The PADI Advanced Open Water Course is your gateway to acquiring more diving knowledge and underwater skills .
The PADI Advanced Open Water Dive certification is earned by successfully completing the Deep Adventure Dive, the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive and any other three Adventure Dives. Earning the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver rating opens up a new level of diving for you by giving you new skills and knowledge. By being more experienced and comfortable in the water you will find that you enjoy your diving even more!
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course Prerequisites:
Must be PADI Open Water Diver certified or equivalent. For those under 15 years of age there is the PADI Jr. Advanced Open Water Diver Certification available.
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course Components:
The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course consists of two components; theory and open water dives.
The theory consists of learning the principles of your chosen adventure dives from the PADI Advanced Open Water DVD/Manual and completing the appropriate knowledge reviews.
During the open water dives you will hone your current diving skills and put into practise your new knowledge; all this while diving among the stunning and prolific life in Beqa Lagoon.
The new updated PADI course also include the Thinking Like a Diver video and chapter. Completing this first will give the tools to start thinking like an experienced, prudent diver including; planning dives, developing and applying situational awareness, managing task loading and maintaining good diving habits. You will discuss these principles with your instructor before each of your open water Adventure Dives.
The following two PADI Adventure Dives are compulsory for the Advanced Open Water certification:
Deep Diving – Ever wondered about venturing deeper than 18m/60ft? On the deep dive you’ll learn what’s involved when selecting equipment, determining dive objectives, underwater techniques and all important safety factors.
Underwater Navigator – Knowing more about where you are underwater can be incredibly useful and a lot of fun! On the underwater navigation dive you’ll learn about compass and natural navigation so you can put this into practice on all your subsequent diving experiences.
Then a choice of three additional PADI Adventure Dives are available from the following;
AWARE Shark Conservation – Learn about the issues facing shark populations both globally and locally here in Fiji. Also learn about what is being done at our very own Shark Reef Marine Reserve in terms of ongoing research and protection for these magnificent creatures.
Boat Diving – Have you ever got on a boat and wondered what should be there, what to do and when? The boat adventure dive will open your eyes to what to look out for when diving from a new boat, plus how to make your boat dives more effective and enjoyable.
Digital Underwater Imaging (own camera required) – Do you want to get more out of your GoPro footage or camera stills? The Digital Underwater Imaging dive will information on how to set up your own system for better results, tips to use underwater and how to care for your camera to keep it good as new for as long as possible.
Drift Diving – Many dive sites in the world (including some in the Beqa Lagoon) will experience current either some or all of the time. In order to dive these sites safely and enjoyably you can complete what is called a Drift dive. In this dive you will learn how to safely execute a drift dive and also what you need to do have and do in order to prepare for one.
Enriched Air Diving – Would you like to experience longer bottom times at depth and learn how to analyse and use Nitrox safely? If so you can complete your Enriched Air certification alongside the Advanced Open Water course, and earn two certification cards instead of one. You would need to sign up and pay separately for Enriched Air eLearning and an additional charge of FJ $50 on top of the course price would be required for your Enriched Air tank for your Enriched Air Adventure Dive.
Fish Identification – Have you ever wondered what that big blue fish with the yellow fins is actually called? This adventure dive will introduce you to the fish families and give you a head start when it comes to using fish identification books to uncover exactly what you are looking at. Be warned, once you start with this, you will want to know exactly what everything underwater is called!
Peak Performance Buoyancy – Are you starting your advanced course with just a few dives and still feel a little uncomfortable underwater? Do you have no idea how much weight you should be wearing whilst diving? If you have answered yes to any of these questions then the Peak Performance Buoyancy dive is perfect for you. We will get you properly weighted and spend an entire dive practising the most important skill in diving, being able to effortlessly achieve neutral buoyancy. Once you have mastered this diving becomes all about what you are seeing with the diving itself as second nature.
Search & Recovery Diving – Do you enjoy using compasses and like a challenge? Search and Recovery diving teaches you how to use search patterns to locate small and large objects in a variety of diving conditions, how to select the right pattern and how to safely raise objects that may be found underwater. It will also give you a glimpse of how you can apply these skills beyond Advanced Open Water in courses such as Rescue Diver.
Underwater Naturalist – Have you ever wanted to know more about the underwater world in terms of ecology and ecosystems? The underwater naturalist dive introduces you to the underwater ecosystem in more depth including information about how to interact with aquatic life, hazardous marine life and animal behaviours. It also teaches how you can become an underwater ambassador and protect what you love to look at.
Wreck Diving – Are you interested in history? Would you like to explore a wreck? Well here in the Beqa Lagoon we have a choice of three wrecks we can take you to as part of the Advanced Open Water course (conditions permitting). Our instructors favourite is the Tasu II wreck at our dive site 7 Sisters. As part of this dive you can explore the 30m longline fishing vessel that was purposefully sunk 20 years ago. Marvel at the marine life that has made this wreck their permanent home and note the hazards and features of this artificial reef. It also offers some great photo opportunities should you have your own camera.
PADI Advanced Open Water and The Fiji Shark Dive
Our instructors can combine The Fiji Shark Dive into the PADI Advanced Open Water course upon request (additional FJ$25 Marine Park Levy Required). The Boat, Deep, AWARE Shark Conservation, Digital Underwater Imaging and Fish Identification dives can all be conducted on The Fiji Shark Dive excursions. However only one shark dive excursion can be included on the Advanced Open Water course.
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course Fee: FJ$ 1150.00
Course Fee includes the use of all required PADI materials, 5 open water dives, all required scuba equipment (except cameras) and PADI Certification Card upon successful completion.
