It has been a little over a year since I received my Open Water Certificate. A friend told me he was going to follow a dive course and before he could even finish his story I asked all the details and knew that I would love to try that once, too. How would it feel to breathe under water? How cool would it be to just swim between fish and coral without having to gasp for air every 20 seconds? I couldn’t wait to experience this all and signed up immediately.
The first day we just stayed in the pool and practiced some theory. I remember I made jokes about ‘studying during my holiday’, but even just being in the classroom was so much fun! I was with a group of other people and it was already so much more interesting than most classes I had had in school. I learned what pressure can do under water and how it works, and how that effects your air consumption.
During the Open Water Course I also learned to set up my own gear (which seemed really difficult in the beginning but turned out to be so easy!) and to check my buddy before going into the water. Other very simple but very useful things were how to clean your mask and regulator. All the things that seem so obvious now that I have dived more often, I have learned during those three days of my PADI Open Water Course. Equalising my ears, how to say you’re not okay and what’s wrong. At the beginning
of your course you’re probably flying all over the place, and that’s alright. Your Instructor will tell you exactly what to do to become neutral buoyant so that you can float effortlessly underwater.
One of the best things about the Open Water Course however is that almost immediately you will start diving. Already on day 1 you are out in the ocean! Because we practiced in the pool we already knew how it felt like below the surface, but imagine being 12 or even 18 meters deep! So we descended, and those first seconds in the ocean felt like I was in a different world. I was lucky because the visibility was incredible, you could see up to 35 meters! As soon as you are under water everything turns silent, you can only hear vague noises. Where the world seems to stop at the surface when you’re on the boat, a completely different world starts.
You’re weightless and it feels like you are flying. You will see all kinds of fish and coloured coral, and when you stay at one place long enough you can see all the little things you didn’t see at first. The fish that hide for you will eventually come out carefully to check you out. It is such an incredible experience to have a close encounter with all those different species!
As soon as I finished my Open Water course I signed up for my Advanced Open Water course. I got hooked immediately and the cool thing is that you will see something different every time you dive, even when you dive at the same place! Ask any diver in the world, and I bet no one regrets starting their PADI Open Water Course.
So, when will you start your course? And if you have your Open Water, where did you get it and how was your experience?
For more information on the PADI Open Water Diver Course with Blue Season Bali you can have a look on our website here.
