Open Water

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Imagine being weightless, floating in tranquility, in a world of visual treasures most people can only imagine. Three quarters of the earth is covered in water, and what lies below provides something for every fantasy. Explore the ghostly remains of a mysterious shipwreck, commune with nature in the vast ecosystem of a coral reef, or just get a fish eye view of the world. Scuba diving is both fun and easy to learn. Nearly everyone can do it. No great swimming skills are required, you need only to be comfortable in the water, and willing to learn.

At Underwater Dive Center, Inc., we have a simple philosophy; we are not out to be the fastest, or the cheapest, we are out to be the best. Our Instructors average over ten years of teaching experience. Our courses are sanctioned by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), the largest diver training agency in the world & International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD). We are proud of being a PADI FIVE-STAR DIVE CENTER (IRRA), an Instructor Development Center (IDC), and for earning two awards for excellence in education, but that's not what sets us apart from the rest.

All PADI courses must meet the same standards, so what sets us apart? To begin with, we do not believe that all C-Cards are created equal. Much like there are poor, average, and excellent drivers on the road, all with drivers licenses, scuba divers fall into all these categories as well. While some "Assembly-Line" Dive Centers will issue your card as soon as you meet the minimum standards, our instructors work with you to allow you to be comfortable with the required skills. This does not make our course more difficult, only better. There is a difference between meeting a standard once, or having the required skill(s) come naturally. Repetition alone will not train you to be a safe and competent diver. We will help you understand diving, not merely "Act It Out". We are always very proud when our students return from a trip and tell us how comfortable they were. This is how we make diving safe and enjoyable.

DIVE BACK

Our classes are 6 sessions long (3 classroom and 3 pool sessions). These sessions are approximately 4 hours a piece. We either have Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-10 PM for 3 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 - 10 PM for 3 weeks or Sunday evenings from 5 - 9 PM for 6 weeks. The Tuesday only courses are through Lorain County Community College and these courses are set up on an 8 week schedule. You will need to sign up for these courses through the College.

Our Open Water classes include the PADI Open Water Diver Manual, dive tables, log book, zippered bag, pool fees, Instructor fees and all of the equipment for usage in the pool except for the mask, fins, snorkel, and wetsuit boots. This equipment is more personable and most people purchase their own. This equipment needs to be top quality. As one of our students, you will receive a student discount on all of our equipment in our store and be eligible for our Student Equipment Packages. If you do not have any of this equipment, our knowledgeable staff can assist you in getting fitted out properly.

Once you have completed the 3 class and 3 pool sessions, you will need to do what we call Open Water Training dives. The Open Water Training dives are 4 dives that you do in an open water environment with an Instructor. You will be going over skills you learned in the pool, but doing them in the environment where you will be divning with an Instructor. You can either do these with us or we can give you a referral and you can do them on vacation. We do the Open Water Training dives on a weekend; all day Saturday and all day Sunday. Once you have completed these dives, you will be certified and will be able dive anywhere in the world. You are also certified for life.