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Perth PADI Advanced Open Water Course – Should I wait or do it now?

a very dark water

When is the best time to do the Advanced Open Water Course in Perth?

We’re asked all of the time when is a good time to start the Advanced Open Water Course and is it worth it?

The best time is NOW! the sun is shining, the water is warming and the visibility is stunning!

an island in the middle of a body of water

Is it worth it? The answer is it varies from person to person. Some very capable open water divers never plan to go deeper than 18 meters and are gifted with buoyancy and navigation skills, but even the most capable divers may want to spend some time diving from charter boats to visit shark cave or incredible shipwrecks like the HMAS Perth.

Some boat dives will only accept bookings from advanced certified divers because it means the crew have piece of mind that the divers have strong buoyancy and navigation skills. Even if the boat is only going to dive at sites lass than 18 meters, they need to know you’ll make it back safely.

Bucket List Diver’s Moonshine II is open to divers of all certification levels, but why limit yourself? Advanced divers enjoy access to more sites at different times of the day. Some liveaboard holiday boat trips to some of the best locations will only cater to advanced divers and above.

Shark Cave for example is one of the most sought after Perth dive sites that is only accessible to Advanced Open Water Divers.

Should I get more experience before taking my advanced certification? Or do it now?

Reach out to an instructor and ask the question. If you take the time to explain what you are good at and any areas you think you can improve on, a good instructor can take the time to identify the skills you should have and how an Advanced Open Water Course can help.

The course is designed as a next step from your Open Water Course so if you have mastered your Open Water skills, advanced scuba training will be a valuable learning experience for you.

You’ll learn to fine tune some core buoyancy skills and be able to figure out how your awesome dive guides somehow manage to always find their way back to the boat.

What is included in an advanced course?

Apart from Navigation and Deep diving (up to 30m), your course can include Buoyancy, Night diving, Boat Diving, Rescue Skills, Fish ID and more. There are 5 adventure dives with each one having a particular focus.

Should I buy my own equipment before I start the Advanced Open Water Course?

Many people rent equipment and still take away the skills they came for. Those who do bring their own equipment also benefit from receiving advice from instructors on the equipment configuration and tips to improve their skills with it. It’s always best to train with what you plan to use going into the future, but there are also benefits to building experience across a variety of equipment styles and types. The answer is either will work, but you should have some core safety equipment of your own that you are familiar with like a surface marker buoy, cutting device and audible signaling device. Using your own dive computer and compass can be useful to allow you to easily apply the skills on familiar equipment after the course.

 

By Hayley Wight for Bucket List Diver