Starting year-end 2011, our scuba diving centre on Neil Island, Andamans, will be offering PADI, NAUI and SSI scuba diving certification courses from Open Water to Divemaster.

We follow the same policy on Neil Island that has worked for us all these years in Havelock: dedicated and highly-experienced instructors, small groups and classes that are taught based on your learning pace, as opposed to a fixed timeline.

We strongly feel that not all certification courses are the same, and encourage you to delve more deeply into what we have to offer and compare it with the alternatives. Check the experience of the instructors. Ask about the duration of the courses and what happens if you need more time. Find out the student/instructor ratio. Speak to the instructors and see what sort of vibes you get. We are confident that the more closely you look into these factors, the more you'll realize the benefit of learning to dive or continuing your diving education with us.

The following is a list of the courses that we offer:

Introduction to Diving – the Discover Scuba Experience
 
Are you interested in trying diving but do not have the time or desire to take a certification course? Or maybe you are not sure if this whole diving this is for you? Consider the Discover Scuba Diving experience.

This is a half-day program, where an instructor teaches you some basic theory and then takes you out for a proper dive, to give you a taste of diving and a chance to participate in the underwater world. It's safe, it's easy and it's a lot of fun! If you like the experience (we are very certain you will!) you can go on to do the Open Water course. This dive (as well as the full fee for this program) can then be applied towards the Open Water course.

Certification Course for Beginners – the Open Water Course

Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be an expert swimmer, a Navy SEAL or a triathlete to dive. Recreational diving is one of the safest sports around, and is suitable for everyone from the age of 10 to 65-plus. All you need is basic swimming capabilities, moderate fitness levels (ability to walk a kilometer or two without fatigue) and good health.

For those interested in learning to dive, we offer the Open Water Course. This consists of an academic component, where you learn more about the fascinating underwater world, followed by some confined water sessions where you master the essential skills of scuba and then four open water dives.

At the successful completion of this course, you receive a certification card from either PADI or SSI (your choice - our instructors will be happy to work with you in selecting the course that is just right for you - contact us for more info). Either certification card is accepted by dive operators worldwide and allows you to rent equipment and dive anywhere, so regardless of which option you choose, you get a high-quality course.

Typically, the Open Water course lasts 4 full days. However, we recognize that different people learn at different speeds – besides, you are on vacation and may want to spread out your training. So, the time to certification can be more or less. Two things are for sure: we will not rush you, and we will not compromise on your training.

As with our diving, we believe in small groups and personalized attention for training. With our large staff of instructors, we are able to keep our classes small – usually 2-4 students:professional ratio – ensuring that you get all the personal attention that you need.

If you have any health-related concerns about learning to dive, please download the Medical Statement form[right click or CTRL-click and save], which goes over a medical checklist. If you answer "yes" to any of the questions there, please get medical clearance from your doctor prior to reaching Havelock. You will need one separate clearance for every question to which you answer "yes."

Continued Education Diving Courses

For certified divers, we offer a full range of PADI & SSI continued-education courses – Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Specialties and more.

The PADI Advanced Open Water/SSI Advanced Adventurer (same thing, different names) consists of 5 dives - two are mandatory (Deep Dive and Underwater Navigation). For the remainder, you can choose from 15 options, including Night, Multilevel & Computer, Underwater Naturalist, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Wreck, Boat, Underwater Photography and lots more.

This is a practical course and is meant to give you experience in diving under different conditions, as well as provide you with a deeper understanding of dive theory, planning and techniques.

The PADI Rescue Diver/SSI Stress & Rescue course is rated by most divers as the single most useful course they've taken since Open Water. In this course, you start to expand your horizons by learning more about diver safety - both yours and others. You learn about common causes of accidents, how to anticipate them as well as how to respond to them. This greatly improves not only your skills, but also your confidence in the water. This course takes 3 days, and also includes certification in general CPR and First Aid through the Emergency First Responder program.

Our Specialties allow you to increase your skill base in a particular area of interest - we offer specialties in Deep Diving, Wreck Diving, Underwater Photography, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Underwater Search and Recovery, Underwater Naturalist, Nitrox and lots more.

For those with interests in specific areas, we offer packages that bundle a group of related specialties.

For those interested in moving on to the more challenging and disciplined field of technical diving, or simply improving their own dive skills to the highest possible level, we offer the Tech Fundamentals course - 6 dives, including Deep Specialty, Nitrox Specialty and Wreck Specialty. This course builds the fundamentals that you'll need to do discover the thrill of technical diving, and is taught by an instructor who is a very experienced trimix/deep wreck diver. It is fun, it is challenging and you will leave a much better diver.

Go Pro - Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Instructor

Interested in becoming a dive professional? DIVEIndia is proud to present a variety of options to suit your needs.

We offer PADI Divemaster courses, where you get to work with our team of instructors and learn all the skills needed to take a successful first step as a dive pro. Unlike most dive schools, we don't treat our divemaster candidates as a source of cheap labor - at the end of the course, you will be responsible for other people. It is an important, and highly rewarding, responsibility and we take it as seriously as you.

Along with the standard Divemaster course, we also offer a “Go Pro” training internship, which takes you beyond the typical Divemaster curriculum and gives you experience on the practical side of being a dive professional, as well as counseling on career choices. Thus, you go into the dive industry both qualified and experienced. The benefits of this program become clear when you look at the fact that all our divemasters to date are now working successfully in the dive industry.

And by combining the PADI Divemaster certification with the SSI Dive Control Specialist (DiveCon) rating (equivalent to Assistant Instructor), you can be an accredited professional with the 2 largest diver training agencies in the world - which greatly improves your attractiveness to potential employers.

Or go all the way and become a NAUI Scuba Instructor - NAUI, one of the oldest and most prestigious diver training agencies in the world, with the highest standards for training at all levels and holding the rank of NAUI Instructor sets you apart as one of the most highly-qualified dive professionals in the industry.

Contact us for more information and assistance in developing a professional career path for you.