Zero to Advance


How long does it take to go from a non diver to a PADI-Advanced Open Water Diver? All it takes is 5 Days. WHAT?? NO WAY!! IMPOSSIBLE? It’s true. just 5 days.

It begins with 2 days of classroom lessons and pool sessions. Then take a 3 days relaxing trip to the Andamans and completing 9 dives and getting qualified as an Advanced Open Water Diver. Sure you can take the same time do a even more relaxing holiday and get qualified as an PADI-Open Water Diver. But this is me we are talking about. We got to go the whole way or no way.

But i will tell you this, it was a beautiful experience. The classroom sessions give you a feel of what to expect. I shall be honest and say some parts of it were dry but hey all classroom lessons are generally on the dry side. The pool sessions however were good. You get to learn the basic skills in a safe and conducive environment. It puts you at ease and gets you acquainted with the equipment that you will use in the open waters. Also its the best excuse to cool yourself off in this summer heat.

PADI-Open Water Diver: The first 2 days in the island was spent getting certified as a OWD ( we use short forms from here on cos, for one thing it sounds cooler. 2ndly i can’t be bothered to type out the whole thing) The first time you are on the boat and putting on your gear, there is a fleeting moment in the back of your head which says ” am i doing the right thing?” that fleeting moment soon disappears when you roll backwards from the boat to the water and is replaced with a siren that goes ” HOLY *#*$&# what the hell is happening”  But when you surface and are lazily floating, you realise this IS the life.

You begin the first couple of lessons learning to breathe normally and adjust to your surroundings. You start to feel comfortable in the water. It feels as if you are back home. You gain more confidence moving around. You start to enjoy yourself. Then it hits you. You are breathing underwater. It seems like almost 2nd nature to you. You see the corals and the fishes. This seems like the most natural thing to do. The OWD course teaches you to move underwater, performing tasks that you need to learn. Like defogging your mask (we are waiting for them to create mini internal windshield wipers) learning how to be buoyant so that you don’t crash land on top of  aquatic life. You learn and enjoy yourself at the same time. It does not get better than this.

AOWD(Advanced Open Water Diver) shall be continued in my next installment. But first i shall leave you with some pictures.

Ask Dave


What do you do with a man who has 37 years diving experience, has over 12,000 logged dives and has taught some 1800 people to dive? You make him Planet Scuba India’s Operations and Training Manager of course!

Meet David Perry, an extremely experienced and capable PADI Master Instructor. After Instructor and Dive Center Management positions all around the world he has finally settled in sunny Bangalore with us.

He has a vast wealth of knowledge and we look forward to taking advantage of this both in the Dive Shop and on our dive trips. David’s special love is deep wreck diving and he will be developing a program for the adventurous amongst us.

Ask Dave for the next PADI-Open water diver course. Or better still sign up for the course and ask Dave to tell you his diving tales. Trust me he has HEAPS of them.

Coming Soon


A step by step progression of becoming a diver by yours truly. What does it take? How fast can it be done? Will i make it? All these questions will be answered in the coming week(s) Stay tuned. If you have any questions that you might want to ask, its always a good time to start now as well. Let’s all have a good wet start to summer.

Exploring the Exciting & Exotic


Planet Scuba India is taking you to India’s very own beautiful and exotic Andamans for the next Big Dive Trip!! Join the growing army of Scuba Divers of the Bangalore Dive Club for this unforgettable tour! Get your friends and family along. Its a deal you cannot afford to miss!!
 
Training before Trip!!
What’s more, this deal gives you more than just a dive trip. We have arranged training programs that fit right in so if you or your friends cannot dive, learn before you go to the Andamans. Once you are there, plunge right into the sea. As a special arrangement, our instructor, David Perry, has arranged one PADI Open Water Diver certification program (3 days, 3 hours a day and one day in the Pool or as you fix up with the instructor) and, during the trip, an Advanced Open Water Diver Course. It can’t get better than this. REGISTER NOW! Just call us and we will register you.
 
Andamans’ Havelock Island is a beautiful place to dive at this time of the year.

Trip Schedule (17th March 2009 Night to 22nd March 2009)
The schedule for our Dive Trip to Andaman, Havelock Island is as follows:

 Tuesday 17th March 2009
·8 pm meet and board the Sleeper Coach or Private Bus
heading to  Chennai(coach / flight depending on popular demand)

Wednesday 18th March 2009
·5.50am departure from Chennai  and arrive at Portblair
around  7.55 am.
·8am  Breakfast and leave to jetty
·2.00 p.m. boat loaded and ready to set sail
·5.00 p.m. reach Havelock Island, check the conditions and
choose  fabulous dive sites and take rest and get ready to dive next day.

Thursday 19th march 2009
·8.00 am. Breakfast and get ready to dive
·10:15 – 11:15 Dive deep into the Blue and feel the stress
of city life fade away
·11:15 – 12 Sit back on the boat while our competent staff
switch tanks and prepare your gear for the next dive. Feel free to swap
exaggerated tales of the first dive and what you saw (we all know it looks
bigger under water)
·12 – 1 Suck or sit back on your second tank on us, that’s
up to you but we will ensure that you are given every opportunity to enjoy
another dive site
·2.00pm get ready for 3rd dive and later head back to the
resort for a late lunch and chill out for the evening
·7:30pm early dinner, stories of the deep, great company
that you will find it hard to pull yourself away to get a good night’s sleep
and charge up for the next day

Friday 20th March 2009
·7am breakfast and ready to leave by 8
·8:30am on the boat and following the same routine as
yesterday

Saturday  21st March 2009
·7am breakfast and ready to leave by 8
·8:30am on the boat and following the same
routine as yesterday and head back to  Portblair with another 3 dive
day racked up in your log book

Sunday 22nd March 2009
·7.00 a.m. all packed up, checked out and ready to head back
to Chennai and then back to the grind at home in Bangalore