from: Team Rogue Scuba
to: New Open Water Diver (OWD) Students

Congratulations on making the decision to become a SCUBA diver. You’ve made a major commitment to participate in this exciting sport. We are dedicated to giving you the knowledge and skills you need to be confident and safe underwater--in other words, to become a diver.

You probably have many questions about the course. Before it starts, we’ll help you get your bearings by outlining it. . .

Like other sports, diving requires good health and some paperwork, which you can review here (or print and fill out to get a leg up). Students must complete a student responsibilities agreement and a medical questionnaire. If you have any of the conditions listed on that form, a medical exam and sign-off by your physician will be necessary. Finally, in your first class session you'll be asked to sign a waiver and a learning agreement.

Also like other sports, diving requires equipment. We require that you buy your own mask, snorkel, fins, boots, and gloves (we call this your "snorkeling gear" and we sell discounted package combinations at a range of prices). We supply everything else you'll need for the course.

The information contained in your OWD manual and its companion DVD is designed to be studied and absorbed at home. There are fill-in questions at the end of each section to check your understanding. Your instructor expects you to have read sections one and two of the manual, and answered the questions at the end of those sections, before the first session of the course.

A typical course at Rogue Scuba has four or six sessions. Each month we offer a weekend course (two weekends, 1-6 pm on Saturday and Sunday) and a weeknight course (three weeks, 6-9:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays)--we also offer private classes, which allow you to set a schedule that works for you. Note that 1 pm and 6 pm are start times: please arrive at the shop a few minutes early so we can start on time.

Each OWD training session start upstairs in the classroom. Your instructor will review a section from the manual, ask and answer questions, and apply the information to real diving situations.  After the academics, you’ll move down to the pool to learn and practice diving skills and become familiar with assembling and using SCUBA gear. The pool is where most of your training takes place.

Your course concludes with checkouts, usually on the weekend following your last class session, in a local river or lake. During checkouts you will complete four dives in the company of your instructor. These are your application dives—your instructor observes you as you apply your skills in a real diving environment and build confidence and comfort.

By the end of the course you will know how to assemble and use diving gear, how to judge what gear is right for you, how to plan, execute, and log a dive, and how to deal with problems underwater. You’ll have a Certification Card ("C-Card") and a diver’s logbook. These allow you to rent dive gear and to book diveboat trips and diving vacations around the world.

Welcome to diving!
Team Rogue Scuba