Everyone likes to dive for different reasons. Some of us like wrecks, some like to take photos, some like to breathe on different gases... and some people like to try everything! The PADI system of specialty courses means that you can pick and choose what you want to learn. At Aquatic Adventures we have a team of Instructors with a wide range of interests who can show you all sorts of great things underwater. There are many different courses to choose from, click on a link to view course details. Digital Underwater Photography
Have you ever gone for that perfect dive and all you can think is "I wish I had a camera"? Underwater photography has always been popular, but for a long time it was limited to people who could afford the expensive underwater housings for their cameras. The advent of cheaper housings attracted more people but we were still limited by the number of frames on a film. The advent of digital cameras heralded a new age in underwater photography. Suddenly, people had instant results - no more getting home and finding that you completely missed the whale shark and instead got a photo of blue water. Instant results means something else: accelerated learning. It is now possible to go for a dive and see your results before you even leave the dive site - in fact before you even leave your photograph subject! With digital cameras coming down further in price every day, underwater photography is becoming more and more popular - are you going to share your experiences too? What will I learn? - An introduction to your camera system and its features
- Camera care and maintenance
- Photo composition - yes it's still important, there's only so much Photoshop can do!
- The PADI SEA method: sharpness, exposure and composition
- Digital file formats
- Making your photos lighter and darker using several methods
- Examining and adjusting exposure underwater
- Buoyancy control
- Getting sharper pictures
- Basic strobe (flash) use
- Image downloading, sorting and backing up
- Image processing
- Sharing your images with the world
What will I need? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- Your own digital camera with underwater housing rated to 30/40m (ask at your local Aquatic Adventures if you need help selecting a camera or finding out your housing's depth rating)
- Two passport photos
What does the course include? - Instruction
- PADI Digital Photography manual
- White balance slate
- PADI Digital Underwater Photographer certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
Two shore dives
Have you ever gone for that perfect dive and all you can think is "I wish I had a camera"? Underwater photography has always been popular, but for a long time it was limited to people who could afford the expensive underwater housings for their cameras. The advent of cheaper housings attracted more people but we were still limited by the number of frames on a film. The advent of digital cameras heralded a new age in underwater photography. Suddenly, people had instant results - no more getting home and finding that you completely missed the whale shark and instead got a photo of blue water. Instant results means something else: accelerated learning. It is now possible to go for a dive and see your results before you even leave the dive site - in fact before you even leave your photograph subject! With digital cameras coming down further in price every day, underwater photography is becoming more and more popular - are you going to share your experiences too? What will I learn? - An introduction to your camera system and its features
- Camera care and maintenance
- Photo composition - yes it's still important, there's only so much Photoshop can do!
- The PADI SEA method: sharpness, exposure and composition
- Digital file formats
- Making your photos lighter and darker using several methods
- Examining and adjusting exposure underwater
- Buoyancy control
- Getting sharper pictures
- Basic strobe (flash) use
- Image downloading, sorting and backing up
- Image processing
- Sharing your images with the world
What will I need? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- Your own digital camera with underwater housing rated to 30/40m (ask at your local Aquatic Adventures if you need help selecting a camera or finding out your housing's depth rating)
- Two passport photos
What does the course include ? - Instruction
- PADI Enriched Air Diver certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
- Two dives
- Hire of a nitrox tank
- All nitrox fills on the course
- Use of oxygen analyser
It can be hard diving against a current - you get tired quickly and in some cases it means you can't dive at all. But you can take advantage of a current and use it to actually improve your dive. Drift diving is done in a current where you enter the water in one location... and exit far far away! Drifting with the current is like flying underwater - you literally just go with the flow! When you're drift diving you can cover far more area than if you were just swimming along in slack water. This is useful for things like catching scallops, because you can just pick them up along the way. The PADI Drift Diver course is designed to teach you the skills, knowledge and techniques for diving in a current. You will learn about the special equipment and how to control your buoyancy and position within the group. What will I learn? On your Drift Diver course you will learn about special equipment and techniques needed for diving with a current. You will also learn more about hazards, different types of currents and specific boat procedures. You will complete two boat dives with the following activities: - Entry and exit techniques
- Maintaining neutral buoyancy
- Ascents and descents in current
- Safety stops in a current
What will I need ? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- A surface marker buoy for boat diving
- Two passport photos
What does the course include? - Instruction
- PADI Drift Diver certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
- Two boat dives
- Airfills on the course
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Back to Top Many dives, particularly in Melbourne, require you to go beyond the 30m limit that your Advanced Open Water certification gives you. There are many wrecks, walls and reefs that are well worth diving, but require a little more training to be safely attempted. We are famous for our Ships' Graveyard, however the depth of these wrecks requires at least Deep Diver training. The purpose of the PADI Deep Diver course is to familiarise divers with the skills, knowledge, techniques and hazards of diving between 18m and 40m. It is a safe and supervised introduction to deeper diving within the limits of recreational scuba diving. With 4 dives over 2 days and two evenings of theory, the Deep Diver course is a comprehensive and fun course to extend your diving experience. What will I learn? On your Deep Diver course you will learn about special equipment and techniques needed for going deep. You will also learn more about the effects of pressure, nitrogen loading and narcosis, and more about the risk of decompression sickness. You will complete four dives with the following activities: - Completing tasks underwater at depth
- Comparing depth gauges
- Looking at the effects of pressure on different items
- A navigation exercise
- View the effect of depth on colours
- Perform a simulated emergency decompression stop
- Descend using the contour of a wall for reference
What will I need? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- A surface marker buoy for boat diving
- Knife
- Torch
- Slate with pencil
- Two passport photos
What does the course include ? - Instruction
- PADI Deep Diver certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
- Four boat dives
- Airfills on the course
- Gear hire if needed (except mask, snorkel, boots & fins)
A Melbourne winter offers some of the most amazing diving on the planet. In winter the visibility is better and there are less divers crowding the dive sites. The only drawback - very cold water. A drysuit takes away the barrier to diving in winter, and opens up a lot more places for diving such as Tasmania, Mt Gambier and many cold water dive sites around the world. With a drysuit you have seals on the wrists and neck, and fully enclosed feet. This means you can do the "James Bond" and wear whatever you like underneath - because you stay dry! Imagine the difference when you return to shore, take off your drysuit and you're instantly ready to jump in the car and drive away. As with any new piece of equipment, a drysuit requires training and practice. A low-pressure inflator hose connects your drysuit to your regulator, enabling you to put air into the suit to counteract the "squeeze" when you descend. A PADI drysuit course covers the use of this equipment plus general training on hazard management, such as - "what happens when I go upside down and the air all goes into my feet?" What will I learn? - The planning, organisation, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards of drysuit diving
- Proper procedures for buoyancy control
- Ascent and descent technique training
- Routine user-level preventative maintenance and performance checks on dry suits.
What are the course prerequisites? - Must be certified as an Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver.
What will I need? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- Your own drysuit
- Two passport photos
What does the course include ? - Instruction
- PADI Drysuit Diver certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
- Two dives
- Airfills on the course
You could be at a dive site you've dived a hundred times during the day and know back to front. But as soon as you switch off the sun... everything changes. Different aquatic life comes out and you will see a whole new side of your favourite dive sites. Night diving makes you focus on the small things. Since you have a limited beam of light, you really look closely - and end up seeing so much more! Nothing can compare to being on a dive where you can see the beams of light from your dive buddies dotted all around. Sometimes if you cover your light and wave your hand through the water, you can see the natural bioluminescence of little creatures in the water. If you're really lucky, at some diving locations you might spot a flashlight fish. What will I learn? - Equipment used in night diving
- Planning
- Reacting properly to special night diving situations
- Night diving techniques
What are the course prerequisites? - Must be certified as an Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver.
What will I need? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- A primary and a backup underwater light
- Compass
- Two passport photos
What does the course include ? - Instruction
- PADI Night Diver certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
- Three dives
- Airfills on the course
are one of the most popular types of dive site. There are so many different types - ships, boats, planes, submarines, cruise liners, destroyers and aircraft carriers to name a few. Wrecks often form artificial reefs and are home to all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures. Some wrecks still have their original cargo and are like underwater museums, and some even have human remains on them. In Melbourne we are blessed with a myriad of well known wreck diving sites. There are the J-class submarines, the Eliza Ramsden and the Ships' Graveyard outside the heads, and soon we will also have the ex-HMAS Canberra. What will I learn? A PADI Wreck Diver course introduces you wreck diving safety as well as the historical and legal aspects of wreck diving. You will also cover navigation, mapping, reel use, and buoyancy techniques. Course Goals 1. To enable you to demonstrate practical wreck diving knowledge, including recognizing and avoiding potential hazards, and planning procedures that make wreck diving fun. 2. To enable you to explain the historical value of wrecks, social and legal issues surrounding that value, and describe some of the its implications, including the pros and cons of removing artifacts from wrecks. 3. To enable you to plan and organize dives to safely explore wrecks found within conditions as good as or better than those in which you have been trained, and within comparable or shallower depths. 4. To enable you to identify the hazards of wreck penetration diving and demonstrate the techniques and procedures What are the course prerequisites? - Must be aged over 15 years of age
- Must be certified as at least a PADI Adventure Diver or an Advanced Open Water diver if trained by another agency
What will I need? - Your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots
- A reel
- A primary and a backup underwater light
- Slate
- Compass
- A surface marker buoy for boat diving
- Two passport photos
What does the course include ? - Instruction
- PADI Wreck Diver certification (which can be used towards your Master Scuba Diver rating)
- Four boat dives(not included in cost of course)
- Airfills on the course
Coming Soon Search & Recovery
Coming Soon Underwater Navigation
Coming Soon Underwater Naturalist
Coming Soon Boat Diver
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