PADI is The Professional Association of Diving Instructors. PADI is the world's largest and most widely recognized recreational scuba diver training agency. As a PADI diver you will have earned the finest and most respected diver credentials available.
Yes, you can do a ‘try dive’ otherwise known as a Discover Scuba in the pool or the shallow calm water of our lagoon here in Marsa Alam with one of our Divemasters. This will give you an opportunity to experience the fun of scuba diving in a safe and controlled environment. You only need to show up with swimming togs and towel and we will provide everything else.
Learning to scuba dive is an incredible adventure! With PADI as your training organization, your path to being a certified diver is accomplished in three exciting phases:
During the first phase of your PADI course with Coral Reef Divers; 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 instructor will review anything that you don’t quite get until it’s clear.
This is what it’s all about - diving, You develop basic scuba skills by scuba diving in the pool or the shallow calm water of our lagoon here in Marsa Alam. Here you’ll learn everything from setting up your scuba gear to how to easily get water out of your mask without surfacing. You’ll also practice some emergency skills, like sharing air or recovering your regulator. Plus you will learn the joy of being weightless under water by achieving neutral buoyancy.
After your confined water dives, you and the new friends you’ve made will continue to learn during four open water dives with your PADI Instructor at one of our dive sites here in Marsa Alam. This is where you will fully experience the underwater adventure.
Students have to know how to swim, and feel comfortable in the water, but expert swimming skills are not required. Typically students complete a short 200m swim and a 10-minute water tread to demonstrate basic swimming ability.
Each student must complete a Medical Statement prior to training. This document informs instructors of a student’s medical condition, if there is a YES answer to any of the medical questions then a PADI Medical form must be signed off by a doctor to pass you fit to dive. There are some conditions such as epilepsy, chronic ear infections, diabetes, active asthma, emphysema, heart disease, haemophilia that could prohibit a diver in the activity. Divers Alert Network (DAN) has a very extensive Medical FAQ Page on their website so worth checking this out for more specific details.
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.
Absolutely not, if you are in reasonable good health with a basic level of fitness there is no reason why you can’t dive happily into your dotage!
This can vary and our class sizes range from 4-12 people. In the pool, the ratios we usually work to are 4 students to 1 instructor while in the sea the ratio is reduced further to 2 students to 1 instructor or 4 students to 1 instructor and 1 divemaster. We operate well under the recommended ratios in order to maintain the highest safety standards possible.
Modern dive training uses methods and techniques that have developed massively over the past four decades, to ensure the educational systems produce safe recreational divers, because of this, scuba diving is one of the safer recreational activities in which you can participate.
Coral Reef Divers will provide all the equipment that you will need for your course free of charge. Of course you will want to ultimately buy your own but it’s probably a good idea to wait until basic certification training is completed before you start to purchase your own equipment. Although we don’t sell gear ourselves, Coral Reef Divers will be happy to guide and advise you in selecting the best equipment for you as you begin to dive regularly and gain experience. However it is nice to own your own mask and snorkel from the beginning, since these are personal items.
Sunburn and sea sickness, 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 an exposure suit, staying off the bottom and watching where you put your hands and feet.
For those who don’t like the idea of diving in colder waters, we offer the PADI Referral programmes that easily allow you to finish your course here with Coral Reef Divers in the warm waters of Marsa Alam. By completing two thirds of the course at home before your holiday it means that you don’t have to spend any days of your valuable sun holiday in a dark classroom or swimming pool!
Both courses are entry level courses and suitable for complete beginners. The Scuba Diver Course is the first three modules of the Open Water course consisting of 3 knowledge development sessions, 3 confined water sessions and 2 open water dives. A 10 min water tread and 200m swim are also requirements for completion of the course. The certified PADI Scuba Diver is qualified to dive to a max depth of 12m and must dive in the company of a PADI professional diver on every dive.
The open water course consists of 5 knowledge development sessions, 5 confined water sessions and 4 open water dives. The 10 min water tread and 200m swim are also required. The certified PADI Open Water Diver can dive to a max depth of 18m and may dive with any diver with the same certification level or higher.
It depends on the individual, but generally speaking, the full Open Water Course will take 5 days, including class room work, confined water dives and the four open water dives.
Open Water scuba divers stay above 18 metres and while this is the limit some of the most interesting dives are no deeper than 15 metres where the the colours are brighter due to the light. With further training and experience, the limit for recreational scuba diving is 40 metres.
Your PADI scuba certification does not expire but it is highly recommended that you keep in practice by just going diving. If you become rusty you should take a refresher course called a Scuba Review with Coral Reef Divers. Continuing with your scuba education is an excellent way to keep in practice and learn more safe diving skills.
Typical temperatures in the Red Sea range from 22°C in winter to a heady 31°C in summer! So what ever time of year you decide to visit us here in Marsa Alam you won't get cold in the water.
Aside from pregnancy, no, because physiologists know little about the effects of diving on the foetus, the recommendation is that women avoid diving while pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Menstruation is not normally a concern.
In the unfortunate event of losing your PADI card, you should telephone PADI on 0044 117 300 7300 and for a small fee, they will send you a new card.
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 a safety reserve remaining, but to answer the question, if you should run out of air, your buddy has a spare mouthpiece that allows you to share a single air supply while swimming to the surface. There are also other options you'll learn in your PADI Open Water course with Cora Reef Divers.
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 Coral Reef Divers, 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 capable scuba diver who dives regularly.
Coral Reef Divers keep classes small so that we can give you more time to get comfortable with the amazing world of diving.