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Sea Saba offers professional training programs from one-day Discover Scuba Diving for first timers to two-week 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 2005 is our National Geographic Program.  If you are looking to improve your diving skills or enhance your diving knowledge, Sea Saba offers you a number of choices to continue your diving education.

on this page...
Learn to Dive      Improve Your Diving Skills   
Become Nitrox Certified      Specialty Courses
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 like Divemaster.  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.

                              

*prices are in U.S. dollars and based on 3 persons.  Private and two persons courses are always available, price is normally slightly higher.  We also offer entry-level classes at lower prices based on the book/manual being returned---just ask!  No Hidden Costs!  Our prices include equipment, instructor time, pool usage, academic materials, transfers to and from the boat, licensing fees.  Prices do not include Saba Marine Park fees of $3/dive.   

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--provided it is within one year of this course.  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.

Open Water Certification 
A full certification course enables you to receive an international license.  At a relaxed pace, this course takes 4 full days---but no worries, it's fun!  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 normally has you diving a beautiful site in the Saba Marine Park the afternoon of your first day.  If you want to spend less time in the classroom and have more fun diving, purchase the "Dive Today" manual from your local area dive store before you travel.  Even if you start reading on the plane, it will reduce the study time on Saba--giving you more time to relax and enjoy our special island.  

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 area even if you only intend to only 'dive in paradise' is a good idea for many reasons.  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.

**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.  PADI requires specific equipment for training at this level.

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. It's your dive - go for it!  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, Underwater Navigator, AWARE Fish Identification.  (We have no ice, wrecks or mountain lakes or need to wear a drysuit.)  New in 2004--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.

Medic First Aid
Want to be ready in an emergency? Then this program is for you! The PADI MEDIC FIRST AID^® 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 MFA certification or proof of a recent CPR and First Aid course is a pre-requisite for Rescue Diver enrollment.  

• self-rescue and diver stress
• diving first aid
• emergency management and equipment considerations
• swimming and nonswimming assists
• panicked diver response
• underwater problems
• missing diver procedures
• surfacing the unconscious diver
• in-water artificial respiration
• egress (exits)
• first aid procedures for pressure related accidents
• dive accident scenarios
   
  **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 learn more about your sport..Becoming a divemaster is the first step in becoming a professional diver.  A divemaster is someone who 

1. Has a high level of personal diving skill.

2. Has instructor level knowledge of diving theory.

3. Has had significant training to assist an instructor during training activities.

4. 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!

Become 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.  New in 2004, Sea Saba offers four levels of nitrox training.  From a one-dive introductory course to an intense pre-tech training course.  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.  

**The cost of a "Dive Today" course can be applied to a PADI Enriched Air course--a sort of 'try before you buy' option.

***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:

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.

TDI Technical Nitrox Diver Certification
Are you considering advancing in technical diving?  Or perhaps you are not content unless you truly understand the derivation of formulas and table designs.  Sea Saba's nitrox/enriched air instructors have the background to teach you in greater detail about diving with nitrox.  We have found that the majority of our clients require the simplest and least time consuming course in order to reap the benefits of nitrox diving.  However, for those divers who want to learn more, we do offer a more advanced course--we'll make your high school Algebra Teacher proud!  Contact us for more information on the experience and equipment prerequisites; reservations required.

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 the evening 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:

(this area of this webpage still under construction...monitor this week for completion.)

*Pricing for Underwater Photo and Naturalist are based on package add-on; dives not included. Specifics regarding pricing for each course are footnoted below:

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.  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 Underwater Photography course you'll learn many new skills from buoyancy control and photographic techniques to animal interaction etiquette.  Our high quality 5 megapixels Minolta cameras and housings are included in the price as well as a souvenir c.d. of your results.   

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.

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PO Box 598
Windwardside, Saba
Netherlands Antilles
Dutch Caribbean

divemaster@seasaba.com

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