Congratulations! You’re an Open Water Diver
You’ve worked through the theory, completed the pool sessions and made four open-water dives. You’re an SSI Open Water Diver. Congratulations! That’s a real milestone. But as we told you during the course: a certification is just the start. The real growth as a diver begins now.
This page gives you an overview of the logical next steps: how do you build up experience, what are the options for further training, and what is useful to know as a new diver?
The best advice: get back in the water as soon as possible!
It sounds simple, but it’s the most valuable advice we can give you: get back in the water as soon as possible. Every dive you make adds something. You’ll become more familiar with your equipment, buoyancy control will become easier, your air consumption will improve, and you’ll discover more and more of what lives beneath the surface. The skills you learnt during the course are best retained by continuing to practise them.
Guided dives
Would you like to do more dives at a leisurely pace and discover new locations? During a guided dive, you’ll head into the water with one of our divemasters or instructors. We’ll tailor the location to your experience and what you’d like to see. At the weekend, we can almost always be found at the Kerkweg dive site in Den Osse. During the week, we also regularly visit other locations in Lake Grevelingen, as well as the Oosterschelde. A great opportunity to discover new spots.
On some of our dive days, we combine two locations in a single day: specially for buddy teams who want to see more of Zeeland. You can find more information about this in our post about these special dive days.
Independent diving with a buddy
As an OWD diver, you are allowed to dive independently, together with a buddy of at least the same level and to a maximum depth of 18 metres. Do you know anyone else who dives? Plan a dive day together. That is exactly how most divers fill their logbooks.
Don’t have your own gear yet? You can hire diving equipment from us. You already hired from us during the course, so the equipment is familiar. Start by checking out a location you already know. That makes it less daunting. What’s more, our regular spot, the Kerkweg, is ideal for practising navigation, simply enjoying a shallow dive and taking your time to discover the marine life. If you momentarily lose your bearings, you can actually make a normal ascent almost anywhere and look for the jetty once you’re above water. You’re bound to be close by!
Free: become an SSI Blue Oceans Diver
Diving School de Grevelingen is an official SSI Blue Oceans Centre. The Blue Oceans programme focuses on raising awareness and protecting our aquatic environments. From the oceans to Lake Grevelingen and the Oosterschelde right on our doorstep. As an OWD diver, you can earn the SSI Blue Oceans Diver certification for free. All you need to do is complete the e-learning module in your MySSI profile. A great first step for divers who look beyond the dive itself.
Further learning: specialities
Diving is a multifaceted sport, and there is always something new to learn. Specialties are shorter courses that deepen your knowledge and skills in a specific area. After completing two full specialties and logging 12 dives, you will automatically receive the SSI Specialty Diver certification.
These are the specialities we offer, which are particularly valuable for new OWD divers:
- Perfect Buoyancy - The foundation of good and efficient diving. You’ll learn how to distribute your weights correctly and optimise your body position. The result: lower air consumption, greater control and a more environmentally friendly approach to your surroundings. This is the speciality most divers should undertake first.
- Navigation – You’ll learn to orientate yourself underwater, both using a compass and by recognising environmental features. Essential if you want to dive independently in unfamiliar locations.
- Nitrox (Enriched Air Nitrox) – The most popular speciality in the world, and for good reason. You’ll learn to dive using a gas mixture with a higher oxygen percentage than standard compressed air. This results in longer no-decompression times, shorter surface intervals and a more conservative dive profile. With your Nitrox certification in hand, you can use Nitrox fills at locations worldwide. This speciality consists largely of theory and is easy to combine with other courses.
- Deep Diving - Preparation for dives to 40 metres (the maximum for recreational divers). You will learn to plan deep dives, recognise the effects of depth on the body and equipment, and act safely.
- Night & Limited Visibility – A dive after sunset is a completely different experience. Underwater life takes on a different character, colours look different and your senses work differently. Exciting and surprisingly beautiful.
- Waves, Tides & Currents – A particularly valuable speciality for Zeeland. You’ll learn to plan dives around tides and currents, and how to deal safely with flowing water. Essential if you ever want to dive in the Oosterschelde.
View our full range on the Specialities page.
The next big step: SSI Advanced Open Water Diver
Would you prefer to get a broad overview of what diving has to offer all at once? Then the SSI Advanced Open Water Diver (AOWD) course is an excellent choice. The course consists of five dives, each from a different speciality. Two dives are compulsory – deep diving and navigation – the remaining three can be chosen freely from our range. With us, you’ll typically complete the AOWD with the following dives: Perfect Buoyancy, Deep Diving, Navigation, Nitrox and Night Diving. Depending on your experience and preferences, alternatives are available, such as a drift dive or another speciality.
Upon completing the AOWD course, your depth limit as a recreational diver increases from 18 to 30 metres. A significant step that opens up many new dive sites and experiences. The AOWD combines well with one or two full specialities. This allows you to gain a lot of experience in a relatively short time and also expands your formal opportunities as a diver.
Want to go even further after that? With four full specialities and 24 logged dives, you’ll earn the SSI Advanced Specialty Diver certification. And the next major milestone is SSI Master Diver: to achieve this, complete the Deep Diving and Diver Stress & Rescue specialities, three additional specialities of your choice, and 50 logged dives. A certification that truly speaks to your experience and knowledge.
Can we help you?
Would you prefer to discuss what might work best for you? Then please feel free to contact us. You know where to find us!
