What does diving OW mean? How to test the diving ow certificate?

OW diving is a course that many diving enthusiasts or diving instructors need to contact, so as to ensure that everyone will not encounter danger in deep water. Pay attention to all underwater developments and problems. Here is a detailed strategy for you.

What does diving OW mean?

OW, which refers to OpenWaterDiverCourse here, is an introductory course for scuba diving (that is, scuba diving, not snorkeling, nor free diving with only breathing tubes and masks).

Curriculum setting of vocational education

OW courses for studying abroad generally last for 3 or 4 days. During this period, if you pass the coach's evaluation and meet the performance requirements of PADI standard, you will pass the customs and get a certificate to become an open water diver.

What are you going to learn in these three or four days?

They are five units of still water practice (swimming pool or similar swimming pool environment) and four units of open water practice (going to sea). The standard only requires training diving three times a day. Similar to learning a driver's license: theory plus written test to practice road test in the examination room.

The first day: learn theoretical knowledge, watch videos, complete the self-study part, do five after-school exercises, answer unit evaluations, and finally take the final exam;

The second day: 24 skills in calm waters, open waters 1 unit course;

The third day: 2~4 unit courses are offered in the water area and completed;

Then there is the question of class size. PADI's standard is that a coach can take up to 8 students. Each additional qualified teaching assistant can bring two more students, which can be increased to 12 at most.

Finally, the course fee. Only OW teaching fees (excluding air tickets, accommodation) are usually 2000~2500 RMB;

Let me talk about the feasibility of learning to dive in China.

Actually, as a native of China, I have many unique conditions to learn diving.

Because our neighbors, many countries in Southeast Asia, are diving resorts all over the world.

Look at a set of online data: the popular diving destinations are Malaysia (33%), China (24%), Philippines (2 1%), Thailand (19%) and Indonesia (2%).

A good place to study OW in China.

1 Many places in China learn to dive in swimming pools, which belong to calm waters; Even if you learn, if you have not experienced the real underwater environment, it will bring many disadvantages.

For example, although you studied in the swimming pool, you got OW; But when you really dive abroad and come to the mysterious bottom of the sea, your mood and feelings, especially your feelings, will be very different from studying in the pool. Perhaps this unaccustomed feeling will bring you a feeling of nervousness and even confusion, which will affect your underwater action and even bring danger.

Generally speaking, the domestic waters are not as clear as those in Southeast Asia, and the species of marine life cannot be less than those in some Southeast Asian waters.

So, to sum up, I suggest you choose countries in Southeast Asia. The first time you come into contact with diving, you can get in touch with the real ocean and benthic organisms, which will be of great help to your diving experience.

What are the good places to learn OW abroad?

Semporna

I believe anyone who cares a little about diving will know the name Semporna. It is famous for its gorgeous marine life, clear seabed environment and low price.

The advantages of Semporna diving are:

1. Almost all coaches in the dive shop can speak Chinese, either from China or Malay, but Chinese is fluent as a mother tongue, at least you don't have to worry about not understanding it;

2. The price is relatively cheap: the cost of OW course is actually similar; However, air tickets to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia are often discounted (mainly AirAsia, Semporna does not have direct flights, and they all need to transfer from Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu, which will be shown later), and round-trip air tickets for various meals and accommodation may be cheaper than studying in Hainan.

3. Natural conditions conducive to teaching: ow is divided into open waters and calm waters. Semporna's calm water is in the sea. Cultivate students to be familiar with diving at least from the beginning to reduce their fear of water;

The scenery is really beautiful: this is definitely an important factor. Not to mention the top ten diving resorts in the world: Sipadan is in Semporna; I just learned diving in Warship Island and Lombok Island, and the scenery is not ordinary. The marine life on the seabed is more colorful, and this wonderful experience alone is worth the ticket price ~

Disadvantages of learning to dive in Semporna:

1. It's too far from China (you have to transfer at least once to get there). If the connecting flight takes a long time, it may take 10 hours or more on the way, which is too long.

Usually you need to fly to Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu, then transfer to Semporna, and then take a taxi to Semporna town.

2. Security issues. Last year, a Shanghai girl was kidnapped by Filipino gangsters in Sigamata (a humble water house on the coast of Semporna). Although people came back, the process was probably uncomfortable. According to local people, Filipino robbers do often appear near Semporna and have existed for decades.

But objectively speaking, the accommodation safety in Semporna town is still ok;

There is no place where novices are interested in diving.

Here I want to talk about Chai Dan's problem. Because Semporna Town is too close to Chaidan, too close. Many newcomers who come here to study OW for the first time don't want to miss the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to Eighteen Bears.

But for beginners who just learn OW, only know what neutral buoyancy is, and even can't control it well, they simply can't appreciate the beauty of eighteen Dan. What's more, the 18-year-old ocean current is very large, and beginners can easily get out of control, and safety is also a problem.

To sum up, it is very important to go to Semporna, choose a good shop and follow the right coach. Coaches and shops can be seen from the replies and comments of the forum. Try to choose the one in the town (bandits don't go by land). If the water quality is good and the diving skills are good, you can consult with the coach. OW and AOW can study together, so that they won't waste three days' vacation to study again.

As a novice, whether to choose Semporna depends on your own needs.

the Philippines

The diving tourism resources in the Philippines are very developed, which can basically be reached by two flights. The places where the Philippines dives are mostly PG, Alino, Baohe, Cebu, Duma Gaidi, Cologne Kelon and Tubataha Reef. Except for Tubataha Reef, which needs boat accommodation, there are big airports in other places, with convenient transportation and some food and fun.

Bohol Island, Philippines

Bohol is most suitable for OW course, which will last 1-2 days. Baohe diving is mostly in alona Beach, a seaside fishing village with mature tourism resources.

The general itinerary is to take the red-eye flight to Manila, then sleep for 4-5 hours at the airport, take the earliest flight in the morning to Baohe, and then take a taxi or hotel chartered flight to alona Beach. When you arrive at alona Beach, you will see bars, diving shops and food stalls by the sea, so there are many things to play besides diving.

Baohe has a certain number of coaches who understand Chinese. Bohol's OW tutorial is usually one day in the pool and the next day in the sea. It is usually offshore that day, and the development time of alona Beach is relatively long, so the offshore environment is relatively general.

But if you get the certificate, you can go to balicasag, an uninhabited island not too far from Baohe. It's really called clear water and white sand. It is natural and pollution-free. The bottom of Balikassag is very ordinary, with no cliffs, big rocks and currents, low depth and high visibility. The bottom of the sea is smooth and delicate white sand, and all kinds of colorful fish and turtles. You can see small things, such as common sea rabbits, clean shrimps, anemone crabs and lovely sea urchins. For the first-time certified diver, the environment is good and the risk is low.

Besides, Bohol not only dives, but also watches land sports such as magic monkeys and chocolate hills. You can also take your family to learn diving by yourself, and the children and parents will give it to the tour guide for hunting.

In a word, the learning environment in Mint Island is simple, the scenery is good, and there are many games to play. There are many points for you to choose the cumulative number of bottles after promotion.

Duma Gaidi, Philippines

Dumati is also very popular recently. He has two diving spots, one is Daoyin Daoyin and the other is Apo Island. The branch of the diving shop with the sound guide is near the sea, so you can check in and the price is high. Besides diving, I just sit in a chair and read and blow dry. You can also live in the city and drive back and forth every day, about 1 hour. However, the urban area is cheaper than the fishing village, and the business atmosphere is stronger, so you can stroll around a little.

Apo Island can depart from Doine Wharf with a voyage of about 1 hour. The beach around Dorne is black sand. There is a washing machine flow (turbulence formed by the topography of the outer island) in Apo Island, especially coconuts, but it is still beautiful underwater and rich in underwater biological resources. There is Siquijor in Sikkim Hall, which is the most convenient place to watch whale sharks because local residents have been feeding them for a long time.

Cebu Philippines

Cebu is also an island rich in shallow water resources. There are Mama Luffa Island, Long Tail Shark and Gato Island in the northeast corner, which are fixed every day. Sardines can be seen in the southwest corner of Mo Bao.

PG Island in the Philippines

For divers in the Philippines, PG Island is also a great diving place, but I think PG Island is more suitable for experienced divers because some diving places on the PG coast have unpredictable directional currents. Newcomer ow can't go to these places, PG is better than marine life. They need to look through fish books before going into the water, and then they will find that all kinds of creatures that are hard to find in other places become easy in these places, such as pencil-headed sea rabbits, Bikachu sea rabbits, panda sea rabbits, blue-ringed octopus and so on. PG is suitable for AOW with stacked bottles after reading fish books.

Cologne Island, Philippines

Cologne Island is mainly a sunken ship. The general itinerary is to sneak into eight Japanese sunken ships and wander around. People who don't like claustrophobia The problem of Cologne Island is that the water quality is generally transparent, and the depth of the sunken ship exceeds 20-30m, which limits the scope of OW's activities. In addition, it's better to have a high oxygen certificate for the boat to visit Cologne Island, so that you can stay longer, otherwise you will find that the computer will prompt you to get into the water.

To sum up, Cologne Island is more suitable for AOW with high oxygen content.

Bali Island

First of all, Bali is a visa-free and popular diving place, but I want to say from the beginning that it is not particularly suitable for beginners to learn. Because most diving spots in Indonesia are boathouses, and the current is very large. Only the blueprint of Bali is suitable for beginners.

Advantages of blueprint diving:

1. Calm waters, underwater environment and biodiversity. For example, you can see sunken ships, big fish, corals and reefs, and you can also rummage through garbage on the gentle seabed for macro. If you want to experience traffic, you can also experience small traffic with stable level. Below the diver is the beach, so there will be no feeling of hanging in mid-air. All these can improve the interest of novices and the safety of diving.

2. Diving shops are very professional: most of the diving shops in the blueprint have experienced coaches to dive technically (mainly because there are various abnormal currents in the waters near Lombok, but there are various super-large fish, such as molas, hammerhead sharks and manta rays, at a depth of 50-60m. Dig too far);

3. Tumen Town has a good local scenery, close to the largest volcano in Bali; You can climb mountains or something after diving.

Disadvantages of blueprint diving:

1. There are too few coaches who know Chinese, let alone DM. In learning, mother tongue teaching is still very important;

2. There are too few delicious places: only a few restaurants make them really unpalatable;

Tuition is the highest among many diving bases in Southeast Asia.

To sum up, the blueprint is suitable for junior divers who have passed OW or AOW exams, are interested in diving and have a certain understanding of biological classification.

Taodao, Thailand

Taodao is known as the world diving factory and is famous for mass production of junior divers. The United Nations is the primary course of diving industry. The diving industry is developed, which combines all kinds of diving cultures in the world and can eat delicious food from different countries. Delicious Thai food and lots of Chinese food will make China's stomach hard to take care of. Legend has it that Taoism in Thailand is a pioneer in learning OW in Asia. Countless seniors learned to dive in Taodao before they started surfing everywhere.

The Chinese service here is absolutely perfect and the price is relatively cheap.

But I want to say that the diving industry is so developed that there will be many people; I may not choose this place for I don't like people to join in the fun.