At the beginning of April students from our college completed their PADI Open Water Dive Certificate. This is an internationally recognised qualification allowing students to SCUBA dive to 18m in open water. The course was run over 3 days with professional dive instructors from Godive Hobart.

Day one consisted of basic safety and operational skills in the Clarence Pool. Day two was 2 shore dives at Fortesque Bay, diving to 7 metres and repeating previously learned skills. Finally, on day three the students departed Pirates Bay at Eaglehawk Neck via boat and completed two boat dives to 18 metres at the beautiful Waterfall Bay. Students were lucky enough to see many species of sea-life, include some crayfish, draughtboard sharks, several varieties of stingray, and even the rare weedy sea-dragon.

Congratulations to all 13 students for their new qualifications as open water divers. A big thank you must go to the team from Godive Hobart - Aaron, Steve, Dom, Nick, and Jacob for their professionalism and expert instruction.

Here are some quotes from our students about the experience:

“The scuba camp was a great experience, loved seeing lots of aquatic wildlife. I would recommend the course to anyone interested.” - Patrick Hill

“I absolutely loved the scuba course, from the pool to the ocean. It was a great experience to learn, see the amazing wildlife, have fun with friends and meet more people.” - Kahu Afeaki-Wardrop

“The dive course was an amazing experience and truly eye opening. From learning to use the equipment in the pool to actually going into the open water and seeing some underwater wildlife, every step was a blast!” - Jasper Gye

“The scuba camp was so much fun; it was amazing to see all of the underwater wildlife from a new perspective.” - Henry McCracken

“Had great instructors to give us the opportunity to explore diving and experience the aquatic animals and environments at depths of 18 metres.” - Fergus Smith

“The scuba camp was an amazing experience, and it was so cool seeing all the marine life. It is something I will definitely do again.” - Arianna Reeve

“I’ve always wanted to do my PADI diver course, and it absolutely lived up to all expectations. It was so much fun, and it was amazing to be so connected to the natural underwater landscape. It has opened up a whole new world of underwater potential that I can’t wait to explore.” - Monique Schnitzer