Upon completion of the all class and pool instruction, students are required to complete two days of open water training, or checkout dives, as we call them.  Checkouts consist of five dives; one snorkel dive and four scuba dives, and are necessary for the student to become a certified diver. 

Open Water Checkout Dives

Students have a number of options when it comes to checkout dives:

Students may check out with us at a local Quarry during warm water months;  (late Spring, Summer and early Fall).  The cost of these checkouts is included in the class fee.

Students may check out with us on one of our trips to the fresh water springs in northern Florida when the water here is too cold to dive: (late Fall, Winter and early Spring).  There is an additional $50 to $100 fee for these checkouts, depending on the number of students on the trip.  The fee is used to offset the instructor's expenses.

Students may do their checkout dives by referral.  If a student has a trip planned to a warm water destination and local checkouts cannot be completed prior to the trip, the student can checkout with a dive operation at his or her vacation destination.  There is a fee for these checkouts, paid to the dive operator/instructor who conducts the dives.

Students may do checkouts on one of our dive trips to the Caribbean.  These checkouts are generally free, but you might have to buy your instructor lunch or dinner!

During the checkout dives, students demonstrate all the skills they learned in the pool in the less-controlled open water environment.

The pool skills will be completed during the first day's diving.

On the second day of checkouts, students learn to use a compass underwater, and they complete the dives with a "fun" dive, in which they are free to dive on their own, with a buddy, under the indirect supervision of their instructor.  At the end of this dive, they are certified divers!