Are you already a certified PADI Open Water student and thinking about becoming an Advanced Open Water diver? Be warned: If you read the following story you will definitely want to take an Advanced Open Water Co
urse!
First, let me introduce myself. I’m a Marketing Intern at Blue Season Bali, started 8 weeks ago. I did my PADI Open Water Course 3 years ago. When I started my marketing internship with BSB I decided to do my Advanced Open Water Course. Not just for the reason that you are allowed to dive deeper (instead of 18m for Open Water you are allowed to dive down to 30m!) but also to dive at some diving spots where an Advanced Diver Level is required.
I was so excited to finally be starting the Advanced Course; a weekend full of diving! I did this course together with an amazing Indian girl; we really enjoyed our 5 dives and our time together. Unfortunately, as with every course, there was some theory we needed to learn. However, we just had to do some knowledge reviews, so there were no tests at all – that is one of the best parts when doing an Advanced Open Water course.
On our first day we went to Tulamben. On this day our specialty courses were Wreck Diving and Navigation. Our Instructor Ryan briefed us very well and told us that we will start with the easier dive – the Wreck Dive. He also told us that he planned to show us the cargo room of the wreck! We were overwhelmed!
If you have been to Tulamben once, you may know that the entries into the water can be very tricky. It is a shore entry and there are a lot of rocks and heavy waves. Ryan showed us a trick to get into the water very easily without any injuries: Count the waves to three (he told us that usually the waves come in a package of three) – however, check if 
bigger waves are coming (because you can’t rely on the nature) – if not get in the water as quick as you can!
The wreck dive at the USAT Liberty Wreck of World War II was amazing! We dived through a window and also had a really good buoyancy which as you may know is really hard to achieve. Our second dive, the navigation dive, was great as well! Relying on the compass and trying to keep some underwater naturals in your mind is so exciting and fun. The first day of our Advanced Open Water Course was great and I had some really unforgettable dives!
For the second day the plan was to go to Nusa Penida. If you work in a diving center like BSB, you will hear a lot of incredible stories of diving trips to Nusa Penida. The first thing I wanted to do when I started my internship was diving in Nusa Penida. Unfortunately this diving spot is recommended for divers with at least Advanced Open Water level. We were working on it – so finally: Nusa Pendia here we come!
The plan was to do three dives around the island of Nusa Penida – Manta Point for the Deep Dive, Crystal Bay for Peak Performance Buoyancy and Sakanan for the Drift Dive. We saw three impressive and graceful Mantas at Manta Point and went down to 25m – yes!! Finally we passed the 18m mark and I saw some of the most beautiful animals in the ocean! The second dive was at Crystal Bay and was as great as the first dive. The visibility was great and the Peak Performance Buoyancy skills were so much fun! Knock over a weight with you regulator or be in the water upside down – just to name two great skills. The last dive of this great course was a drift dive… yeah we did not so great on this dive, haha! Drift dive may sounds very easy but if you are not able to stay calm at one level you are stuck! That’s what happened to us. However we laughed about it because after all it was great fun and an unforgettable experience. I really enjoyed this Advanced Open Water Course!
Two days full of diving and great skills! I learned so many helpful things and it improved my diving skills so much!
Convinced and ready for your PADI Advanced Open Water Course? Do you have similar stories for us? Let us know about your diving course experiences!
