It's possible to complete your confined and open water dives in as few as three or four days by completing the classroom portion online via PADI eLearning or home study options offered by AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL.

The PADI Open Water Diver course is incredibly flexible and performance based, which means that AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL can offer a wide variety of schedules, paced according to how fast you progress.

Your instructor's interest is in your learning to scuba dive, not in how long you sit in a class. So, training is based upon demonstrating that you know what you need to know and can do what you need to do. This means that you progress at your own pace – faster or slower depending upon the time you need to become a confident scuba diver who dives regularly. You can start learning to scuba dive online right now with AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL and PADI eLearning.

Compared with getting started in other popular adventure sports and outdoor activities, learning to scuba dive isn't expensive.

For example, you can expect to pay about the same as you would for:

• a full day of surfing lessons
• a weekend of rock climbing lessons
• a weekend of kayaking lessons
• a weekend of fly-fishing lessons
• about three hours of private golf lessons
• about three hours of private water skiing lessons
• one amazing night out at your favorite resturant!

Learning to scuba dive is a great value when you consider that you learn to dive under the guidance and attention of a high trained, experienced professional - your AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL PADI Scuba Instructor. From the first day, scuba diving starts transforming your life with new experiences you share with friends. And, you can do it almost anywhere there is water. Start learning online with AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL and get ready to take your first breath underwater!

AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL is proud to be able to offer the PADI Open Water Course from $399 per person.

Choosing and using your scuba gear is part of the fun of diving. AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL will help you find the right gear. Each piece of scuba equipment performs a different function so that collectively, it adapts you to the underwater world.

When you start learning to scuba dive, as a minimum, you want your own personal equipment:

• scuba mask
• snorkel
• boots
• scuba fins
• signal tube
• weight
• gloves

These have a personal fit, and AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL will help you choose ones that have the fit and features best suited to you. Included in the cost of your PADI Open Water Diver course, AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL will provide a:

• dive regulator
• buoyancy compensator
• dive computer
• scuba tank
• scuba wetsuit

Easy. There is no best gear. But, there is the best gear for you. The professionals at AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL are trained to help you find scuba gear that best matches your preferences, fit and budget. These professionals can get you set with the right stuff, plus they provide service and support for years of enjoyable and dependable use.

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If you have an appetite for excitement and adventure, odds are you can become an avid PADI scuba diver. You'll also want to keep in mind these requirements:

Minimum Age:

• 12 years old
• Students younger than 15 years, who successfully complete the course qualify for the PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, which they may upgrade to PADI Open Water Diver certification upon reaching 15. You must be at least 13 years old to take scuba lessons online with PADI eLearning, due to international internet laws. If you're younger, you can still learn to dive – just have your parent or legal guardian contact AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL.

Physical: For safety, all students complete a brief scuba medical questionnaire that asks about medical conditions that could be a problem while diving. If none of these apply, you sign the form and you're ready to start. If any of these apply to you, as a safety precaution your physician must assess the condition as it relates to diving and sign a medical form that confirms that you're fit to dive. In some areas, local laws require all scuba students to consult with a physician before entering the course.

Waterskills: Before completing the PADI Open Water Diver course, your instructor will have you demonstrate basic waterskill comfort by having you:

• swim 200 metres/yards (or 300 metres/yards in mask, fins and snorkel). There is no time limit for this, and you may use any swimming strokes you want.
• float and tread water for 10 minutes, again using any methods that you want.

About Physical Challenges: Any individual who can meet the performance requirements of the course qualifies for certification. There are many adaptive techniques that allow individuals with physical challenges to meet these requirements. Individuals with paraplegia, amputations and other challenges commonly earn the PADI Open Water Diver certification. Even individuals with more significant physical challenges participate in diving. Talk to your PADI Instructor at your local PADI Dive Shop or Resort for more information.

Learning Materials : Unless you choose PADI eLearning, you'll need and use the following training materials during the PADI Open Water Diver course, and for your review and reference after the course:

• The PADI Open Water Diver Manual
• PADI Open Water Diver Video on DVD or the PADI Open Water Diver Multimedia (combines manual and video for computer based learning).
• You will also need your PADI Log book and Recreational Dive Planner (Table, The WheelTM or eRDPTM).

You can dive practically anywhere there's water – from a swimming pool to the ocean and all points in between, including quarries, lakes, rivers and springs. Where you can scuba dive is determined by your:

• experience
• level site
• accessibility
• conditions interests

For example, if you've just finished your PADI Open Water Diver course, you probably won't be diving under the Antarctic ice on your next dive. But, don't limit your thinking to the warm, clear water you see in travel magazines. Some of the best diving is closer than you think.

Your local dive site can be anything from a special pool built just for divers like one found in Brussels, Belgium, or more typically natural sites like Belize's Great Blue Hole, Australia's Great Barrier Reef or Japan's Yonaguni Monument. It may be a manmade reservoir or a fossil-filled river. It's not always about great visibility because what you see is more important than how far you see.

The only truly important thing about where you dive is that you have the scuba diving training and experience appropriate for diving there, and that you have a dive buddy to go with you. AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL can help you organize great local diving or a dive vacation. Visit today to get started.

No, assuming you have no irregularities in your ears and sinuses. The discomfort is the normal effect of water pressure pressing in on your ears. Fortunately, our bodies are designed to adjust for pressure changes in our ears – you just need to learn how. If you have no difficulties adjusting to air pressure during flying, you'll probably experience no problem learning to adjust to water pressure while diving. For more information about diving and your ears, visit the DAN Website.

Not necessarily. Any condition that affects the ears, sinuses, respiratory function or heart function or may alter consciousness is a concern, but only a physician can assess a person's individual risk. Physicians can consult with the Divers Alert Network (DAN) as necessary when assessing a scuba candidate. 

DAN has information available online if you wish to do some research.

Sun burn and seasickness, both of which are preventable with over the counter preventatives. The most common injuries caused by marine life are scrapes and stings, most of which can be avoided by wearing gloves and an exposure suit, staying off the bottom and watching where you put your hands and feet.

Contact AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL for information about exposure protection needed for any of your diving.

When you're lucky, you'll get to see a shark. Join us on our Lemon Shark dive trip!

Although incidents with sharks occur, they are very, very rare.  Most commonly shark encounters primarily involve spear fishing or feeding sharks, both of which trigger eractic feeding behavior. Sharks main food source is fish and if they can get a free feed they will. 

Most of the time, if you see a shark it's passing through and a relatively rare sight to enjoy.

There is no double that sharks are potentially dangerous, wild animals that remain very difficult to tame. However did you know that; Wasps kill more people than sharks causing 100 deaths a year and also Toasters, chairs and domestic dogs all kill many more people each year than sharks do! (Toasters and chairs each kill around 600-700 people a year. Dogs kill approx. 50 people a year in the US alone. So that chair or your toaster you use is more likely to kill you than swimming in the sea where sharks are present. In fact only on average there are only around 10 deaths caused by sharks each year around the world. The majority of these are surfers or swimmers caused by mistaken identity.

So is diving with Sharks dangerous?

Actually the answer is no, Sharks are amazing and powerful creatures. Although Sharks are carnivorous, they do not preferentially prey on scuba divers, or even humans. Sharks do attack humans, but such attacks are extremely rare!

Every Christmas in the US, trees and decorations cause an average of 250 injuries and 40 fatalities, while sharks in the US are responsible for around six fatalities every year. So Americans are more likely to be killed by a Christmas tree, but nobody is hunting them down.

Shark diving can be one of the most peaceful, inspiring experiences of your life. Don’t let the myths behind shark diving fool you! Once done in the proper manner, shark diving can be a very safe and pleasurable experience in beautiful blue waters around the world.

Shark diving is actually one the reasons why many sharks are still alive today. Shark tourism has helped instil laws to protect sharks. It is becoming more and more difficult to view sharks in their natural environment and with the continued demand to see them by divers around the world, sharks are actually protected in many sanctuaries as was as their own natural environment.

Despite popular belief, don’t forget that, sharks are more afraid of humans than you are of sharks and would prefer to avoid us if at all possible.

Aside from pregnancy, no. Because physiologists know little about the effects of diving on the fetus, the recommendation is that women avoid diving while pregnant or trying to become pregnant. 

In general, diving while menstruating does not seem to be a problem as long as normal, vigorous exercise does not increase the menstrual symptoms. As long as the menstrual cycle poses no other symptoms or discomforts that affect her health, there is no reason that a menstruating female should not dive. However, based upon available data, it may be prudent for women taking oral contraceptives, particularly if they are menstruating, to reduce their dive exposure (depth, bottom time or number of dives per day).

For more information on women's diving conditions please go to the DAN Website.

With the necessary training and experience, the limit for recreational scuba diving is 120 feet. Beginning scuba divers stay shallower than about 60 feet unless you are a Junior Scuba Diver then it is 40 feet. Although these are the limits, some of the most popular diving is no deeper than 40 feet where the water's warmer and the colors are brighter.

That's not likely because you have a gauge or computer that tells you how much air you have at all times. This way, you can return to the surface with a safety reserve remaining. But to answer the question, if you run out of air, your buddy has a spare mouthpiece that allows you to share a single air supply while swimming to the surface. There are also other options you'll learn in your PADI Open Water course with AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL.

People find the “weightlessness” of scuba diving to be quite freeing. Modern scuba masks are available in translucent models, which you may prefer if a mask makes you feel closed in. During your scuba diving training with AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL, your instructor gives you plenty of time and coaching to become comfortable with each stage of learning. Your scuba instructor works with you at your own pace to ensure you master each skill necessary to become a capable scuba diver who dives regularly.

AMERICAN DIVERS INTERNATIONAL keeps classes small so that we can give you more time to get comfortable with the amazing world of diving.

American Divers International (ADI) prides itself on being able to provide our customers with excellent dive locations using boat charters that have courteous and knowledgeable Captains and Divemasters, and clean and reliable boats. ADI does not, however, own these operations.

In order for ADI to get our great dive trip rates, we have to reserve space on the boat in advance. ADI is then obligated to either fill those slots or return them to the operator with enough time for the operator to sell those unused slots.

Therefore, ADI has a 72-hour cancellation policy on all dive trips:

• ·         If a customer must cancel their dive trip and notifies ADI more than 72-hours before the departure time, ADI will refund the cost of the trip, or a credit for a future trip will be issued.
• ·         If a customer must cancel their dive trip and notifies ADI less than 72-hours before the departure time or does not arrive to the boat by the departure time, ADI will be unable to issue a refund or credit, as we will be charged by the boat operator for that empty slot.
• ·         If the boat operator cancels the trip (poor weather, mechanical difficulties, etc.) then a refund or credit towards a future trip will be issued by ADI.
• ·         If the customer believes the weather is poor, but the operator still runs the trip, ADI will be unable to issue a refund or credit.

If you are asking this, then you may be prone to motion sickness. You may wish to consider Bonnine or Triptone before you go out on the water. It has been suggested that one take the pill the night before your trip to get it started working in your system. Then take another one the day of the trip. Read the package instructions to be sure. Some find that ginger can settle the stomach as well.

During the windy seasons of the year we will let you know if there are any special conditions you need to worry about. If it is raining, we still go. If we expect thunder and lightning, we will cancel the trip. Remember we are taking you less than 5 or so miles into the ocean and the weather here does not always mean the same conditions on the water. We would do nothing to endanger your life and will always keep you informed as to conditions.

South Florida seas are typically at 2 foot, if you get flat or even 1 foot seas you have a perfect day! We never put our divers in danger with seas higher than they can handle,

A mesh bag with your equipment, possibly a dry bag for sunscreen, dry shirt and a towel. There is drinking water on the boat for free, typically each boat provides a light snack or fruit between dives. We also ask that you do not use spray on sun tan lotion & strongly encourage reef safe products only!

The crew work very hard to make sure your trip is to only enjoyable, but safe. They are Divemasters and highly trained at rescues at sea. They make sure that your equipment is working and assist you with anything you may need. They are there to answer your questions about our reefs and wrecks. A tip is to show your gratitude and appreciation, and, gratefully accepted by the crew. Please look after them as you deem appropriate.

We strongly urge you to take a refresher course if it has been more than two years since your last dive.

Yes, there are always people on the boat to buddy up with. You will never be left alone!