As scuba divers we are constantly learning; the sport itself is an activity that invokes further education from the very fact that no one dive is the same as the next. During the trip a number of our guests decided to enhance their knowledge and partake in further education. Some of the regular course requests we receive are Adventure Deep dives, Adventure Night Dives, Advanced Open Water & Enriched Air Nitrox. Lets take a closer look…
Obviously we have fantastic Instructors on our team but one huge advantage is that whilst spending time on MV Hallelujah, you the student, have time on your hands to complete the course at a steady pace and ensure that a thorough and complete understanding of your new found knowledge has taken place. Here at Big Blue Diving we can provide all courses with either PADI or SSI as your certifying agency.
Advanced Open Water Diver
The next step up from Open Water Diver (with any agency) is the Advanced Open Water Diver or a variation on the same title. The AOW course comprises of 5 dives which provide the student with a taste bite of particular specialties that can be developed individually with further courses. For example an AOW diver may dive on a wreck but to dive inside a wreck they would have to complete a 2 day wreck penetration course. The common choices that guests plump for are the Deep, Navigation, Night, Underwater Naturalist & Wreck dives. Two of our guests decided to complete the AOW course, 1 with PADI & the other SSI. We can advise you on which dives would be the best to complete during the trip and provide you with the slight differences between PADI & SSI so that you can make an informed decision on which agency you would like to use.
Adventure Deep
The Adventure Deep dive is a requirement for those wishing to complete AOW training but if you do not have the time for a full AOW course you can elect to complete 1 or 2 of the dives that can then be used at a later date towards a full AOW accreditation. Again there are a few slight differences between PADI & SSI but the dive element itself is the same and they both mean the same. Once you have completed an Adventure Deep Dive you are still an Open Water diver but with a 30m rating rather than the OW rating of 18m which enables you to see the very best of the dive sites here in the Similans.
Enriched Air Nitrox
Or Nitrox by its common name is the use of additional oxygen in your scuba tank prior to the dive. We do this for a number of very good reasons the primary being that by increasing the oxygen it reduces the nitrogen. I shall resist getting into the finer science too much but as a reminder we are limited on how long we can stay at a particular depth due to the build up of nitrogen in the body (flashbacks to those dive tables on Open water Training?) therefore if we reduce the nitrogen to begin with, then the absorption rate is less ergo we can stay at depth for a longer time period. One other key point about EANx diving is that the user may not feel as tired as a diver using regular air. The EANx diver is absorbing more oxygen whilst diving therefore most users find that fatigue does not set in as quickly. A great way to dive, especially if you are completing 4 dives a day.
A BIG (BLUE) shout out goes to Riley, our youngest guest at 15 years old and already a great little diver. Riley not only completed the SSI AOW course but also the Enriched Air Nitrox course too. Well done young man, it was an absolute pleasure, especially with the treat of the Manta Ray at the end of the trip.
Congratulations to all our students – Dino and Marc for completing their Adventure Deep Dives with Instructors Ben & Miro, Masumi & Riley our new Advanced Open Water divers with Instructors Matt & Yurika.
Remember, all Adventure dives can be collated and used towards your Advanced Open Water qualification & subsequent rating at a later date so if you are planning a trip with us and would like more detailed information please get in touch.
