Another item off the bucket list, I am finally a certified Open Water PADI diver!

One of my close friends Ignatius, has always discouraged me from diving. As a salvage engineer/rescue/advanced diver, I guess he has seen enough to know how dangerous it CAN be. But this was something I really wanted to do for myself.

I took the PADI Open Water Diver Course with the wonderful guidance of Terry & Gary from Freestyle Divers. They come highly recommended, especially for a slightly difficult student like me. I am a bit claustrophobic and have a fear of drowning, not exactly the qualities of a easy student. But Terry & Gary were wonderful, constantly giving me assurance and the confidence to follow-through skill tests. They will not force you to do something you’re not comfortable with. Everything is done at your pace, and at your comfort level.

So I’d highly recommend taking up a course with them if you’re living in Singapore. Here’s a quick run-down on what to expect for an Open Water license.

Knowlege Development sessions x2

1. Watching the PADI “Introduction to Scuba Diving” DVD and course material collection
2. You will then need to self-study
3. Theory lesson where you go through syllabus and quizes
4. After all that, the actual multiple choice exam

Skills Development Sessions x2 (pool sessions)

1. Introduction to dive equipment
2. Fundamental diving skills
3. 200 meters non-stop swim test
4. tread water or float for 10 minutes

Open Water Evaluation x2 sessions

1. 2 dives a day at Pulau Hantu for 2 days
2. Skills evaluation on what has been taught during confined water training and development

Looking back, the only thing I disliked about the whole experience is the mask-off and mask-clearing skills test. In this exercise, you are taught how to clear your mask when it’s half-filled and fully-filled with water. Obviously when you’re diving at >10m of water, you can’t expect to resurface just to clear your mask and head back down.

So the method is to take a breath, title your head back a bit and blow through your nose. Basically you force out the water by filling the mask with air.

I was just absolutely terrified of that. REALLY REALLY terrified. During the pool sessions, there were a couple of instances when I started to choked on some water and had to quickly resurface. Imagine if you’re 30m underwater!

Plus, I can’t open my eyes underwater because it burns, so can you imagine how nervous I was?

So when it came to the open water dive mask of skills test, we were about 10m deep kneeling on the seabed. You have to take your mask off, put it back on (which is now filled with water), and then clear it. Terry was well aware of my concerns, had this hand on my shoulder throughout the exercise just to reassure me that he was there and it will be OK. I tried to remain calm and take things slow, the trick is to just keep breathing and take things slowww and don’t freak out. Luckily, that went alright. Phew!

I’m so happy I got to strike this off my list!

To be honest, I still have my apprehensions about diving, but like everything its calculated risk and of course don’t do anything stupid.

I started the course in February this year and finished all my exams and dives in march. Now I’m looking forward to my first overseas dive.

Suggestions anyone? Where should I go for my first overseas dive? Not somewhere too $$$.