PADI courses

Lochaline Dive Centre is proud to be offering training within the PADI system of Diver Training and Education. The largest, and widely regarded as the foremost diver training organisation in the world, PADI offers a reliable, tried, tested and more importantly, trusted and safe system of diver training. With PADI's philosophy of "Dive Today", there's emphasis on being in the water rather than in the classroom, which makes the courses exciting and fun to do. Offering courses ranging from entry level new diver training to technical and specialist diving, there's a course to suit everybody! A brief overview of the courses available follows:

Open Water Diver: The complete entry level course that allows full qualification to dive anywhere in the world. This course can be completed in as little as four days or two weekends and qualifies the diver to dive independently of an instructor to a depth of 18 metres maximum. Theory is studied on a self-study basis, at your own pace in your own time to suit yourself, but assistance is given to help with specific areas if required. This keeps classroom time to a minimum, so that most of the time on the course is spent doing what you want to be doing - DIVING! This qualification also allows the diver to participate in many of the exciting Speciality courses offered.

Adventure Diver: Having already qualified as an Open Water Diver, the fun really continues here! Completing three exciting Adventure Dives qualifies the diver as an Adventure Diver, recognising the additional experience gained in having dived in several "specialist" areas. These could include Digital Underwater Photography, Night Diving and Drift Diving, for example.

Advanced Open Water Diver: Completing five Adventure Dives including Underwater Navigation and Deep Diver results in the diver being awarded the respected rating of Advanced Open Water Diver. This increases the maximum depth qualification to 30 metres, bringing a much wider range of dive sites including deeper scenic dives and wrecks into the realm of the diver. There is very little theory with this course, the emphasis being on applying the knowledge learned and abilities gained in the Open Water course. The Advanced Open Water qualification is a prerequisite for the Rescue course and also for certain Speciality courses such as Deep and Wreck.

Speciality Diver: Taking a Speciality course in an area that particularly interests you is a fantastic way to increase your skills and experience in diving. Many Open Water divers choose to complete a Dry Suit speciality course as part of their Open Water training, resulting in their becoming more relaxed and comfortable whilst diving. Other specialities such as Wreck or Drift concentrate on the specialist skills that are required for these types of diving and involve carrying out advanced skills such as mapping and measuring or precise buoyancy control. The Search and Recovery Speciality course even involves lifting objects such as an outboard motor with a lift bag. Great fun!

Emergency First Responder: A non-diving course that covers Primary and Secondary Care in First Aid, this is a one day course that everybody should do, diver or not! Teaching you the essentials of First Aid and CPR, you'll finish this course knowing that you have the abilities and confidence to make a difference wherever you come across someone needing your help. This course is a prerequisite for the Rescue Diver course.

Rescue Diver: Progressing to a level of competency where rescuing, or providing assistance to, another diver can be carried out effectively should be a goal for every diver to aspire to. The PADI Rescue Diver course is a comprehensive training package that covers all the required skills for personal self-rescue and those for rescuing others, both on land and in the water. An in-depth study of various potential scenarios and how to deal with them will result in the diver being confident and competent to effect a rescue in the unlikely event that it is ever necessary. Dubbed "Serious Fun" by PADI, virtually everyone who does this training agrees that it's the most fun course of all! But this is fun with a purpose, and the emphasis is on gaining the skills that will give the confidence to act calmly and decisively when required. Much theory is included in the course, expanding upon topics already touched upon in Open Water training, as well as introducing some completely new material. A final exam is also taken. This is a most rewarding course that elevates divers to a level where they are also qualified to accompany instructors on training courses. Completing this course also qualifies the diver to progress to the coveted Master Scuba Diver rating and is a prerequisite for those wishing to become Professional divers by taking the Divemaster course.

Master Scuba Diver: This highly respected rating is the pinnacle of non-professional qualifications within the PADI system. A diver achieving this rating will have completed many hours of training, including having completed a minimum of five Speciality courses, will be a certified Rescue Diver and will have at least 50 logged dives showing experience in a range of environments and situations. A recognition of the hard work and dedication to personal development and continuing education, any diver gaining this rating can justifiably feel chuffed with themselves!

Divemaster: If you've considered becoming a diving instructor yourself, then enrolling on this course will be the first step on the ladder to becoming a PADI Pro, a professional member of PADI. Candidates for Divemaster training are all assessed for suitability, and only the best make it! You'll need to be a Rescue Diver already, and there's a large amount of dive theory included in the course, but the rewards are great. Not a course as such, more of a programme of development, the Divemaster training is usually completed by candidates over a period of a few weeks. Great emphasis is placed on the attitude of the individual, the empathy and care the candidate shows to others, along with a host of other factors. This is training at a higher level altogether, and the Divemaster qualification is not just "given away", you really earn this with consistent application of knowledge learned and refinement of methods used. There's a skills assessment where you'll have to demonstrate role-model quality skills, a stamina assessment where you'll have to prove your fitness with a number of long swims and other exercises, and there's a mapping task where you'll have to carry out a detailed mapping and recording of an underwater area. An internment, helping with a full Open Water or Rescue course is usually part of the training too. A final theory exam ensures that candidates have Instructor-level knowledge of diving physics, physiology, dive planning, environment and equipment. Having had the highest level of theory training within the PADI system, those candidates completing this course and earning the Divemaster qualification join an elite group of fewer than 1% of divers with this level of training or above. Rightly, they can be proud of this! The qualified Divemaster can conduct a number of training activities and is expected to be a beacon of professional role model behaviour for others, in and out of the water.

Assistant Instructor, Open Water Scuba Instructor and Tec Rec courses: For those wishing to carry on their training beyond the level of Divemaster we can arrange Instructor Development Courses to prepare you for an Instructor Examination. Similarly, for those wishing to develop their skills beyond those of normal recreational diving, the Tec Rec range of courses caters for the technical diver wishing to go deeper and further. Please contact us for more details on these.

The PADI Diver Education and Progression System

Our Instructors

At Lochaline Dive Centre, we have a team of enthusiastic staff here to help you!

Ivan Woolley has been diving since qualifying as a PADI Open Water Diver in 1994 and since then has continued his training to become a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. Very experienced in wreck diving in particular, this being his real passion, he delights in taking others to wonder in awe themselves at the great wrecks of the Sound of Mull and surrounding areas. Ivan has a patient and gentle approach to teaching students, with an encouraging confidence in his manner. Happy to progress at the speed that's right for you, he will help you to achieve mastery of the various skills in the courses. Ivan lives in Lochaline and also carries out equipment repairs for the dive centre in addition to crewing on the centre's boat, Sound Diver.

Paul Hatton has been diving for 23 years and has reached the dizzying heights of Course Director within the PADI system, the very highest qualification that can be achieved, bar none. Paul has a superb manner in his teaching methods which makes him easy to learn with. Having certified many hundreds of divers over the years he knows all the secrets of successfully bringing students through the nervous stages to be brimming with confidence! Paul conducts Instructor Development Courses and has a 100% success rate in Instructor Examination results of his students. Need we say more? Paul also conducts the Tec Rec range of courses for the more technical end of the training spectrum.

Visit Paul's site through the link below:

Paul Hatton, PADI Diver Training

Our Diver Training Facilities

Lochaline Dive Centre has some of the most stunning natural surroundings and we utilise these to the full in our training. Naturally, sometimes we have to use a local pool for some of the training sessions, but wherever possible we carry out our training dives in the wonderfully clean waters of Loch Aline or the Sound of Mull. Divers trained in the realistic environments that we use are invariably better prepared for "real" diving than those who are only used to more artificial environments such as quarries or lakes. Our centre has facilities for changing and of course, the showers are superb! Get a bite to eat and a coffee that's hard to beat in our O2 cafe whilst relaxing on the sofa in front of the large screen TV.

We have a relaxed classroom environment for covering the small amount of theory that we carry out here, remember that most of the theory is done in your own time, in the comfort of your own home.