Once you complete your Open Water course, your option to explore the underwater world widens quite a bit.
But this is also when you start to become aware of your “areas for improvement.” How about your buoyancy while you’re waiting for a safety stop? Have you taken a boat? Have you been in a current?
In order for you to fully enjoy scuba diving with confidence, without feeling like a floating body at the mercy of your gears, Advanced Course is the obvious next step to take. So let’s take a look at the reasons why you should consider Advanced Adventurer Course:
Buoyancy
This is one of the most common problems new divers encounter. When I first started diving, I was always worried about the Safety Stop. Why? Because having to stay at 5m (16ft.) for 3 minutes was SO HARD and if there are a bit of waves closer to the surface, I’d worry even more. And the more I worry, the faster I breathe and up and up I go to the surface and I do a little dance with hands to go down or face down to descend.
Or observing the beautiful octopus and I just wanted to snap that photo but I couldn’t be still enough to click and my photos came out always blur.
All of these situations could be avoided had I taken Advanced Adventurer course sooner and really learnt Perfect Buoyancy.
Expand your options for dive sites
There are many dive sites and dive centers who only take divers above Advanced Adventurer certification. There are many reasons for this but one obvious reason is simply that you need to be a bit more experienced diver to handle the possible conditions on their dive sites.
And imagine, you and your friends or family want to take a diving trip and everyone else is an advanced diver except you. Believe it or not, this is one of the most common reasons why people take Advanced Adventurer course. They want to enjoy scuba diving with others!
More Depth
Speaking of expanding your options, yes, Open Water divers are limited to 18m while Advanced divers can go unto 30m. You can even take a Deep Specialty in go to 40m.
I’m not saying you should go as deep as possible to enjoy but more depth certainly increases your chances of encountering more marine life.
Dealing with Drifts and Currents
Some of my best diving experiences were drift dives. It’s such a surreal experience to just let the drift take you and watch the marine life go by like a movie.
But I’ve also had dives where there were currents and thank goodness, my instructor was there to reassure me.
Some of the best dive sites in the world have the strongest currents and they often invite a huge variety of marine animals. So knowing how to deal with currents and waves is definitely at the top of the list to becoming a better diver. And you can learn this through Waves, Tides and Currents course.
Navigation Skills
Have you ever wondered how your instructor knows how to get back to the boat or the shore? Regular dive sites and Uncharted Dive sites, we need to know how to navigate underwater so that we know where we are and where to go, especially when you are faced with having to deal with changing Waves, Tides and Currents.
Learn Marine Ecology
Part of being a responsible and confident diver is be familiar with marine life. It seems like a simple idea but while so many focus on HOW to dive, many of us forget that we are diving in a territory that is not our own.
Being familiar with Marine Ecology allows us to be prepared for unexpected encounters with marine animals or their surroundings. Some animals can be in their mating season and they might be a little more territorial than usual, or your favorite nudibranch might be exhibiting a behavior you may never have seen and you want to know more. This is an absolutely important part of your long journey as a diver.
Advanced Adventurer Course is your next adventure
Advanced Adventurer course is definitely your next step to being more responsible and confident to unlock your potential as a scuba diver. Choose your 5 speciality courses for your next Advanced Adventurer Course and if you have any questions, as always, do not hesitate to contact us.
