Learn To Dive

Exploring the ocean. Shannon Conway

Exploring the underwater world with scuba is one of the most exciting things you can ever learn how to do, in your entire life!

With over 70% of planet Earth's surface covered in water, there is a glorious wealth of marine life and underwater landscapes that go entirely undiscovered by the majority of our planet's human population. Whilst many of us are excited by the prospect of the discovery of weird and wonderful creatures on other planets, we seem to have overlooked the beauty, awe, strangeness and splendour of our oceans and everything beneath them. Until relatively recently, very few people could get to experience this thrilling, vibrant, and sometimes mysterious world under the waves, but happily scuba diving is now something that is open to the many rather than just the few.

Nowadays, tried and tested, professionally-structured courses can take complete beginners and turn them into confident, competent and, most importantly, safe divers in a matter of days. Here at Divequest, after many years of experience, we know our dive partners very well and are confident that many of the dive centres we work with can offer you some of the very best in dive tuition.

Students learn at their own pace within the structure of a course curriculum that imparts practical and academic knowledge in all aspects of scuba diving, including the equipment you will be using, the marine life you will encounter and comprehensive safety training. PADI, the Professional Association of Dive Instructors, is world-renowned as the leader in recreational scuba training. The Open Water course is accepted as the world's leading entry-level scuba diving course. Over a period of 2-3 days (if you take the PADI e-learning option for your theory work) you will go from the classroom to the pool or to confined water sessions where you gradually build upon a series of practical skills at your own speed, finally resulting in a series of closely-supervised open water dives. Open Water courses are available for very reasonable rates.

What is more, after successfully completing your Open Water course and becoming a fully fledged member of the global diving community, you can stay on and continue to dive at your chosen destination and log your first dives as a qualified diver. After that, the blue planet is yours to explore.

Ongoing PADI training to Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Dive Master and Instructor level is available (we would strongly advise every new diver to train to at least Advanced Open Water level), as are numerous speciality training courses, including Underwater Photography, Videography, Marine Life identification, Deep Diver training, Wreck Specialist training, many of which can be completed in as little as one day.

The PADI Open Water course is available to those aged 10 years or over. It is important to be of normal health and fitness, with at least basic swimming abilities. Before you sign up for a learn-to-dive course, be sure to check that you meet the basic health requirements for scuba diving training. Please visit the PADI website (www.padi.com) and check health and safety requirements. Alternatively, contact us and we will post you a copy of the requirements.

Of course, you do not have to travel to some far-off destination in order to learn to dive. Many people learn to dive in their home area. Indeed, Divequest's founders, Hilary Lee and Mark Beaman, vividly remember their first open water dives in near-zero visibility and near-freezing conditions in Coniston Water! But, it really does not have to be like that. Instead you can learn in a wonderful tropical place, with warm water and with amazing coral reefs to explore as soon as you are qualified! If you are the partner of a keen diver, you may find it easier (and a lot warmer!) to train in a place where you can both have a wonderful time.

Learning to dive will be one of the greatest investments of time and resources that you can ever make. Anyone who has dived with sharks, glided beneath manta rays, peered into underwater caves, drifted along pristine reef walls, explored wrecked ships and enjoyed the full glory and splendour of the underwater world, from its rainbow-coloured invertebrates to its plethora of fish of every size, shape and hue, is sure to feel that they have achieved wondrous things that ordinary mortals will never fully understand. Let Divequest arrange your learn to dive experience so that you too can experience 'Everything under The Sea'.

Although Divequest offers an extensive range of destinations, we have selected out our top three learn to dive destinations,  because of a combination of high quality tuition and diving management and local conditions suitable for novice divers.

These are Compass Point on Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, Thalassa Dive Resort in Sulawesi, Indonesia and Atlantis Resorts in the Philippines.

Please contact us so that we can discuss your requirements and put together the ultimate learn to dive trip for you!