PADI Advanced Open Water Course in North Sulawesi

Are you trying to decide between booking a diving trip and taking the next step in advancing your diving skills and certification level by doing PADI Advanced Open Water Course? Why not do both here at Murex Dive Resorts in North Sulawesi, Indonesia? In this Blog we explain what’s involved in the training and why the dive sites around Bunaken, Manado and Bangka make it the ideal diving destination for both advancing your dive skills and enjoying some of Indonesia’s top dive sites.

What is the PADI Advanced Open Water Course?

The PADI Advanced Open Water Course is the next level of diver certification after the Open Water Diver level. The program is designed to enhance your existing dive skills, develop new diving skills in a range of environments and conditions and to build your confidence underwater. Once you have completed your Advanced you will be certified to dive to a maximum depth of 30 meters which means you’ll be able to explore more dive sites and take a look at deeper parts of sites you are already familiar with.

Who Can Take It?

Any diver who is Open Water certified (through any training organisation) can take the PADI Advanced Open Water course so it’s not a problem if your Open Water certification is with NAUI, SSI, BSAC or any other agency. You do not need to be an “advanced” diver to take the Advanced course – the idea is to advance the skills that you have and experience new types of diving through a series of “Adventure Dives”. Some divers take the course directly after their Open Water so that they condense their learning while others prefer to wait until later and enjoy some recreational diving first – there is no right or wrong time to develop your skills.

What Will I learn and What Does it Involve?

The PADI Advanced Open Water course involves five “Adventure Dives” and five study sessions over 2 days. The program is not as intensive as the Open Water course and there is no final exam. You are required to make a Deep Dive (up to 30 meters) as well as a Navigation Dive. The remaining 3 dives are your choice and there are many options to choose from including Night Diving, Underwater Photography, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Fish Identification, Underwater Naturalist, Drift Diving, Boat Diving, Search and Recovery and even Wreck Diving! There is a chapter in the PADI student manual dedicated to each of these options and you just need to read the five chapters that relate to each of five dives you will make. At the end of each chapter there is a “Knowledge Review” which is between 10 and 15 questions long to check your understanding – you will review your answers with your instructor, plan your dives and discuss what you will practice underwater. The rest of the program is diving, exploring, trying out your new skills and enjoying some of the best dive sites in Indonesia.

Why is North Sulawesi a Good Location?

Here in North Sulawesi we have ideal conditions for the PADI Advanced Open Water course because we have such a variety of dive sites and conditions for you to experience and explore. Where better to put your buoyancy skills in to practice than around Bunaken Island where you can hover like a weightless astronaut along stunning vertical coral walls? Bunaken has a plethora of marine life ranging from tiny nudibranch and macro crustaceans to huge green turtles and reef sharks which makes your fish identification dive an absolute pleasure. If photography is where your interests lay then Manado dive sites are home to a wonderful array of weird and unusual macro and critter life and there are incredible night diving opportunities as well as our Murex House Reef which is the perfect dive site for honing your navigation or search and recovery techniques. Dive sites around Bangka are famous for their healthy and vibrant reefs which are largely due to the currents which bring in nutrient rich water and these currents are also perfect for drift diving. There is nothing quite like flying over the reef in an exhilarating drift to get your adrenaline pumping. With the exception of our House Reefs, which are accessed by shore, all of our dives are boat dives from our comfortable and spacious purpose built dive boats which makes the Boat Diving option possible wherever you are diving with us.

If you already have your Advanced Open Water certificate or if you are an Open Water Diver that would like to look at a particular type of diving in more depth then we also offer PADI Specialty Diver programs which give you comprehensive training in your chosen field – they also count towards the five specialties you need to become a PADI Master Scuba Diver – the black belt of Scuba Diving certifications!

For more information or to book your stay here at Murex Dive Resorts contact us at [email protected]