, you are already able to go on dive vacations in most diving destinations.

This course will teach you the basics of an enjoyable, safe diving though the pool (uninteresting, but safe environment) and class sessions , plus real diving out at sea (yay!) under the guidance of an instructor. It also covers how to assemble and care for your dive equipment. This course happens to be the world’s most popular course for new divers!

The course usually takes 5 days to compete. That doesn’t mean you have to take the course in 5 consecutive days. If you are not in a hurry, opt to do it on weekends. You should be having fun, take it easy.

But if for some reason you are in a hurry, sure, go ahead and do it in 5 consecutive days. You might even opt for the intensive on that will get you certified in as little as 4 days.

At the end of this course, you would have earned your certification as a PADI Open Water Diver. This certification will also enable you to buy or rent scuba equipment and dive without direct instructor supervision.

It is perfectly OK to just stop at this certification. With this certification, you can already enjoy many diving adventures and distinations around the world. But why stop here? If you are enjoying yourself and find that scuba diving is fun, you should continue with your diving education. Having more training and education can prepare you better during an emergency and really just makes your diving experience more fun.

Advanced Open Water Diver Certification

After the Open Water Diver certification, you can increase your diving kowledge and skills by taking the Advanced Open Water Diver certification. I really enjoyed this course because this course doesn’t have a written exam and it is all practical training – meaning just a lot of diving!

This course will give you a chance to choose some of diving’s most popular specialties. The 3 core dives that you must master are underwater navigation, night diving and deep diving. You will then choose to do any 2 of the elective dives: underwater naturalist dive, search and recovery dive, underwater photography dive, boat dive, drift dive, multilevel dive, wreck dive and peak performance buoyancy.

This course can be completed in 2 days. A great way to spend the a weekend.

Specialty Diver Program

This program is widely regarded as some of the most enjoyable programs in diver education. The Specialty Diver courses focus on the underwater activities that interest you most. Specialty course subjects include, altitude diving, boat diving, cavern diving, deep diving, drift diving, dry suit diving, equipment specialist, ice diving, multilevel diving, underwater navigation, search and recovery diving, underwater naturalist, underwater photography, wreck diving and Nitrox diving. Most of these courses can be completed in a weekend.

Nitrox diving? Learn more about Nitrox diving and Enriched Air Diver Specialty.

Medic First Aid Certification

The Medic First Aid certification is a basic training course in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and emergency care. It is a medically based course, which means that it is designed to train you to follow, at the layperson’s level the same emergency procedures and priorities used by paramedics and doctors. The course can be completed within 1 day.

Knowing how to save a life is a valuable skill to have. This course will cover the seven basic skills in primary assessment of the emergency, performing CPR, clearing obstructed airway, control of bleeding, shock management, illness management and injury management.

Rescue Diver Certification

So, you’ve come this far. Maybe you’re the kind of person that likes to be aware of what is happening around you in your diving environment and want to be able to assist your buddies in the event that they encounter difficulties while diving? The next step to take then is to go for the Rescue Diver Certification.

This course is very performance based and emphasise strongly on in-water training to sharpen your diving skills and develop rescue techniques. In the 4 days of the course, you will learn First-Aid for diving maladies, self-rescue, rescue entries and approaches, use of surface floats in rescue and in-water resuscitation, to name just a few.

With this training, you will increase diving safety and may even help save a life. At the end of this course, you will be certified as a Rescue Diver and am on your way to becoming the prestigious Master Scuba Diver!

If you are interested to be certified as a diver, send us an email. We can make recommendations for you to learn, either at Kota Kinabalu or on Mabul Island.