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PADI courses that could save you a lot of money

PADI courses that could save you a lot of money

PADI courses that could save you a lot of money

Here is a blog that will explain to you there are PADI courses that can save you a lot of money.

PADI Wreck Diver CoursePADI Wreck Diver Course

Typical Conversation

Customer: How deep do we go today?
Instructor: What certification do you hold?

Customer: “ PADI Open Water”.
Instructor: “18 metres”

Customer: “But I have been to 30 metres before” “I will be OK”.

This is a very common conversation I have heard many times before and in most cases the customer’s thoughts are true. Most divers could go to 30 metres without a problem.

I have never been involved in or known anyone that has been involved in a scuba diving accident that required Hyperbaric (Recompression) chamber treatment. I hope I never do.

However, let me give you a scenario. Let’s say that you are a PADI Open Water certified diver and licensed to 18 metres. You are on a fun dive with a divemaster and you venture down to the depth of 18.1 metres. Remember this depth is recorded both on your dive computer and the divemaster’s computer.

Now, like I said scuba diving accidents are rare, in fact they are very rare which is a good thing. But say on this day the unthinkable happens and you are involved in an accident and you need to go to a hyperbaric chamber.

Martin Selfie PADI Sidemount Aussie Divers

Martin Selfie PADI Sidemount Aussie Divers

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Hyperbaric Chamber

A trip to the hyperbaric chamber could require treatment anywhere from 10 – 15 hours. Most will charge you around the $2000 USD and hour mark. So you will be up for a bill of between $20,000 – 30,000 USD. But that is OK because you have insurance.

Now one of the first things that will happened when you arrive at the hospital was they will removed your dive computer. They will do the same with your divemaster. The dive computer contains important information that will help the chamber with the settings for the chamber and determine the length of your treatment.

Now treatment done, you are on the way to recovery and you send the bill to the insurance company. The insurance company requests a report from the hospital.They do have the right to do this and they will for a $20,000 payout. Guess what that report says? You dived to 18.1 metres, past his certification depth. As we all know insurance companies will do anything not to make payment. Your insurance company’s next move is to start pop the champagne bottles because they just saved themselves $30,000 and you have now inherited a $30,000 bill.

Wreck Dives

Wreck Exit PADI Sidemount Aussie Divers

Wreck Exit PADI Sidemount Aussie Divers

Book some Continuing Education Courses with Aussie Divers Phuket: Contact Us

The same scenario could apply for wreck or cave penetration if you are not certified.

A PADI Advanced Open Water Course is a two-day course involves doing five Adventure Dives of different themes. Good news is there are no exams for this course, just some light reading and five knowledge reviews to complete and retails for around THB 11,900 ($377.00) and will get you a 30 metre certification which will see you through at a lot of dive sites.

The course also includes free equipment manuals and PADI certification. Two days diving on a day trip boat plus equipment will set you back between THB 8,000 and THB 9,000 baht. So for an extra THB 3,000 ($100) on what you would have paid for two days diving you have now got you PADI Advanced Open Water Certification and are qualified to 30 metres. A pretty cheap insurance policy I think.

Liveaboard Courses

Best Scuba Diving Liveaboard Prices Phuket Thailand

Best Scuba Diving Liveaboard Prices Phuket Thailand

An awesome way of completing you PADI Advanced Open Water Course is on a liveaboard boat in the Similan Islands, contact us and we can make this happen for you.

And if you want to go deeper again then the PADI Deep Diver Specialty course can be done in one or two days and costs between THB 7,500 and THB 9,000 ($237.00 -$313.00). This will allow you to reach depth of 40 meters, which is the limit for PADI recreational scuba diving. Again, all fees and equipment rental are included and this is only a fraction more expensive that two days fun diving.

As I previously said the same scenario could occur if you penetrated an underwater wreck and were not qualified to do so. A PADI Wreck specialty course can be done in two days for a cost of THB 9,900 ($313.00), it involves four wreck dives, three is you completed the wreck adventure dive in your PADI Advanced Open Water Course. At the completion of the course you will be qualified to penetrate underwater wrecks, now that is cool fun.

Conclusion

Very few people will drive a car without being properly insured. The same should apply to scuba diving.

By taking the time to to do the correct courses that allow you to dive deeper or penetrate wrecks, you will have all the boxes ticked for the insurance companies.

Buy spending a couple of extra dollars you could save your self a whole lot of money is something does go wrong.

Take care and happy and safe diving.

Book some Continuing Education Courses with Aussie Divers Phuket: Contact Us

By Darren Gaspari

Proud owner and active PADI Gold Course Director of Aussie Divers Phuket, a professional and awarded PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Scuba Diving Centre. Member of the PADI Advisory Board for the eLearning modules 2019 and 2020.

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