Learning to scuba dive with Cozumel Dive Academy and earning your PADI certification is an incredible adventure! With PADI as your training organization, your path to breathing underwater is accomplished in three exciting phases:
1. Knowledge Development - Learn the lingo.
During the first phase of your PADI Open Water Diver scuba certification, you develop an understanding of the basic principles of scuba diving. You learn things like how pressure affects your body, how to choose the best scuba gear and what to consider when planning dives. You briefly review what you have studied in the five knowledge sections with your instructor and take a short quiz to be sure you're getting it.
At the end of the course, you'll take a longer quiz that makes sure you have all the key concepts and ideas down. You and your Cozumel Dive Academy Instructor will review anything that you don't quite get until it's clear.
At Cozumel Dive Academy we use PADI's digital eLearning for all our Open Water courses so you can start right now and online at your own pace—anytime, anywhere.
2. Confined Water Dives - Scuba Skills Training.
This is what it's all about – diving. You develop basic scuba skills by scuba diving in a pool or body of water with pool-like conditions. Here you'll learn everything from setting up your scuba gear to how to easily get water out of your scuba mask without surfacing. You'll also practice some emergency skills, like sharing air or replacing your scuba mask. Plus, you may play some games, make new friends and have a great time. There are five confined water dives, with each building upon the previous. Over the course of these five dives, you attain the skills you need to dive in open water.
3. Open Water Dives
After your confined water dives, you and the new friends you've made continue learning during four open water dives with your Cozumel Dive Academy PADI Instructor at our local dive sites. This is where you fully experience the underwater adventure.
If you have an appetite for excitement and adventure, odds are you can become an avid PADI Open Water scuba diver. You'll also want to keep in mind these requirements:
Prerequisites for learning to dive
There are a couple of additional requirements for children 10-11 years old. In addition to the forms listed above, each participant and their legal guardian must:
It's possible to complete the confined and open water dives in as little as two or three days when you complete the classroom portion online via PADI eLearning.
The PADI Open Water Diver course is incredibly flexible and performance based, which means that Cozumel Dive Academy can offer a wide variety of schedules, paced according to how fast you progress.
Your instructor's interest is in your learning to scuba dive, not in how long you sit in a class. So, training is based upon demonstrating that you know what you need to know and can do what you need to do.
This means that you progress at your own pace – faster or slower depending upon the time you need to become a confident scuba diver who dives regularly. You can start learning to scuba dive online right now with Cozumel Dive Academy and PADI's eLearning.
Getting started is very easy. Once you have decided to sign up for your PADI Open Water course just let us know. We are very easy to get in touch with. You can:
We do require a deposit of $125.00USD to secure your spot. Once we have received your deposit, we will send you a code that will allow you to activate your PADI eLearning course and begin you learning immediately. Please note that once you have activated your course, we cannot refund your deposit.
Once we have your trip dates, we will work out a schedule with you to complete your training when you arrive on Cozumel. On average it takes three days to complete your training in a nice, relaxed manner.
Cozumel Dive Academy makes learning to scuba dive easy. We offer all-inclusive pricing on all our scuba training with no hidden costs, and we include all the equipment you will need, including dive computers.
Our price includes the following:
Personal snorkeling equipment is also included. If you already have your own, we encourage you to bring it for fit and comfort.
Learning to scuba dive is a great value when you consider that you learn to dive under the guidance and attention of a highly trained, experienced professional - your Cozumel Dive Academy PADI Scuba Instructor. From the first day, scuba diving starts transforming your life with new experiences you share with friends. And you can do it almost anywhere there is water. Start learning online with Cozumel Dive Academy and prepare to take your first breath underwater!
Cozumel Dive Academy offers the PADI Open Water Course for $450.00.00 per person.
Cozumel Dive Academy includes all the gear you need as you start your new adventure. We will also thoroughly explain each piece of scuba equipment and the specific function they perform.
The following is the equipment we include:
Personal snorkeling equipment is also included. If you already have your own, we encourage you to bring with you for fit and comfort.
Easy. There is no best gear. But there is the best gear for you. Selling dive equipment is not our primary focus at Cozumel Dive Academy though we do have a wide selection of top-quality snorkeling equipment. Our PADI Instructors will help guide you in your decision making as you start to consider purchasing your own gear.
At Cozumel Dive Academy we will help you find scuba gear that best matches your preferences, fit and budget. Our professionals can guide you to the right equipment that will provide years of enjoyable and dependable use.
You may also want to talk to other scuba divers in PADI's online scuba community to get recommendations on particular scuba equipment brands and models.
No, assuming you have no irregularities in your ears and sinuses.
The discomfort is the normal effect of water pressure pressing in on your ears. Fortunately, our bodies are designed to adjust for pressure changes in our ears – you just need to learn how. If you have no difficulties adjusting to air pressure during flying, you'll probably experience no problem learning to adjust to water pressure while diving.
During your PADI Open Water course you will learn several techniques to help you equalize these air spaces.
Not necessarily. Any condition that affects the ears, sinuses, respiratory function or heart function or may alter consciousness is a concern, but only a physician can assess a person's individual risk.
All participants are required to complete a standard medical statement prior to starting the course in order to identify any potential risks. Any “Yes” answer does not necessarily prevent you from learning to scuba dive. It just requires you to obtain Physician approval prior to any in-water activities.
Physicians can consult with the Divers Alert Network (DAN) as necessary when assessing a scuba candidate.
DAN has information available online if you wish to do some research.
Sun burn and seasickness, both of which are preventable with over the counter preventatives. The most common injuries caused by marine life are scrapes and stings, most of which can be avoided by wearing gloves and an exposure suit, staying off the bottom and watching where you put your hands and feet.
Cozumel Dive Academy provides all the exposure protection needed for your diving with us.
Basically, sharks rock! When you're lucky, you'll get to see a shark!
Although incidents with sharks occur, they are very, very rare. Most commonly shark encounters primarily involve spear fishing or feeding sharks, both of which trigger erratic feeding behavior. Sharks main food source is fish and if they can get a free feed they will.
Most of the time, if you see a shark it's passing through and a relatively rare sight to enjoy.
Some myths, about sharks, that you have heard may be dispelled by checking out Australian Geographic.
With the necessary training and experience, the limit for recreational scuba diving is 130'/40 metres.
As new divers we do have some specific limits we need to adhere to though.
Scuba divers with their Open Water certification stay shallower than 60/18 metres unless you are a Junior Scuba Divers aged 10-11have a depth limit of 40'/12 metres.
Although we have these limits remember some of the most popular diving is no deeper than 40’/12 metres where the water's warmer and the colors are brighter.
That's not likely because you have a gauge that tells you how much air you have at all times. This way, you can return to the surface with ample air remaining. But to answer the question, if you run out of air, your buddy has a spare regulator that allows you to share a single air supply while swimming to the surface.
You will learn different options on how to deal with this unlikely event in your PADI Open Water course with Cozumel Dive Academy.
People find the “weightlessness” of scuba diving to be quite freeing. Modern scuba masks are available in translucent models, which you may prefer if a mask makes you feel closed in.
During your scuba diving training with Cozumel Dive Academy, your instructor gives you plenty of time and coaching to become comfortable with each stage of learning.
Your scuba instructor works with you at your own pace to ensure you master each skill necessary to become a competent scuba diver who dives regularly.
Cozumel Dive Academy keeps classes small so that we can give you more time to get comfortable with the amazing world of diving.