SSI Open Water Diver Certification Course with Sea Dwellers

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First things first...Did you already take a look at the "Learning to Dive with the Inky Octo" page at the very top under the Scuba Instruction tab?
No? No worries, you obviously used your critical thinking skills and powers of deductive reasoning to figure a good starting point and you aren't wrong, this is a great starting point. Your approach makes great students because we know you will be able to easily grasp the more subtle nuances and situational elements, as well as be able to fairly intuitively see how everything comes together as we progress through your training, but please, take a moment and give it a glance so you have a better idea of the what, why and how of our process since this page covers only the nitty gritty details of this course, and make your way back here when you are done.

Yes? No worries, please continue your methodical and thorough approach in gathering all of the knowledge you need to weigh out the options and be able to make a fully informed decision and decide which instruction course and course of action is the best fit for you. This is a GREAT approach and creates awesome students because we know you will easily be able to build your skills and ability and understand the detail oriented processes and concepts as we progress through your training. 

What's Included:

• Online Course Academics - We will create a profile in SSI for you and issue your course materials at the time of your reservation. Complete the academics portion of your course at your own pace on your phone, tablet or computer. Most students are able to complete the coursework in an evening. If you are taking the course with a friend or family member, start building the dive buddy bonds early and do your course together! Grab a pizza and spend a few hours going over the material so you can ask questions, talk about what you are learning and begin to think like divers together! *Online Training coursework MUST be completed prior to arrival for your first session with us.*
• More Pool Time – Sea Dwellers’ Instructors are here to help you learn. The pool session consists of swim test, demonstration of each required skill by our Instructor, followed by evaluation of each skill executed by the student. Please plan your trip for at minimum two full days in Key Largo with our shop. Our Open Water course includes a second pool session if needed. While many students are able to complete the pool session on the first day, sometimes we will need to get you back in the pool for a second session on day two. This usually happens when we either aren't able to successfully complete all of the required pool skills on day one or when a student needs a bit of extra practice with a few skills that may have presented a challenge on day one and we want to ensure that they get a chance to work on it before the open water evaluation. If you are a rockstar in the water, or if we were able to complete all of the pool skills on day one, your Instructor will let you know that you will have the morning session on day two off and you can enjoy sleeping in a bit and maybe going for breakfast at Doc's Diner (a local FAVORITE) before joining us for your afternoon boat trip.
• Open Water Checkout Dives - Spend 2 incredible afternoons doing a total of 4 open water checkout dives out on our stunningly beautiful reefs. Your checkout dives will consist of demonstrating the same skills you practiced in the pool in real world conditions under the direct supervision of your Instructor. When weather conditions don't permit the boat to safely leave the dock, we have a few options for our students with checkout dives scheduled. We can move you to a different day that looks like conditions will be better if you have time and we have space. If that doesn't work, we can still complete your dives but they will take place either in the canal/marina where our boat is docked or in the lagoon/basin at Rowells Park. The only thing that will prevent us from being able to get you in the water is lightning. 
• All of your rental gear for your entire training process with us. We will expertly fit you for your entire diving system from top to bottom and outfit you from our full fleet of high quality rental gear. All of our rental gear brands are known, trusted and proven as well as are regularly inspected, maintained and repaired in our on site service department. 

The SSI Open Water Diver course consists of three main phases:

• Knowledge Development (online, home study or in a classroom) to understand basic principles of scuba diving
• Confined Water Dives to learn basic scuba skills: Completed at the beautiful Holiday Inn Key Largo Pool which is also heated from mid-December through the winter months for your comfort.
• Open Water Dives to review your skills and explore!

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The SSI Ultimate Dive Experience
While training develops knowledge and skills, the only way to get experience is to go diving. This is why Sea Dwellers & SSI encourages more open water dives during training instead of just the minimum number of dives as required by industry standards. 

The more you dive, the more you will enjoy the sport! With us you get more diving, explore new worlds, meet new friends and see why diving with Sea Dwellers stands for “The Ultimate Dive Experience”!  We believe that the more diving you are able to do when you first get scuba certified, the more likely you will be to come back down diving again in the not too distant future. The happy diver is the diver that will keep diving!