COURSES
Learning the Art of Diving
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught." (Baba Dioum, 1968.)
For us at Aquanauts Grenada, we love our oceans and we are here to share our love for the marine ecosystem. To do that, a person needs to be taught by an instructor who is patient, kind, knowledgeable, and capable. This is the heart of why Aquanauts is here and we have an exceptional staff of instructors who successfully work with students from around the world. We offer courses that range from fear-based swim instruction, to try SCUBA diving, to open water diving and all specialties (including underwater yoga), to adaptive diving and technical diving. You can take the time you need and choose your unique path to fall in love with and further understand our oceans.
The most common question we hear related to courses is "What do I need to do?". While it's a simple question, it really depends on your goals with exploring the underwater world. This page will offer a few paths and you can select your unique route of how you want to achieve your goals. We offer courses from a variety of certifying agencies (SSI, PADI, SDI, TDI, and HSA) and you can choose the one that fits your needs.
The second most common question we hear is "What is the difference between PADI, SSI, SDI, and TDI?". If you were to ask anyone who has spent time teaching, they will tell you it is all about the instructor. For core recreational courses, this could not be more true. All of the certifying agency standards are governed by the World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) so the contents and standards are similar across the board. The format and pricing of the educational materials is set by the certifying agency. So with the standards being similar, the experience you have during the in-person training of the course is defined by the instructor. Our instructors can teach via multiple certifying agencies which means it doesn't matter which agency you choose, the instructor will be able to tailor the course to your personal goals. The reason we teach via multiple certifying agencies is because limiting the agencies available to only one is like having a shoe store with only one brand of shoes.
Introduction to SCUBA
How can you get started? We offer the ability to try SCUBA in a pool just to see what breathing underwater is like, or you can try SCUBA diving in the ocean after a short pool session. Neither of these approaches are certification courses, but both do a wonderful job of introducing you to a new universe.
- Offered by SSI, PADI, and SDI
Open Water Diver
The Open Water Course is the first certification course a SCUBA diver takes. It is the most exciting one as well. In this course, you learn the basic skills and information necessary to be an open water diver. The course has three phases to it. The first is academic and all materials are available online now so you can complete it at your own pace. The second phase is in a pool where you learn how to work with the new gear while developing the fundamental skills of buoyancy and trim. The third and final phase is in open water. Here, you refine the skills you learned in the pool while also going for a tour of the local reefs. Once completed, you are certified to dive anywhere around the world to 18M/60' with a buddy.
- Offered by SSI, PADI, and SDI
Advanced Open Water Diver
Advanced Open Water Diver is where the lines begin to blur with certifying agencies. So what is an advanced open water diver? Skill, experience, and certifications are what we consider advanced. If you think about where you enjoy diving, that will help you with the decisions about education.
There are three courses at the core of any advanced diver. Enriched Air, Perfect Buoyancy, and Deep. This enables the foundation to advance your diving. Enriched Air is safer and allows for longer bottom time. Perfect Buoyancy enables propulsion (forwards AND backwards), perfect trim, and control in the water column. Deep enables you to properly plan and execute a dive to 40M/130'. This includes using bailout bottles and properly managing a surface marker buoy (SMB). With these three certifications, you can dive at any site (within recreational limits) you are comfortable with around the world. Skills and experience are developed by time spent diving.
For SSI and SDI, the requirement to be certified as an "Advanced Diver" is that you need four specialty certifications and twenty-five dives logged. PADI has an advanced open water diver certification course, but it offers only the first dive from five certifications over five separate dives. This course is designed to introduce you to which certifications might be of interest to you.
- Offered by SSI, PADI, and SDI
Continuing Education
Continuing your education is really the center of advancing you diving. There is no magic bullet. It takes time and focus to become better at diving. The folks you see in the water with perfect trim, minimum air consumption and moving seemingly without effort are people who have continued their education. Here are some of the more popular courses: Sidemount diving, Wreck Diving, Conservation specialties, Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPV), Navigation, Limited Visibility and Search and Recovery, Intro to Technical Diving and Rescue diver.
- Offered by SSI, PADI, SDI
TEC and TEC-REC
For those who want to go deeper, stay down longer or develop the skills to be a truley independent diver we offer TEC courses. Technical Diving International (TDI) is our preferred certifying agency for technical diving. TDI was founded originally for technical diving. This is the heart of their materials and direction. SSI and PADI both have extended-range programs. Depending on how deep or how technical you want to be, we can help you reach your goals. The most popular course is Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Diving which enables dives to nitrox limits (45M/145'). Using open circuit systems, you can now plan and execute decompression dives.
- Offered by TDI
Adaptive Diving
We believe persons of all abilities should be able to experience the magic of the underwater world. Persons of all abilities can find peace and solace diving. For divers of all abilities, you can train as a Diveheart Adaptive Diver. At the completion of the course, you will be able to dive with a Diveheart team anywhere in the world. We have a fantastic team at Aquanauts, but if you want to create your own team, we offer training for Adaptive Buddies and Advanced Adaptive Buddies. These folks, as part of a Diveheart dive team, are trained to ensure the safety and comfort of divers with adaptations.
