ABOUT DIVE INSTRUCTION

Learn to Dive & Skill Development

To provide balance in our lives we need an escape, something to breathe life into our free-time, Learn to Dive! From the moment you don dive gear and take your first breaths below the surface you start on an adventure into an underwater world. In this world there is the amazing freedom of weightlessness. It's also a world of variety with something new to prick your curiosity on every dive; the amazing colours of coral reefs; spectacular marine life; mysterious sunken ships; exhilaration drift dives. As a Newly Qualified Diver there are new skills to develop and new people to meet and share your experiences with. From your first underwater breaths you'll be hooked.

As you read on click on the links to find out more about the courses and on which holidays they are offered. If this seems quite daunting just pick up the phone, call us and we'll guide you through your options.

Learn to Dive

The most important consideration when learning to dive is safety, but running a close second is having fun.

Virtually anyone can learn to dive, so long as they're reasonably fit, in good health and comfortable in the water. If you just want to try diving you can discover scuba diving in the company of an instructor. Its not exclusively for adults either. Kids from 10 years old can Learn to Dive and from 8 they can try diving with a Bubblemaker experience.

An entry level Learn to Dive course is the first step in developing diving skills and gaining a recognised diver qualification that'll allow you to dive around the world. There are three parts to learning to dive; Theory where you learn the ‘why’ of scuba diving; Confined Water Dives introduce real skills learnt in a pool or similar environment; Open Water Dives where you apply and demonstrate the theory and skills you have learnt.

There are lots of Diver Training Systems and Learn to Dive courses the most popular, and widely recognised, is the PADI Open Water course, which takes around 5 days to complete. If that is too long try the shorter Scuba Diver course. These two form the entry level into the PADI system of diver training . Other diver training organisations and Clubs

Inline with Planet's philosophy of flexible holiday planning we offer a choice of alternatives to complete your course either entirely during your holiday or by doing some parts in the UK before you depart.

Newly Qualified Divers

Learning to Dive doesn't stop after a Learn to Dive course. On a Planet Dive holiday as a Newly Qualified Diver you can safely develop your diving skills with an advanced course. Rescue techniques and developing your ability to identify potential hazards are essential skills in ensuring your safety in the water.

Special Interest Diving

Whether you are newly certified or have hundreds of dives logged short Skill Development Courses can provide the perfect introduction to a variety of exciting diving experiences under the guidance of a qualified instructor.

Enhance your enjoyment of the underwater world and develop your knowledge of a special interest. Perhaps your interests lie in diving on ship wrecks? Diving at night? Drifting in the current? Why not dive with a computer? Learn underwater digital photography? Dive on Nitrox? You can learn to do all these and more. PADI's range of Speciality Courses are offered on many of our Land Based and Liveaboard holidays.

Taking it to a higher level choose an Escorted Workshop for a diving holiday in the company of a small group of like-minded buddies, escorted by experts in their field. Workshops including 'Wreck Exploration', 'Marine Awareness' and 'Photo' or 'Video' workshops as well as 'Technical' workshops for experienced divers venturing beyond simply scuba

Safety in the Water

On most of our Land Based holidays we offer the PADI Rescue Diver course during which you'll develop your overall competency and safety in the water up to a level required to dive safely without the support of a professional instructor-guide or in the company of less experienced divers. The Emergency First Response and Emergency Oxygen Provider Courses complement the Rescue Diver Course fully developing your safety skills.

To further develop your leadership skills you could consider becoming a Divemaster which, if you choose, is the first step towards becoming a recreational diving professional