Open water diving courses (PADI)

Guys,

Does anybody know of anywhere in Munich where I can get the course material (in English) for my Open Water course. I don't want to sit in a classroom for 3 days listening to general common sense, or do the complete course as this would include diving in freezing Munich lakes!!! I only need to sit the exam and do the pool dives.
Any help much appreciated, and obviously a couple of beers provided!!

Speaking as a PADI divemaster, I don't think the classes are a waste of time. And, you don't have just " sit the exam and do the pool dives". Last I remember, an open water test (lake or ocean) of a depth of at least 10 meters was necessary to get the qualification Open Water. After all, a pool hardly qualifies as open water, does it?

There's usually a good deal of useful information for newbies in the theory part of the course. You learn things like how to put your tank and regulator together so that you can breathe and other practical tips too. So unless you have done a good bit of diving without a cert, (which I wonder at who was letting you do it), I recommend the classes.

Also, as a slight aside, learning to dive in cold water makes you a far better diver. The stress of the cold helps you learn to relax and stay calm. And trust me, staying calm and breathing at a normal rate make for a much more enjoyable and longer dive.

Thanks showem. I actually should have mentioned that I have done the course before but didn't complete it, for whatever reason, so I'm fairly familiar with most of it. Sorry. My mistake.
Therefore I just want to get on with it fairly quickly and do my ocean dives in warmer waters. I know this is possible as people in the UK have done it, and I have also been told by the nice people at the Red Sea dive centres that this is a possibilty.

Regardless of hot or cold waters, if anyone has any information on how and where to get fully qualified ( in English ) then I for one would definitely be interested for when I go back to the Keys this year !! I don't want to spend my holiday learning - but doing !!!

Showem - have you any hints - tips ???

Tif, that makes sense but sorry to both you and mdf because I don't know where you can do your open water in English in Munich, nor get the forms. I got certified back in Canada. You could try getting a hold of someone from MESS (Munich English Speaking Scuba divers). I found a link for them, but the info is ancient. Still, enough contacts listed for someone to still be involved. Munich Found has a number listed too, so perhaps it's still relevant info. Good luck and let me know when you have mastered blowing air rings...

Thanks for that showem.
I have heard that they do diving and snorkelling courses at the Olympic pool on Tuesdays. Currently looking into that as it could possibly be done in English. Will let you know mdf.

Someone I know got the Padi Open Water Basic and Advanced licenses, in an English speaking class... in the Dominican Republic. Needless to say the water was quite warm there

Showem - I just got my advanced Cert in Australia on the Great Barrier Reef - fabulous!!! It was great to get back into the water after 3 years out. I haven't done any diving here in Munich though. . . Do you do anything with this MESS club, or any other diving otherwise around?

I am selling dive gear soon BTW.

Jeremy.

I'm with Tif and MDFbayern there if there are any dive courses going in English..cost might be a problem for me..but still would be interested. I already have a PADI Open water dive manual...

I'd really like to do this too - had an excellent opportunity last year to
do some seal\Dolphin\reef diving, except I never learned how to do it!
Had to be content with snorkling!

Check out:

http://www.beyond-diving.de/open_water_diver_english

however, it's not a PADI license, it's an SSI - Could any of the more experienced divers out there reccommend this certification? Would there be problems diving elsewhere in the world if one isn't PADI qualified?

The difference between the OW standards for PADI and SSI are not that different. Apparently, the approach to the AOW card is a bit different, but from what I've heard, in the end they both produce similar divers.

AFAIK, if you have an SSI OW card, this will do as a pre-requisite for doing a PADI AOW and vice versa.

I've done my PADI OW here(Munich) and in English.

Got a colleage who's an intructor .. though it was 2 years ago I don't know if he's still doing the course, if anyone interested I can give him a call.

Greencurry...i might be interested if the price was right..need something to do

I'm still definitely interested - maybe we can get a group together to make it worthwhile and (possibly) bring the pricing down ??

SSI, hmm, haven't heard from them in a long time. I knew one guy who was SSI certified and there didn't seem to be much difference. According to him, a basic open water from SSI was about the same standard as an advanced open water from PADI. Could be true, the PADI certification is okay, but it just covers the most basic points. Biggest difference I found was that he thought that PADI was shit and that SSI was the only way to go. A comparison might be Apple owners looking down at PC owners. Don't want to go off topic, just so people have a clue what I mean.

PADI is recognised everywhere. SSI? Dunno, I never used them, so I wasn't worried about someone renting me equipment based on a dive card from them. Either way, I think you will learn what you need.

my father is an SSI instructor. When you are traveling, all major scuba certifications are recognized, including PADI and SSI. I think that PADI is just more worldwide since the certification is fairly easy and quick. SSI is probably, if anything, more thorough.

hey Mdf, roro & tiff, yeah certainly interested, and as you say if there are more of us guranteed to go then maybe we can get the price down, certainly be useful for me.

No offence to beesting, but i'd rather do PADI as 1) i have the manual, 2) it is recognised more around the world. Not only that there's a a scuba shop down the road from me. Oh wait a sec, maybe i could go down there and find out some details of courses, in English...whaddya reckon?

@davek - With you on that one mate. The sooner the better.

No offense. I don't care what certification you get. I have PADI and YMCA OW and PADI AOW. Whatever floats your boat and is available. I just wouldn't recommend a "quick and easy" course (i.e. a weekend) since I don't think it prepares you well. Like Showem said at the start of the thread, being comfortable while diving is the key to enjoying long dives. And you won't be comfortable until you get experience.

Anyway, have fun, and tell me if you ever do a diving trip. Especially if it in warm water!

Hey Tif, Roro, mdf and anybody else that's interested. I went to the shop around the corner from me today and asked about courses in english, the really nice lady, seriously she was, said yeah no problem, but will have to speak to the bosses next week about when etc..but the brochure says that for PADI open water (OW) €259 for the course, €209 for the Advanced OW, and €429 for the two combined. check out the site, it's in german mind.

www.tauchsport-braun.de

Sounds good to me - Guess we'll have to add in the costs of equipment hire etc as well, but it certainly seems do-able

Any course worth their salt or chlorine is going to give you the equipment to use for free during the pool sessions. You will probably have to buy your own snorkel, mask, fins and booties. Then, only for the open water, should you have to rent.

Hi showem, i believe that is the case, the hire is i assume for self diving etc...wouldn't pay for hire as well as for course in addition!! But then again, when you're learning to snowboard or ski one pays for both...hmmmm

Spoke with the wife about this and she's in too !! Now all we need is to actually organize something

Right guys,

I've sorted it out...The guy was cool and spoke exellent English.

Ok first the costs
€259 for the course (includes all kit for course except fins, mask snorkel see below)
€140-€150 for the mask, fins and snorkel (you have to buy this you can't rent it)
€15 per person for 1 day pool session in a diving pool by airport, ti's a pool fee not diving school fee.
€7.50 per person per day outside lake 8metre duration of 2 days

Ok now the theory course is 2 times 2 hours at their shop. included in the price naturally. He recommended that we buy books, but we all don't need one each, just need to share one, so MDF you can share, i have one of my own and Tif you have one i think? But if it is an old one, then the exam has changed a little to the book, he said he'd gladly take a look at the books.

Number of places he said up to 8, but i reckon we could squeeze in 10 or so, but there isn't a reduction on group bookings

When, he seemed relaxed about it so when we can all organise our stuff together.

You also need a 'attest' from your doctor to say that you are ok to dive.

Personnally i thought that this was a bit short on theory and practice, but having never done it wouldn't have a clue. If anybody that has would like to add a few comments, then much appreciated.

D

4 hours of theory? Hmmm, it's been years since I did mine, but I seem to recall there being more... How much practical time in the pool do you do?

Might be worth shopping around to get a comparison of prices and services. Other places might do English too.

He just said 2 days in a lake and 1 day in a pool...not sure what constitutes a day?

I'm certified also ... when the weather permits ... I'd love to do a lake dive.

Keep me posted on trips, etc.

Cheri

Any divers out there able to give me advice on this?

I want to learn to dive this year and am just looking at where to start. I'm heading to Sardinia for a few days at the end of March so was thinking I could do a beginners course there. It seems a bit cheaper than doing the same thing in Munich.
As I'm only there for a few days I could only do the beginners course which certifies you to 12m and costs €210. (Includes 2 dives) Does that sound reasonable?

The Open Water course is 4 days at €310 but I won't have enough time there to do the whole thing.

My other option is do part of it in or near Munich before I go on holiday but I kinda need to keep costs down if possible.

This is the company & course I'm looking at using.

Any sage TT advice appreciated!

I got my PADI open water in Egypt. Twas very cheap.

I can recommend Beyond Diving in Dornacher Strasse 5, 85622 Feldkirchen as posted earlier in this thread. I organised a group to complete a diving course with them and they ordered all the course material for us in english. They also organise lots of trips to croatia, egypt etc during the year. www.beyond-diving.de/ contact christian on 089-901080-123

If you want to do a course, look at the qualification you end up with. The beginners course will be fun and give you an introduction, but if you want to dive in the future you'll still have to do a course later on.

What you might like to do is take the theory/pool part here and then the actual qualification dives out there. Probably will cost a little more, but you won't waste time on holiday, or have to do your first dives in the cold but still come out with a qualification you can use in the future. PADI has a set scheme for this, but I'm not a PADI instructor and I can't remember what it's called!

If you can find a BSAC school out there I can do your theory lessons, but I don't have any contacts here for kit hire/pool access so can't really help with the rest. Good luck, and PM me if you need any advice (I've been teaching diving for about 7 years)

Ahh Marshbot looks like that chat we had may have sparked some interest. I think that what Benpanter says makes a lot of sence. If you can get the classroom stuff over with before you leave Munich then you'll save time for diving on your holiday. Maybe email the company you were looking at doing the course with and see if they can recommend a dive company here in Munich for the theory side. I Know there's a dive shop on Sendlinger str in town. It may be a bit more expensive now but at least you wont have to do it again later. Good luck

Agree with the above. The trick is to identify shops on both ends using the same certification institute. I've done this, also my wife and kids, and we found it does not matter if it is PADI, SSI or another as long as it is the for sure the same certification organization. It is also good to discuss with both shops ahead of time to confirm details, costs etc. It should not be much more than taking it all there, and will be more productive and fun if you can do the class and pool time here and open water certification dives there.

Enjoy!! You'll love it.

I've remembered what it's called: "PADI Referral".

yes, and most (if not all) PADI Dive schools in Munich operate the referal system, specifically because most people like to do their open water dives on holiday.

OK, I'm still trying to get my head around all this certification stuff and how it's all split up between different places, but I've emailed the company in Italy and Beyond Diving here to see what I can work out. Thanks for the help & advice!

@Benpanter, thanks! I'm not quite sure what a BSAC school is yet, or when/what the theory side of starting diving is but I appreciate the offer and will look into it!

And yes indeedy Barfly, figure it's time to try something new and you're right; might as well explore the underwater side of Europe as well as the overland stuff. Sounds like I'm missing out some treats without the diving.

BSAC is another organisation that trains divers - in fact it's the largest diving club in the world. Slightly different to PADI in that it's not *only* a professional organisation. It also has amateur, club-based instructors (like me) who don't charge for tuition but have exactly the same training and qualifications as the professional instructors. The schools are pretty much the same costs/experience as PADI ones though. It's big in the UK but pretty small elsewhere.

Whether you get a qualification from PADI, BSAC, SSI, NAUI, CMAS or any other body is probably immaterial. Unfortunately the only card any company I've ever dived with overseas has been really interested in has been the one with "VISA" on it.

I think the biggest difference between BSAC and PADI is in safety training at the start of the course. From my experience, PADI tends to get divers into the water doing basic dives with very limited safety training. Only when you get up Rescue Diver do you get some serious instruction in dive safety. From talking to BSAC trained divers (I am PADI trained to Rescue Diver), there is much more emphasis on safety earlier on in the course. This may be due to the conditions that most BSAC divers have to dive in (inclement British waters) compared to PADI divers (in general warmer more recreational waters).

I was looking into this last year, but it got put on the Backburner due to a number of Hospital visits. There is a club that meets up at the Siemens Pool nr St Cajetan Str, They have a number of instructors there, and they do the trips / holidays etc, they all seemed a nice crowd, and English speaking.

I wil try and find the link and post it in a mo.

Regards

DC

Marshbot - make sure you go to a doctor beforehand and get them to issue a certificate proving that your healthy enough to dive, especially before you go on holiday! Without this, most good diving schools won't let you dive at all, let alone do a beginner's course.
My bf did his PADI basic and advanced in the Dom Rep and also went in the Maldives and had an amazing time, so I hope you do too!

It's a country by country, agency by agency thing. In the UK the system has changed to self-certification. To get an idea of the things that you will need to see a doctor about have a look at
http://www.uksdmc.co.uk/main/medicalform.pdf
Best would be to talk to the company you're going to take the course with - they'll be able to advise you. If it needs to be done, getting it out the way before you go our is a great idea if you don't want to be ripped off by their local doctor on call...

well folks I have been a qualified PADI instructor since 1982, tho have to say I havnt practiced for a number of years but i lost count of the student numbers years ago (1000+), I have never asked a student to go for a medical, the open water PADI bit is really left to the instuctors disgretion, generally a waver is normally signed saying the student is fit to dive. I could usually tell if a student was OK within a few minutes in the pool, and before anyone jumps on me, no I couldnt tell if the student suffered epeleptic fits and such like. but a rule of thumb was student coud drive a car and jog 800 meters and swim 25 yards, the drive a car bit is because if an authority trusted you to drive, then you where mentally fit to dive. (no epelepsy...)

I did have 2 students who couldnt swim at all at the start of a course but within a few weeks they swam better than some more experianced swimmers, usually I could get students to open water standard in 2 weeks if they were prepared to do the study, and could figure out the dive tables.

One thing that is vital is that you get the right training for the diving conditions you are diving in. I learned to Dive and instructed in the Red Sea, nice warm water, no evil currents, most dives less than 60'... but some seriously bad fish and coral, so generally the safty of the open water was more about what not to touch (fire coral... piosen splines on fish) and what to do when a nice friendly shark comes swimming a long. BSAC training wasnt very good at that, I took 4 very experianced BSAC divers down to meet a family of hammer head sharks and their response to the sharks virtually got us all killed.

Diving off a Scotish island into a wrek at 90' plus in near freezing conditions and strong tidal currents requires a completely differing set of skills and requires different training. I would think in Germany most of the dives will be lake dives so the current isnt worth mentioning mybe the odd drift dive... but it is fresh water and cold and deep so different skills again...(highest death rate in the UK for diving accidents was in a quarry Stoney Cove in Liecestershire).

Get wet. but I have to admit you might want to do a sanity check before you start a diving course in sub zero temperatures. buy a cheap ticket down to Estarti in Spain or somthing and do the course there, it will seriously put you off diving for life if your first dive the water is so cold your ears fall off due to frost bite and I dont even want to mention what happens to private parts in very cold water.

There is a dive shop near the Frankfurter Ring which does PADI courses, best bet would be to go to the shop and talk to the instructers there.

Ummmm just because you're allowed to drive doesn't necesarily mean that you don't have epilepsy.
I don't know how relevant epilepsy is in diving, but you can be deemed safe to drive even if you have epilepsy.
(Just as a sidenote!)

UA, if you have a seizure you are automatically banned from driving (in the UK, at least). You can re-apply for your licence if you are seizure free for 12 months or more.

Yep. My woman is diabetic - so we went to the docs to get medical "clearance", and jolly right too. Better to be on the safe side.

Good post by scogs, I agree 1000%. Personally, the idea of diving into freezing cold/murky/stormy etc waters appeals about as much as smearing beef paste on my bollocks, and then whistling for the local stray dogs to come over. No bloody ta.
Do you get semi naked and walk on the beach in cold places? No, so don't dive there either IMO I like nice warm pleasant waters thanks.
PADI gets a bit of stick for getting divers into the water too early, its true, but as has been said, if you are sitting on Koh Samui and fancy a bit of a splash about in the water, its not that dangerous.

Yes I know, OG. That was my point.

Yes, I agree warm water diving is more pleasant, but if you learn to dive in cold water, you are in general, a better diver. More used to dealing with adverse conditions and stress. But don't let that stop you from taking the course in the Med rather than the North Sea or a mountain lake, it doesn't matter that much.