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 S ea
Saba offers professional training programs from one-day Discover Scuba
Diving for first timers divemaster training as well as
specialty courses like Nitrox (Enriched Air) or Underwater
Naturalist. Many of our clients return to Saba with a friend or
family member knowing that Sea Saba is a dive center that takes diving
seriously but always makes it fun. New in 2007 is
PADI's ELearning
program. If you are looking to improve your diving
skills or enhance your diving knowledge, Sea Saba's professional team of
experienced instructors offers you a number of
choices to continue your diving education.
on this page...
Learn
to Dive
Improve Your Diving Skills
Become
Nitrox Certified--now three options--one
is even free!
Specialty
Courses: including Digital Photography and National Geographic
Diving
and Health Issues other
interesting pages regarding training...
Are your kids ready to
dive?
See our new webpage for loads of information...
  Sea Saba is a PADI
Gold Palm International Resort as well as a National
Geographic Dive Center, putting us in the "elite" status by
PADI. This status means Sea Saba is recognized by PADI (Professional
Association of Diving Instructors) as a facility with quality air,
professional equipment as well as offering quality accommodations,
superior service and excellent dive opportunities. Resorts of this
caliber focus on memorable dive experiences, customer satisfaction, diver
safety and environmental awareness, by going the extra mile to provide
professional and outstanding service - from beginning scuba programs to
our professional level courses. Although
PADI
is the world's largest diving organization, there are many quality
organizations, NAUI and SSI to name just two others. Sea Saba has
a staff of experienced instructors with diverse qualifications for open
water training as well and nitrox and more technical diving. Sea Saba
is also an SSI Universal Referral Center.
Although each training organization has
individual rules and standards for specific issues, the overall goal of any of
these organizations is to train divers safely and professionally.
At Sea Saba we feel the individual instructor (Meet
the Sea Saba Crew) is more important than the
diving agency affiliation. Contact us
and we will be pleased to answer any questions or concerns you have
whether you need to complete training or are considering learning a new
aspect of diving.
A word
about dive training and pricing. We assume your decision to
initiate dive training is because you wish to learn and/or become a
better diver. Although we make every course fun, we assure each
course is thorough and professionally conducted. As quality is
synonymous with Sea Saba (whether referring to our boats, the clothing
we sell or teaching practices), we have specific policies adhered to for
teaching. An instructor will be assigned to you and work with you
to master the academic and when required, confined water training.
Whether you are doing dives for your Advance Open Water certification or
Peak Performance Buoyancy, Sea Saba will have a dedicated instructor on
board for your training. The dedicated instructor ensures your
training is the focus of his or her attention. Our instructor
guides do not multi task (lead other certified divers) at the same time
they are conducting training. we won't just 'go through the
motions' and 'sign you off'. For this reason, our pricing for
continuing education courses may be slightly higher than our
competitors. We urge you to shop and compare; hopefully the price
is not the only factor in your decision making.
Let Sea
Saba Take You on Your First Dive!
Your first dive is the most important.
Under the proper conditions and guidance, almost anyone can become a
scuba diver and enjoy the natural wonders below the surface.
Learn to Dive
The following table lists the courses available, the time needed to
complete them and a price*. The titles of the courses are based on
PADI courses, though other organizations offer similar options.
It's important to note that you can can take advantage of PADI's modular
system
whereby you can try a one or two-day course but continue to 'upgrade'
your status while you enjoy diving--without commitment. Contact
Lynn for more details.
*prices are in U.S. dollars
and based on 3 persons. No Hidden Costs! Our prices include
use of all scuba equipment, instructor
time, pool usage, use of academic materials, transfers to and from the boat,
licensing fees. Prices do not include Saba
Marine Park fees of $4/dive.
Private and Semi Private
Prices:
DSD: Private $110; semi-private $100 p/p
Scuba Diver: Private $250; Semi-Private $225 p/p
OW: Private $450; semi private $400 p/p No minimums for
ELearning program
**Referral: Private $275; Semi-private $250--add $25 p/p if referral
is from agency other than PADI
Refresher: Private $110; Semi-private $100
Are you considering Learning to Dive
and not sure which course is best for you? We have provided more descriptions of the options
available to you...
Discover
Scuba Diving
 What was once called a Resort Course is now known as Discover Scuba
Diving. SEA SABA does many throughout the year with great success.
One key to our success is the amount of time we spend with our
guests. We first conduct a full lecture session that explains the
equipment, basic physics and physiology. The fun then begins with
your instructor spending time with you in the
familiar environment of a swimming pool--where you will become comfortable with the
equipment and be taught a few skills to prepare you for your dive in
the ocean. Your dive is done in the Saba Marine Park aboard our
large, comfortable boat. Your instructor will give you a
briefing before you begin your shallow, accompanied dive--normally we begin in 12-20'
(4-6m). Although Saba is famous for our deeper pinnacle dives, it's
not uncommon to have a special experience at a shallow dive site like Torens
Point. You may see a turtle, eel, stingray, octopus, or baby shark
among the colorful reefs you encounter. There is no official license issued for this course but
you are allowed to continue diving shallow dives (40', 12m) under
instructor supervision for the duration of your vacation. OR, add
another day of instruction including another great dive and leave Saba
with the Scuba Diver Program license which you can continue to
upgrade.
Scuba Diver
Program
This course is designed for vacationers who do not want to
commit to 4 days of training or intend to only dive a few times each year. This
two-day course* covers the academic portion of the manual with the
exception of learning dive tables. Pool sessions will prepare you
for two instructor-supervised dives. Once complete, you will be
issued a limited license which restricts your diving depth and requires diving with a professional. The beauty of
this course is that you earn a license that allows you to continue
diving. Once you decide you want to take the next step in diving,
you can simply upgrade the license by doing the necessary additional
course work and dives. At Sea Saba, if you have been actively diving
during this time, an Open Water Certification should take two more days
and cost only $100 additional. ELearn this
course in advance of arrival and take just one day instead of two.
Open Water Certification
A full certification course enables you to receive an international
license. Many people tell us they just can't find the time to learn to dive during their busy work
schedules. And, what better place to learn to dive than at a
world-class destination while on holiday? PADI's new "Dive Today"
program changes the old fashion way of teaching. Sea Saba's course
has you diving a beautiful site in the Saba Marine Park the
afternoon of your first day. And now, there's even more options in
how you learn to dive...
 Introducing...ELearning!
Learning to scuba
dive has never been more convenient!
If you want to spend less time in the classroom and have more fun
diving, E-Learn the academic portion of this
course when and where it works for you.
Whether
you’re on the go or want to take it slow, now you can complete the
knowledge development portion of the PADI Open Water Diver course online
with PADI eLearning. It’s a great match for your active schedule. Once you get to Saba, you
can complete the course in just 2 easy days...simply follow these steps:
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Convenient online access
to knowledge
development course material for one year |
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Unlimited and unrestricted
access to an
online version of the PADI Open Water Diver Manual
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Payment
is $120 US for eLearning via a secure online payment system.
There are additional charges for in-water training and equipment
rental |
Referral
And yet another option, the referral works beautifully if you
have the time to begin a course at your local dive shop.
Establishing a relationship with a dive shop in your local area is always
a good idea--even if you only
intend 'dive in paradise'. Buying
dive equipment from a local dealer will give you an outlet for future
service. Many local dive shops are also sources for group or
individual travel, offer social activities and offer advance training to
keep you active when you can't be in paradise. If you prefer to do
your first dives in the tropics, just let your local dive shop know you
want to do the 'first part' of an open water course: academic and pool
work. This way, you come to the Caribbean with only the really fun
part to do--4 open water dives (and it's nicer than cold and dark waters
of the north!). Referrals can be easily accomplished. As
a PADI International Resort as well as an SSI Universal Referral Center, Sea
Saba's instructors can complete referrals from all major
agencies: IDEA,
NASDS, NAUI,
PDIC, SSI,
YMCA
and of course, PADI. Yes, you can be on the same boat as your already certified diving
friends. You will need to be sure to have all documentation with you
and advise us when making a reservation. Easy!
Refresher
Course
Have other life priorities prevented you from keeping your diving skills
honed? We recommend that divers who have not been diving for a year or more take a refresher
course. We'll make it easy and fun--we provide everything you
need--starting with a review book and an instructor who meets you
poolside...you can ask questions and review skills before heading to our boat for a
shallow afternoon dive. Most divers find the Refresher Course the
perfect preparation to ready them for all that Saba has to offer. Once you are ready to make a reservation, just remind us that you'd like the
Refresher Course so that we have our instructor scheduled.
Let
Sea Saba's
professionals take you to the next level!
Improve Your Diving
Skills
Been diving for awhile and ready to
learn more? Great idea! There's no substitute for experience
but there's nothing like knowledge and additional training to give you
comfort and confidence as you venture further in a sport.
*Price quotes based on 3
persons. Private and semi private courses always available; price
is slightly higher. Photo and Night dives done as and Advanced
Open Water Course are considered premium dives, subject to higher price.
**The number of dives listed
for Rescue and Divemaster are only those dives done on our regularly
scheduled dive boat--many other diving exercises are conducted during the
course. Price for Divemaster course is for the academic training
portion only--price for diving is additional at our package rates less
20%. PADI requires specific academic material and equipment for training at this level.
An
Adventure Dive
PADI's Advanced Open Water ("AOW")
training program, like the Open Water course is modular. If you do
not have time to complete the entire AOW Course (5 dives), you can do
just one or two dives and receive documentation to become certified as
an Adventure Diver or AOW Diver. This systems allows you to
upgrade or finish the course at another time or even at another
destination. As an example, if you are a newer diver visiting
Saba, doing your first deep dive as an Adventure Dive is the ideal
solution to give you the knowledge and confidence to dive our pinnacle
dives in the safest scenario. You will receive the same academic
material for this dive as you would to conduct this dive as part of your
Advance Open Water training. The material is designed for home
study with a 10-question Knowledge Review. One of our experienced
instructors will meet with you to further discuss and review the
academic portion of the course. On the required dive, a dedicated
instructor will be assigned to you to conduct the required skills as
well as focusing their attention on you and the specific open water
training. You will receive documentation of the Adventure Dive to
use toward a next certification level and/or to show other dive centers
the additional training and experience you now have.
Adventure
Diver and Advanced Open Water Diver
 PADI's
Adventures In Diving program fine-tunes your dive skills and allows you
to explore all that diving has to offer. The
Adventures In Diving program offers you a structured program where you
gain additional experience and skills under the guidance of a PADI
Professional. Deep and Navigation dives are mandatory. On Saba,
you can choose other diving areas that interest you: Drift Diver,
Multi-Level Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Underwater Naturalist,
Underwater Photographer, Night Diver, Search and Recovery, Project AWARE
and Fish Identification. (We have no ice, wrecks or
mountain lakes or need to wear a drysuit.) You can even do a nitrox
training dive as one of your electives. With this choice, you can
also use this dive training toward obtaining your nitrox certification
and save $25.
The
PADI Adventures In Diving program offers two certification options.
Complete any three Adventure Dives to earn the PADI Adventure Diver
rating. Complete the Deep and Underwater Navigation Adventure Dives and
three additional Adventure Dives (five total) and earn a PADI Advanced
Open Water Diver certification. Divers between the ages of 12-14 who
complete the dives can earn a PADI Junior Adventure Diver or Junior
Advanced Open Water Diver rating. The maximum recommended depth for
adventure dive is 30 metres/100 feet.
Emergency
First Response
Want to be
ready in an emergency? Then this program is for you! The PADI Emergency
First Response program covers basic training for cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) and emergency care. In addition, it’s a medically
based program covering primary care, secondary care and treatments
following national consensus guidelines. An EFR certification or
proof of a recent CPR and First Aid course is a pre-requisite for Rescue
Diver enrollment.
Rescue
Diver
How
do you take a subject like accident prevention and management and turn
it into fun? Call it the PADI Rescue Diver program! The
PADI Rescue Diver program develops your knowledge and skills so you can
effectively perform diver assists and rescues, manage diving accident
situations and render first aid. The program is an important step in
expanding your knowledge and experience as a diver. PADI Rescue Diver
(or equivalent) certification is also a prerequisite for all PADI
leadership programs.
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prevention of problems before they arise |
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self-rescue and
diver stress
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diving first aid
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emergency
management and equipment considerations
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swimming and
nonswimming assists
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panicked diver
response
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prevention of
problems before they arise
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missing diver
procedures
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surfacing the
unconscious diver
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in-water
artificial respiration
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egress (exits)
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first aid
procedures for pressure related accidents
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dive accident
scenarios
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-
 **The
Rescue Course requires you are first certified as a PADI EFR
(Emergency First Responder) or equivalent first aid/CPF
training. Check with your local PADI Dive Center, Red Cross or
similar community program. Isn't it something you would feel
good about even if you weren't a diver?
Divemaster
Training
Considering making your hobby
your career? Or perhaps you just want to be as knowledgeable as
possible about your sport. Becoming a divemaster is the first step in becoming a
professional diver. A divemaster is someone who
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Has a high
level of personal diving skill.
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Has
instructor level knowledge of diving theory.
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Has had
significant training to assist an instructor during
training activities.
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Is able to
assume appropriate responsibilities that benefit other divers.
If you simply want
to "collect a badge", Sea Saba is not the place.
If you are serious about expanding your diving skills and abilities to
accomplish the next step in diver training, Sea Saba promises a thorough
and fulfilling course, one that we will proudly sign our name to.
Be ready!
 B ecome
Nitrox (Enriched Air) certified
Once considered technical diving,
diving with nitrox is now better understood. Diving with nitrox
simply means your scuba tank is filled with a higher content of oxygen
than a regular air mixture. Sea Saba offers three levels of nitrox
training. From a one-dive introductory course to an internationally
accepted license. We still suggest Enriched Air/Nitrox license so
that you have no restrictions, but there are more options--see below.
If you are still deciding whether to become nitrox certified and want to
know more about why diving nitrox is safer and the best thing
you can do to reduce the risk of DCI, go to Sea Saba's Nitrox
(Enriched Air) page for more detailed information.
*Price includes instructor
time, use of textbook, calculator and tables, two nitrox tanks, licensing
fees--based on 3 persons; prices vary with number of participants. Pricing
based on package add-on; dives not included. Private Course
$169; Semi-Private $149 p/p
***PADI standards do not
require a nitrox dive must be done for this certification, but is
recommended. See our explanation and recommendations on this course
below.
Dive Today Nitrox Introductory
Course
This course is designed as an introduction
to nitrox diving. You must be a PADI Open Water diver (or
equivalent) and complete Practical Application 1 (a brief 'homework'
assignment) and be briefed by one of our nitrox instructors and dive under
their supervision. Easy? You bet! Benefit? The
course is designed to "de-mystify" what all those other divers on the boat
with green and yellow labels on their tanks are doing. You will be
shown how simple it is to analyze your tank and the difference of a nitrox
profile versus an air profile. Of course, the intention is that you
will take things to a next step and become fully certified to regularly
reap the benefits of the safer gas usage.
Discover Nitrox
In 2004, PADI now gives us more learning to
dive nitrox options. This course is a quick compromise to dive
nitrox with less time required for licensing but with limitations.
For this reason, we recommend spending just a few more hours to become
Enriched Air licensed but we are pleased to
spell out the specific differences. Only one Knowledge Review
(homework assignment) is required to be completed and you don't even have
to do a nitrox dive to be certified. Once licensed, there are some
restrictions to compare:
| o |
May dive
up to 32% mix |
| o |
Maximum
depth of dives is 100 feet (30 meters) |
| o |
Must dive
air profiles and only use an air computer |
| o |
Must be
under direct supervision of Nitrox qualified divemaster or
instructor |
 Enriched Air
Sea Saba offers
a PADI International Enriched Air license, an easy and fast way to be
diving nitrox and benefit from the advantages of nitrox use. The new
2004 manual makes your nitrox certification quicker and easier to obtain.
Two easy unobtrusive afternoon sessions, between 4 and 6 hours total time
is all it takes. Most often, you can be diving nitrox after the
first class. The
advantage of the Enriched Air course over the Discover Nitrox course is
that you can dive any mix up to 40% (not just 32%) with no depth
restrictions, utilize a nitrox computer for extended range benefits and
dive as a buddy team--not just under instructor supervision. Of
course, we still recommend safe recreational limits of 130 feet or 40
meters.
Specialty courses allow you to focus in
areas you are most interested. Sea Saba doesn't let just any
instructor teach a course to 'go through the motions' and 'issue you
another badge'. Sea Saba is committed to offering you only specific
courses that our staff has a background in and can truly deliver a superb
learning experience. For that reason, you won't just get a quick
briefing on the boat prior to going on a dive. Instead, the
instructor will meet with you in the late afternoon prior to your dive, at your
hotel or an agreed meeting spot, so that there is more than adequate time
to teach you the academic portion of your course. This way when
you're on the boat you will be comfortable and confident; knowing what to
expect and equipped with all the tools to learn as much as possible.
If you are looking for a quality educational experience, we are confident
you will consider our prices competitive and fair once you compare the
actual time you will spend both academically and underwater. Choose
from the following top quality specialty courses:
*Pricing for Underwater Photo
and Naturalist are based on package add-on; dives not included. Specifics
regarding pricing for each course are footnoted below:
| Nat
Geo |
Price
includes instructor time, National Geographic Crew Pak with DVD,
manual, specialized log book, licensing fees, instructor time, use
of digital camera on 1 dive, 3 dives, each probably set up as our
afternoon dive. |
| UWPhoto |
Price
includes instructor time, use of u/w digital camera for both
dives, take home cd souvenir, imaging software and lesson on how
to use, PADI Underwater Digital Photography Manual,
licensing fees. Pricing valid for any number of
persons. Pricing is based on package add-on, dives not
included. |
| Naturalist |
Price includes instructor
time, two identification books, slate,
use of u/w camera for both dives, licensing fees--based on 3 persons;
prices vary with number of participants. Pricing based on package add-on;
dives not included. |
National
Geographic Certification can
be done as a more extensive open water course or on its own as what's
called a portal program. The goal of the PADI National Geographic
program is to take you from being the armchair traveler to an underwater
explorer. Our top quality course involves three dives. You
will have a full academic presentation and discussion conducted in a
relaxing learning environment for each dive done with this program.
The first dive done as part of the program is a Buoyancy and Navigation to
polish your basic skills. The next two dives are when you conduct
your Exploration Project. Here's where Sea Saba will spend time with
you to understand your background and skill level as well as your specific
interests so that we can customize this course for you. Some examples are:
Mapping Project, Reef Check Survey Project, Marine Environment
identification project. Sound interesting? You bet!
 Underwater
Photography is a course well worth
taking. If you have tried underwater photography with a film system
in the past without great success, it's time to try again! The new
technology is easier to use and yields fantastic results even for first
time users. Any aware diver who attempts his first underwater photograph
is immediately humbled. Once you have your buoyancy fine tuned, you
then realize looking through a view finder is even challenging...now how
to adjust for sunlight or lack of it, controlling back scatter and before
you know it, the fish moved! With our Introduction to Digital Underwater Photography course
you'll learn many new skills from buoyancy control and photographic
techniques to animal interaction etiquette. As important, we'll
teach you how to use and care for an underwater system as well as the
foundation to download and maniupulate your images to be able to share
them with friends. Sea Saba's high quality 5
megapixels Minolta cameras and housings are included in the price as well
as a souvenir c.d. of your results. Even at a high
resolution setting to create quality prints, Sea Saba's digital camera
with large memory card can give you over 200 images and/or up to 15
minutes of digital video footage. There are a
number of photos on this website (and certainly there will be even more
going forward) which are taken by first time users. Why the great
success? A great little unit that is user friendly with a large view
finder makes it easy for the complete novice to take good quality
pictures.
Underwater
Naturalist Certification
Are you a comfortable diver ready to learn something new in a fun
environment? Let a Sea Saba expert share the enthusiasm and knowledge they have gained
from years of diving. This course starts with the basics of marine
life identification providing the tools and know how to take your learning
to a next level. So whether you just want to know what kind of fish
that is or whether your goal is to be involved in a marine
conservation effort, let Sea Saba provide the cornerstones to build upon.
Our Underwater Naturalist Course includes the use of a digital camera on
both dives so that when you're de-briefing with your instructor, you have
actual images to discuss the fish, corals and creatures identified on your
dive. And, we'll download the images to a c.d. so you have a great
souvenir of your experience.
Before you
consider diving....
 If you maintain your health and follow the basic
rules, scuba diving is a sport you can
enjoy in to your 80's! However, diving has inherent risks that may not be a concern
while participating in other sports. Dive training whether for
one-day courses, specialties or professional training requires the student
to complete a medical statement and liability release. Sea Saba
follows the recommendations of PADI
and D.A.N. Please
click
here to review the medical questionnaire before coming to Saba.
If you answer yes to a question, you may require require a physician's
clearance before training begins. Any medical concerns
that might effect your ability to learn to dive or to dive safely should be addressed before
you travel. With your safety as our #1 concern, we have the
right to refuse you to dive with us should we be made aware of any medical
concern at any point during your stay. Click
here to D.A.N. register before coming to Saba.
This page last updated on
03/31/2008
from our Windwardside office.
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