Open Water Course FAQs
Congrats on deciding to get certified because we think you’re going to love it!
Check out our FB page @scubaadventuresplano to see some exciting images and videos of students in training and certified divers heading out all over the world to explore the underwater world.
As you will learn, we provide a full curriculum of continuing education, fun dives and international dive travel.
The dive shop charges $535 which includes e learning and two weekends of instruction. After successful completion of Open Water weekend, you will have your first TWO certifications. Open Water & Nitrox ($125 value).
This includes:
- An experienced SDI Instructor.
- A BCD, regulator, wetsuit, tanks and weights to use throughout the course.
- A FREE Nitrox course.
- Online study materials
- A weekend training in the pool
- A weekend training at the Scuba Ranch
Open water weekend will be held at The Scuba Ranch in Terrell, TX (the ScubaRanch.com). Scuba Adventures has a private pavilion, custom dock and underwater training platforms at The Scuba Ranch that are in use every weekend. During your dives you’ll find a “shark,” sunken planes and sunken boats.
The scuba park has been built and maintained to serve student divers across North Texas and Oklahoma. The park charges $20 per day for entry and $10 per tank to refill air. You can expect to use at least 5 refills between Saturday and Sunday.
Want to get certified in winter? Ask our staff about getting certified at Spring Lake at The Meadows Center in San Marcos, Texas, where the water is 72 degrees year-round!
You are responsible for bringing your own personal gear to training (mask, fins, boots, snorkel). We call it this because this gear has the most personal fit to you.
This gear is so important we spend as much time as it takes to get you the best fit. A bad mask fit or bad fin fit will ruin your dive. If there is a problem in our on-site pool, we can trade out the gear and get you in what is best for you.
Your personal gear lasts quite a long time and is also perfect for snorkeling. So invest in a proper fit.
We suggest coming in several days before class begins for a personal fitting.
Note: Coming in the first day of training doesn’t give us time to provide a careful, proper fitting.
Call the shop, check out our website, shoot us an email – we are very flexible on helping you get started because as excited as you are to get started we are just as excited to share the underwater world with you.
Absolutely – we run “Try Scuba”’s every 1st and 3rd Wednesday, but if those days don’t work for you call us and we can work something out.
Gear cost is somewhat flexible but you can be as little as $180 all the way up to $505. Again the most important item is fit and comfort; we would rather sell you an inexpensive mask that fits perfectly than the most expensive mask that does not fit. We want to make you scuba fanatics and the way to do that is to make you comfortable in the water.
In warmer months, we generally run open water classes every weekend. You can see our course schedule here.
Yes! We’re proud to have the deepest pool in the DFW area (16 feet!). And even better, it’s heated! Our pool is perfect for year-round training.
Students between the ages of 10 through 14 may obtain an SDI Junior Open Water Scuba Diver Certification as long as they train and dive under the direct supervision of a parent, guardian, or active dive professional.
And 15-17-year-olds may get scuba certified with parental consent.
Yes! We love working with boy and girl scouts!
There are four merit badges we can help scouts earn including scuba diving, swimming, first aid, and lifesaving.
You can schedule a time for your entire troop to get certified or your child can register for any of our open water courses.
We also offer the opportunity to fundraise for your troop through Discover Scuba classes.
Certified Diver FAQs
The options are endless! Once you’re certified, you’re able to scuba dive anywhere in the world up to 60 feet with a buddy.
The best advice we can give new divers is to dive, dive, dive! The more you dive, the more comfortable and confident you’ll be.
Here are a few popular things to do once you’re certified:
- Go on a dive trip! Whether it’s Lake Travis, Florida, or international, many divers are itching to get some different dive experiences under their belt once they’re certified.
- Get some extra practice in at the lake. We run courses almost every weekend and there are often certified divers hanging out at the Scuba Adventures pavilion and going on “fun dives.”
- Sign up for the Advanced Buoyancy course. This is many divers’ favorite course. It’s especially helpful for new divers who are looking to master their buoyancy skills. The nice thing about this course is it’s run in our 18-foot pool at the shop so it’s easy to do one weeknight.
- Become an advanced scuba diver after completing 5 specialties.
After mask, fins, snorkel and boots, the debate is on as to what should be your next purchase. Most agencies these days really encourage the use of a dive computer, and we would encourage you to look at that as your next purchase, that way when you go diving you are familiar with your computer and how it operates. You will know where it has been and that no one was diving on it the day before that may cut your diving short.
Other items to consider are regulators as that is the key life support equipment and making sure you know how that is cared for is also important. If you are still just wanting to minimize costs while still renting the regulator BC and computer, then think about a wetsuit that suits your diving.
If you’ve just finished your open water course and plan to do any freshwater diving, we highly recommend Underwater Navigation. This will help you navigate the Texas lakes and limited visibility where natural contours are not as visible as they are in the ocean.
If you are looking to mainly do dives in the ocean, then a deep specialty where you can achieve some depth but in the care of an instructor is where you should focus.
Of course one of our most popular is advanced buoyancy since it is the only specialty that you can get with pool dives only and the material you learn here will translate to all your dives.
One of our favorite things about Scuba Adventures is our dive community. Whether it’s to Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, the Florida panhandle, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, or Bonaire. We’re always planning our next dive trip. See what trips we have coming up.
Scuba Adventures Services FAQs
Yes! Check out our rental rates here.
Yes! Contact us for our air fill rates.
Scuba Adventures provides service and repair, inside our own shop, for products in our ScubaPro, TUSA, Halcyon and Catalina Cylinders lines.
In addition, our technicians have taken dive manufacturer’s approved courses for most of the major brands of dive gear on the market.
Including:
- Mares
- Oceanic
- Atomic
- Sherwood
- Aqualung
- Apeks
- Cressi
- Edge & Hog
- Poseidon Diving Systems
- US Divers
- Zeagle
Our tech team stores a large amount of parts year-round. If the needed parts are in stock, we can turn your gear in 1 week. Allow 2 weeks if parts needed must be ordered.
Rest assured, your dive equipment is in good hands with the Scuba Adventures service team.
Yes! Contact us for more information.
