Padi course and materials – you can do the e-Learning or we can get you what are called “crew packs” which have the open water book and materials. The eLearning is pretty popular and lets you do most of the classroom work at your leisure from home. If we do the book & materials, it’ll be an extra day together going through everything. No difference in pricing (as Padi charges quite a bit more for the eLearning).

Private Instruction – you get me to answer all your questions, review all the material, and teach you all the principles, concepts and techniques to keep you safe and give you excellent skills under water. It’s important to remember that diving is fun and easy, but just like walking down the road, if you walk into oncoming traffic, you can get hurt. I put a big emphasis on safety, because after all, you are on life-support when you’re under water. 

Equipment:
I will provide Scuba Tanks, BCDs (i.e., Buoyancy Control Devices – scuba vests), Regulators, Fins, and Dive Computers.

This includes everything with the exception of wet suit and scuba boots. I have extra masks, but do recommend getting your own so the fit is correct/no leaks. I can help you with that, as well as renting the wet suits for the ocean day if you don’t have them already. The wet suit rental is cheap, I just don’t carry sizes for every possible body type and boot size! Plus, many people already own them. There’s a shop at the bottom of my hill that I can take you guys to rent them if needed, and can show you how to pick out masks as well.

It’s also good to note that scuba schools with group classes give you entry-level equipment that’s been used by 1000 people. When you do privates, the equipment you’re using will be my own, and it’s all top of the line (e.g., Atomic Aquatics titanium regulators, SS1 seconds, Zeagle Ranger BCDs, Atomic fins, etc.). Most schools also just give you gauges, not dive computers… I find this silly because the first thing you’ll do when you get your own equipment is buy a dive computer (they’re easier, and keep you much safer). So I try to teach on equipment that is both very nice, and that is similar to what you’ll probably want to buy down the road.

Day 1: We will have one day of “classroom” instruction where we review all the materials from the Padi course. This is sped up with the eLearning, but either way, I will meet with you and review all the materials and make sure you understand everything. There are some tests that you’ll have to take to ensure you understand the material. (And if you don’t, we review on the spot and get you through it).

Day 2: Confined Water (pool). This is where we spend a lot of time in the pool working through all the equipment, setup, and teach you the different important skills in the pool. We’ll take as much time as we need to make sure you’ve got everything 100% and are comfortable. 

Day 3/4: Open Water. With privates, this moves much faster than it would in a group of 8-10, and so it could possibly be done in one day. However, I leave the option of day 2 in case there is any feeling that more practice is needed. We take everything we learned on day 1 and 2, and we apply those skills on “open water” (e.g., the ocean). You have tests that you have to pass, at the conclusion of which, I sign off on your certification.