basic open water

[terryansimon]

all the talk about diving in this forum has stirred my interest towards this "sport" that I've always wanted to take up.

any place in Singapore to recommend me to go and learn my basic open water? preferably a place where is urh...good and cheap and where the equipment rented to you is of good condition.

also I'm thinking of doing it at the end of this year or early next year, say around the February to March time frame....any advice?

[Achilles Tang]

Do a search for Orpheus Dive.

Good dive school, friendly people. Some of us have gone with them before... ask Nleong or Yazid... who else... search this scuba forum.

[terryansimon]

thanks AT....

the thought of trawling through the threads for such a lobang is not time consuming. just gets me so...hmm...hyped up? cannot tahan lah.

can die **ck stand literally *expletive censored from the young, of course*

[hammerhd]

all the talk about diving in this forum has stirred my interest towards this "sport" that I've always wanted to take up.

any place in Singapore to recommend me to go and learn my basic open water? preferably a place where is urh...good and cheap and where the equipment rented to you is of good condition.

also I'm thinking of doing it at the end of this year or early next year, say around the February to March time frame....any advice?

Terry, do a research 1st.

Dont tk a diving course becos it is cheap.

As a saying goes, u pay peanuts u get monkeys

not everything cheap is good.

Nowadays some shops conduct open water courses for the sake u pay u passed they dont cared abt whether u learnt or dont learn

at all so PLS do a research ask ur frds, the forumers or just go int0 a singpore diving forum to check it out 1st.

[terryansimon]

which is why I came here to ask for advice you see. I know cheap doesn't necessarily mean good. learnt that via car forums and buying car parts for my car. bleah.

thanks for the advice anyways! (=

[hammerhd]

which is why I came here to ask for advice you see. I know cheap doesn't necessarily mean good. learnt that via car forums and buying car parts for my car. bleah.

thanks for the advice anyways! (=

cool.

Can try this link.

Can try living seas even though i nv trained under them b4 the instuctor is willing to teach and to pass on extra knowledge

[flubberina13]

Hye...a few of us are going for the course early 2004...should be finished by the first quarter of the year...

if wan, do join us...I am going to find out the specs when i have free time...

btw...any assistance and lobang from fellow reefers are welcome...

[bwilly]

good luck, may the force be with u..

poooff..

*eh..? sound like a .. *

[bwilly]

good luck, may the force be with u..

poooff..

*eh..? sound like a .. *

[flubberina13]

Will let you know when I got more details...

[yazid]

I've gone through the Open Water course personally with this Dive shop. So I could only recommend this one.

My review for this Dive shop is a 2 thumbs up.

Friendly, fun, professional and detail. The instructor that train us is very patience and will do pre and post review after each session. She make sure every one of us did the basic underwater drill in front of her to make sure that we can do the drill correctly and safely. No one skips a single drill.

We had fun on our Open Water Course during theory, pool session and finally Open Water dives in Tioman.

We are looking forward for our next dive.

Now is Monsoon, I heard Tioman and any island surrounding it is only open on 1st March onwards. You could take your theory and pool a week before 1st March. And be the first few people to dive when it is open again.

Do let me know if you are interested in this Dive Shop.

[terryansimon]

I've gone through the Open Water course personally with this Dive shop. So I could only recommend this one.

My review for this Dive shop is a 2 thumbs up.

Friendly, fun, professional and detail. The instructor that train us is very patience and will do pre and post review after each session. She make sure every one of us did the basic underwater drill in front of her to make sure that we can do the drill correctly and safely. No one skips a single drill.

We had fun on our Open Water Course during theory, pool session and finally Open Water dives in Tioman.

We are looking forward for our next dive.

Now is Monsoon, I heard Tioman and any island surrounding it is only open on 1st March onwards. You could take your theory and pool a week before 1st March. And be the first few people to dive when it is open again.

Do let me know if you are interested in this Dive Shop.

yazid.....

hmm what is the name of the shop then? (= wait is it Orpheus Dive?

I like such attention to such details. its the difference between a good instructor, and a very good instructor. like driving like that.

[nleong]

u can try asking for the same female instructor

abit off topic,

Yazid, planning for AOW ? If you do, let me know, would like to do it as soon as the season opens.

[terryansimon]

Hye...a few of us are going for the course early 2004...should be finished by the first quarter of the year...

if wan, do join us...I am going to find out the specs when i have free time...

btw...any assistance and lobang from fellow reefers are welcome...

flub....

no problem I think having company is the best when it comes to things like this. hope you don't mind the company of a 20 year old though. I know of too many adults who hate people my age..."too energetic for their own good lah I tell you these young people"

bleah

just fill me in on the details then. I'll probably leave the lobang hunting to you as you females somehow are much better adapted in doing this. either that, or I simply do not have the time to sift through so much information. (=

[terryansimon]

u can try asking for the same female instructor

abit off topic,

Yazid, planning for AOW ? If you do, let me know, would like to do it as soon as the season opens.

the gender doesn't matter to me. (=

I'm not the tiko sort of person.

[yazid]

You have probably read the my OWC report from my posting.

Their price is not cheap though but you "should" get discount for being SRC member thus making it more competively price.

[terryansimon]

You have probably read the my OWC report from my posting.

Their price is not cheap though but you "should" get discount for being SRC member thus making it more competively price.

thank you very much yazid.....

all equipment is rented to you right? from the wetsuit to the. urh. BCD? to...goodness knows what else.

[kelstorm]

alternatively, u can also try Blue Reef Scuba, located at Clarke Quay, The Cannery. I posted a thread on the equipment sale from them. If u like, u can let me know and i hook u up with them... but now is monsoon..and no point going to P. Hantu, which is famous for low to zero vis.

From what i know, BRC like the ratio of 1 instructor : 4 students which means that u have more time to do your drills and proceed to leisure dive, provided that the instructor thinks that your basic skills are good... prices wise, maybe i can help u fellas to get discount, dun know how much though..however, no promises though.. just PM me if u are interested... btw, i dun earn commission on this. i still pay the same rates as u fellas if we go for leisure... just wanna promote the dive operator if the service is good.. if the service is f**kup, i would not even recommend it even though it is cheap as personal experience tells me...

From what i know, the rate u pay includes all the rental gear and books etc...

I experienced dive operators who give cheap rates but offer peanuts service... i dun mind paying slightly more for inter-personalised service where the instructors know u by name and mingle with u rather than leave u on your own after each dive and link up with u prior the dive for dive briefing.. also, cheaper rates means that the dive group on the boat will have more than 25 divers so that they can earn a decent profit.. but with that amt of divers, it is very daunting for new divers and stressful for them as they have to rig up the equipment, don them and jump into the water fast so that others can proceed.. as such, it is so rush, resulting in undue and unnecessary stress.. diving should be relaxing and enjoyable.. not stressful.. oh coz.. with each dive, there is an element of risk and stress involve.

[terryansimon]

hmm which is why I said I would rather pay for service than stinge on it and get crap as a result.

first impressions are very important and I wouldn't want my first impression on something like that to be scarred with the images of nasty service.

as for the "lobang"...well it'd be good if you could link me up with them so that I can go check their rates or something?

so far I've only got these two dive shops....Orpehus and your Blue Reef Scuba?

and by the way, its BRS and not BRC? BRC = Brigade Reccee Company. hehz.

okay off topic. =\

[kelstorm]

hmm which is why I said I would rather pay for service than stinge on it and get crap as a result.

first impressions are very important and I wouldn't want my first impression on something like that to be scarred with the images of nasty service.

as for the "lobang"...well it'd be good if you could link me up with them so that I can go check their rates or something?

so far I've only got these two dive shops....Orpehus and your Blue Reef Scuba?

and by the way, its BRS and not BRC? BRC = Brigade Reccee Company. hehz.

okay off topic. =\

u can call them at 6334 6021 and look for either Anto. i had just PM u

hahaha.. ok.. sorry.. BRS.. typo..

[hammerhd]

Good advice kelstorm,

hope u guys finished ur course soon then can dive 2gather, it is abit boring to dive with the old same goats all the time.

[Orpheus]

Yazid;

Thank you for the many compliments of Orpheus Dive.

Rather than trying to sell our courses and trips, let me provide you guys with some information on where to dive or when to go for courses.

Monsoon winds starts from November and will start to end in Feb. During this monsoon period, many dive operators shift their training grounds to Pulau Hantu, a local dive site.

This is a time for many consumers to source out CHEAP courses.

Personally, I will recommend divers to dive AT LEAST ONCE in Pulau Hantu to experience it. I think it can be pretty enjoyable, especially when it is done as a group outing.

Typically, dive shop do two dives a day at Pulau Hantu.

Alternatively, you can still dive in Malaysia. For instant, around the islands of Pulau Bibi Besar, Pulau Rawa etc. They are pretty sheltered.

Nov to Feb is a good time to do courses in general, as courses are cheaper during this period.

However, I will not recommend doing an Open Water Diver course in Hantu. I have personally taught many divers there and only 30% are willing to dive again.

The initial experience for a new diver is very important. You must select a dive destination that is at least decent enough for you to master your Open Water Skills.

For those current divers, do a research and complete your Advanced Open Water Diver course now. It is relatively cheaper.

As for those buying gears, this is also a time where dive shop dumb their stocks really cheap so that they can get newer stocks.

Okay, that is all.

I hope I have not sounded like a salesman or promoting the diveshop I am working for

[Achilles Tang]

Short of calling it a commercial posting and having to stop you from doing it... You're lucky I consider scuba-diving as a fringe activity/natural offshoot of our reefing experience! If you're talking something product related to our hobby... ah then... it's a diff story!

I do strongly encourage reefers to take up scuba-diving to appreciate the sea.

AT

[andez07]

Hi all,

Happen to read thru this topic, sounds interesting. I would love to join u guys on the course if u all dun mind but I hv a question that needs to be answered by some of the qualified instructors that reads this topic:

I've already took up Padi OW course in mid 1996 in Cairns and hv since stopped diving in early 1998. Between these time, I only managed to go diving about 4times. My question is:

1) Is my license still valid to go diving since it is about close to 6 years since I last dived??

2) Do I need to juz go for the refresher course to revalidate my license??

3) Or do I actually need to take up the course all over again??

Pls advise........

Thanx

[terryansimon]

I believe there is a sort of refresher course to refresh your knowledge and confidence towards diving? otherwise there is always going to a divespot with a friend and diving to a safe depth first to regain your own confidence?