|
The Dive Academy offer a number of PADI Specialty Diver Courses. The purpose of the PADI Specialty Diver Courses is to familiarise divers with the skills, knowledge and techniques for their favourite underwater activities and to introduce them to exciting new adventures. The best way to learn a new skill or activitity is by doing it, and the PADI Specialty Courses therefore, emphasise learning by diving. Student divers will apply the knowledge they gain by reading the PADI Specialty Diver Manuals on the open water dives. PADI SPECIALTY COURSESEnriched Air, or Nitrox is one of PADI's most popular Specialty Courses. Diving with Enriched Air (Nitrox) allows you to safely extend your no decompression limits, which means more time underwater and shorter surface intervals. So if you are into underwater photography, wreck diving or just like to enjoy leisurely diving for longer the Enriched Air Specialty Course keeps you where you want to be... underwater!!  The minimum age for the Enriched Air Course is 15 years old and you must be certified as a Open Water diver. The course covers the knowledge, skills and techniques for diving with enriched air and is split between knowledge development and practical applications.
The course takes 1 day to complete, plus some independent study, or 2 days if you want to experience what it is like to dive on Enriched Air. You can complete the Enriched Air Course without completing any open water dives - the course is based on theory and dive planning using Enriched Air, although we do encourage you to try it out. Upon completion of the course you will be able to request Enriched Air tanks wherever you go diving. 
Digital Underwater Photographer – The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer course is an introduction to digital underwater photography centered around today’s point-and-shoot digital cameras. The course helps you develop the knowledge, skills and practical techniques necessary to obtain excellent photographs with a digital camera, even on their first photo dive.  The course covers what equipment you need to take great underwater photographs, how to prepare the underwater photo system, and basic underwater photo techniques.
The course is open to snorkelers, Open Water Diver students and certified divers who have an interest in underwater photography. Aware Fish Identification – Have you ever been scuba diving and asked yourself, "What was that?” The PADI Project AWARE Fish Identification Specialty course provides you with the basic knowledge to help you know the answer. You’ll find you enjoy your dives even more when you recognize the creatures that you see. The fun part about this course is you can use the skills you learn on every dive you do, wherever you go in the world, because once you learn the main fish families and characteristics it will help you recognise the species you see all over the world.  During two dives you gain hands-on (or, eyes-on) experience in looking for and identifying the fascinating fish you see underwater.
You’ll learn how to identify characteristics of local fish families and species, Fish survey techniques and strategies, how to practice fish identification dive planning, organization and procedures. You must be an Open Water diver and at least 10 years old to take the AWARE Fish ID Specialty. Deep Diver – Deep diving opens the door to many new exciting dive sites like deeper wrecks, reefs and walls. Divers are usually adventurous people, and deep diving – whether to visit a wreck or take photos – can certainly be called adventurous. It’s only natural that most divers have an interest in deep diving. Deep diving is a means to an end. You make a deep dive to see, to do or to experience something that you can’t on a shallower dive. There’s no reason to make a deep dive if you can make essentially the same dive at a shallower depth.  The goal of the Deep Diver course is to teach you about the equipment needed for deep diving, to discourage thrill seeker attitudes and encourage the proper deep diver behavior.
You will learn how to plan and safely execute deep dives, which will add to your enjoyment of deep diving.  The course takes 2 days to complete and you make 4 dives, starting with a 30 metre dive and including 1 dive to 40 metres.
By the start of the course, a diver must be certified as a PADI Adventure Diver or Advanced Open Water Diver and be at least 15 years old. When you have completed the deep diver course you will be certified to dive to 40 metres, which is the maximum depth allowed in recreational diving. Then you can discover what fantastic adventures wait for you in the deep. DPV - Have you ever wondered how James Bond learned to zoom around on underwater scooters? The DPV Specialty Course is designed to introduce you to the skills and excitement of using diver propulsion vehicles. The course familiarizes divers with the knowledge, planning, organization, procedures, techniques, potential problems and hazards associated with using DPVs. The DPV Specialty Course takes 1 day to complete plus some independent study. You will make 2 dives where you learn how to manouver the DPV through the water, practising turns, banking, circling and learning safety procedures. Even James Bond had to learn how to be safe!! Proper use of a DPV will let you cover significantly more area on a dive and will dramatically reduce your exertion and air consumption. The minimum age to take the course is 12 years old and you must be at least an Open Water diver.
Underwater Navigator – Be the diver everyone wants to follow and make your sense of direction legendary with the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course. When everyone’s buzzing about a reef or checking out a wreck, they’re having a great time – until it’s time to go. Then they turn to you, because as a PADI Underwater Navigator, you know the way back to the boat. The aim of the Underwater Navigator Course is to focus on fun and challenging underwater navigation dives with an emphasis on safety. The best way to learn underwater navigation procedures and to apply them is by doing it.  The goal of the Underwater Navigator course is to develop the techniques involved in navigating underwater within recreational limits while avoiding disturbing delicate marine life.
The course expands student diver knowledge about environmental clues that help them to navigate, how to use a compass for precision, navigational instruments and how to interact responsibly with the aquatic life. Student divers will apply their knowledge during 3 open water dives which can be completed in 1 day. To begin the course you need to be at least 10 years old and a (Junior) Open Water Diver.
Search and Recovery – Many factors such as visibility, sea conditions and topography can affect the success or failure of any search and recovery conducted underwater. The search and recovery dive team cannot control most of these factors, but one aspect of an underwater search and recovery that can be controlled is organization.  The other factors must be considered when the team plans a search and recovery, altering how they search and the recovery methods to accommodate them.
The goal of the Search & Recovery Specialty course is to develop the techniques involved in locating and retrieving lost articles, large and small, within recreational diving limits and while avoiding disturbing delicate marine life. The course takes 2 days to complete and consists of 4 Search & Recovery Dives where you will learn things like search patterns, lifting procedures and knot tying. The minimum age for the Search & Recovery Course is 12 years old and you must be a (Junior) Advanced Open Water Diver. Multilevel Diver – During the Open Water Course you learned to plan your dives using the RDP. The purpose of the PADI Multilevel Diver Specialty course is to familiarize you with the theory, knowledge and planning of multilevel diving. Multilevel diving allows you to plan for diving at more than one depth during the same dive, so you will receive credit for less nitrogen build-up diving at shallower depths, which will increase your bottom time and let you enjoy the underwater world for a bit longer. The goal of the Multilevel Diver course is to develop your knowledge of the theories behind dive tables, dive computers and multilevel diving.
 You will learn to plan, organize and make safe multilevel no decompression dives using the e-RDP ML and a dive computer.
You need to be at least a PADI Open Water Diver and 12 years old to take the Multilevel Diver Course.
Whale Shark Awareness – One of the most fantastic experiences you can have as a diver is to find yourself in the presence of the biggest fish in the sea - a Whale Shark. Although it will more than likely only be a small one (if you can call something 4,5 or 6 metres long small), it is an amazing feeling to be there as the Whale Shark slowly glides through the water alongside you.  The Whale Shark Awareness Distinctive Specialty introduces you to Whale Shark biology and behaviour and their distribution around the globe. You will also learn about Whale Shark monitoring programmes, research and conservation efforts as well as the correct diving and photographing techniques to adopt should you ever find yourself diving with a Whale Shark.
The course requires a small amount of independent study and 2 open water dives, in which we can only prey we will encounter a Whale Shark.
Night Diver – Whatever the motivation to dive at night - you’ll find that the environment is quite different. You will see the same, familiar creatures that you usually see, but doing different things - like trying to sleep. Parrot fish, for example, lower their heads under the reef ledge and secrete a mucous sack that envelope their bodies rather like a bubble, and this is how they sleep.
 The philosophy of this course is to focus on seeing in the dark things you miss seeing, or that appear differently during daylight dives. During the 3 dives required to complete the course you will develop the techniques involved in night diving while avoiding disturbing the delicate marine life.
This course expands your knowledge about night diving equipment, evaluating dive conditions at night, using and maintaining dive lights, night navigation techniques, and how to interact responsibly with the aquatic life you see while night diving, plus introducing yourself to a whole new cast of critters that come out after the sun goes down. You need to be at least 12 years old to take the Night Diver Specialty Course. 
Boat Diver – Most places you go diving will require you to dive from one kind of boat or another, whether it's a speedboat, a rib or even a liveaboard.
Diving from boats gives you access to dive sites not accessible from shore as well as providing you with a way to visit remote dive sites that are a long way from where you are. The Boat Diving Specialty course covers the knowledge and techniques specific to boat diving.  The purpose of the PADI Boat Diver Specialty course is to familiarize you with the skills, knowledge, procedures, techniques, problems, hazards and enjoyment of diving from a boat.
The course covers knowledge of dive boats — proper boat diving etiquette, basic dive boat terminology and includes important boat diving skills such as entries/exits, use of emergency/safety equipment and enables you to plan, organize and conduct safe dives.
The course includes 2 open water dives and you must be at least 12 years old and at least a (Junior) Open Water Diver. 
Project AWARE Specialty Course - The purpose of the Project AWARE Specialty Course is to familiarize divers and nondivers with the plight of worldwide aquatic ecosystems and to describe what individuals can do to help protect them. The Project AWARE Specialty Course doesn't require open water dives and can be taken by people of any age.  We also offer other AWARE courses including Peak Performance Buoyancy, AWARE — Fish Identification (see above) and Coral Reef Conservation.
The PPB Course helps fine-tune your bouyancy by expanding on techniques introduced to you on the Open Water Course, helping you develop a better level of bouyancy and help you protect the underwater environment we enjoy so much. The Coral Reef Conservation Course highlights the problems faced by the worlds Coral Reefs, outlines the causes of the problems and gives some ways which we can begin to help save them.
|
