What will I experience on my PADI Open Water Course?

Taking your PADI Open Water Course is a life changing experience. Once you are a certified diver, it will lead to amazing experiences, new travel plans, new friends and some awesome memories that you will cherish forever. But the best part? You get all of this during your course too.

Check out this 3 minute video to hear from someone who has completed the PADI Open Water Course and get a taste of what's in store for you if you take that step too. It will give you some insight into what's involved in the course as well as a peek at the beautiful underwater world that awaits you.

You do not need any previous experience to take the course. The whole idea is that this is a beginner course. It is designed to introduce you to the theory of diving safely and then you will put it into practice in the pool and then in the sea. Your instructor will help you with this and there is a manual and video sessions to make it even easier.

You will practice everything in the shallow water of our swimming pool under the guidance of your instructor so you have plenty of time to adapt to your new surroundings and get used to using the equipment and breathing underwater. When you are comfortable with this, it is time for diving in the sea. There are no words to describe the feeling of being weightless underwater and flying for the first time while surrounded by the many unique creatures that inhabit our seas.

Once you have completed all the pool sessions and your first dive in the sea, it is time for your reward. On the last day of your course you will take a trip on our boat and experience some of the best diving Thailand has to offer. We make daily trips to Koh Ha or Koh Bida, which offer you the chance to see some of the most amazing underwater creatures. Experienced divers and photographers come to Thailand to visit these very same dive sites as they know how rich these sites are in marine life.

As part of your PADI Open Water Course you get to see the same things that they do, experience the same environment and enjoy the same feeling that certified divers keep coming back for. Throughout the dives your instructor is there to guide you and help you to apply all the techniques that you have learned during your training. You just need to take that first step. But be warned...diving is addictive!

Just remember that most people who take the PADI Open Water Course have no previous experience. You will learn all the skills you need to be a competent diver during your course. It will change your life, your attitude and you will find your facebook page will slowly start to fill up with incredible photos that document your experiences underwater. So what are you waiting for?

For more information about our PADI Open Water Course or our Packages that include transfers from Krabi Airport, accommodation at Amantra Resort (where we are based) and your complete Open Water Course, simply send an email to us at dalton@antigravitydivers.com and we are more than happy to answer all your questions and arrange everything for you. With our Packages, all you need to do is book flights to Krabi Airport and we take care of the rest.

You can find more information on this website including photos and videos that will show you just how beautiful the diving in this region is. You can also check out our Facebook Page to hear from others who have taken the plunge and to keep up to date with the latest happenings and promotions we offer. We are a small friendly dive center that keeps all groups small and personal, maximum 4 people per instructor. We strive to make your holiday a trip of a lifetime both above and below the water.

Hopefully we will see you soon to start your adventure :)

Becoming a PADI Instructor

One of our resident dive instructors, Lynsey Bartram writes about her life changing experience in becoming a PADI Instructor.

What's The Worst That Can Happen?

My first time to Thailand was in 2008 - I took my PADI Advanced Open Water Course and fell in love with tropical diving and Southeast Asia. All I wanted to do upon returning to the UK was live the life my scuba instructor was living, but also remember thinking surely there must be drawbacks; it just can't be that easy.

For the next 6 years I came to Asia nearly every year for diving and to catch up with my instructor Tony, by now a good friend; year after year he advanced in his diving career and always had great stories of where he'd been, who he'd met and photos to prove it - but he must be just 'lucky'? My instructor, Tony Andrews is today field service manager at PADI EMEA and now based in the UK.

During my annual diving trip in early 2013 to Thailand I met many new people who were already climbing the PADI ladder and this is when I thought to myself, "What's the worst that can happen if I took the plunge and followed in their footsteps?" This is also around the time when I met my future PADI Course Director Azman Sulaiman. When I returned home to the UK from that trip, Azman and I corresponded over email about all the courses I still needed to do, with him giving me invaluable advice on what to expect from the courses and life in Southeast Asia in general - even though I had already made my decision over cocktails on the beach before I even boarded the plane home.

So, after a few long months I quit my job, found a tenant for my house and was back on a plane to do what I should have done 8 years ago. Become a PADI diving instructor!

The journey has been nothing I could have ever imagined. I spent 8 weeks doing my Divemaster training on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia under Azman's tutelage; an amazing experience where every day was exciting and different. After having learnt so much from the divemaster course, the next step was the instructor course - preparing me to share my knowledge with people who have never dived before.

During the 2 week Instructor Development Course (IDC) at Anti Gravity Divers on Koh Lanta, I learnt how to fine tune my diving skills and expand on my dive theory knowledge but most importantly how to translate my passion for diving into teaching and giving people a brand new experience in life - a chance to see the underwater world in a safe and fun way! Our Course Director Azman offered our group complete dedication to make us the best we could be, both as divers and future instructors. I couldn't have hoped for a better teacher, mentor or role model.

By November 2013 I had passed the Instructor Examinations (IE) and became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and was offered a job with Anti Gravity Divers. Under the guidance of Azman and the more experienced instructors around me I was handed my first 'students'. I was excited and anxious all at the same time and had one of the best days of my life that day. Although my students were discovering diving for the first time, I was discovering the feeling of helping them achieve that. It felt like I was trying diving again for the very first time. To see their amazement and excitement was second to none, especially as the day had started with two very nervous people. In fact, they were so happy they wanted to dive with me again the next day!

So, this is now my life. Every day I have the opportunity to see people learning about and sharing the underwater world that I love so much - plus I'm always learning something new with each student! But it's not all just about the diving; the 'diving community' is full of different people who share the same passion for fun and diving, who enjoy the island lifestyle and want to share their experiences with others - along with sharing great food and a couple of drinks of course. Also, living on a tropical island isn't that bad either :)

During my time here I haven't just learnt a lot of dive theory and teaching standards to make me a confident dive instructor. I have also made some of the closest friends that I know I will have for life. Also laughed a lot, cried a lot and maybe had a couple of late nights here and there :)

So, what's the worst that could happen? I have a few funny tan lines from time to time.

Lynsey Bartram - UK

PADI Instructor #333738

Airlines Flying to Krabi Airport

There are many Budget Airlines that offer great deals for flights to Krabi. We have listed some of them below and some schedules for the most common flights within the Southeast Asia region.

We arrange pickups from Krabi Airport that will bring you directly to Amantra Resort where our main dive centre is based. We also arrange return airport transfers. Please do not choose a morning flight (before 11.30am) on the journey out of Krabi as the first minivan transfer only leaves Lanta at 7.30am therefore you need to allocate enough time to get to the airport (at least 5 hours before flight time).

Some websites for comparing cheap flights

http://www.kayak.com/	http://www.expedia.com.sg/
http://www.farecompare.com	http://www.skyscanner.net

Some of the Airlines flying into Krabi

Malaysian Airlines	http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en.html
Airasia	https://booking.airasia.com/
Tigerair	http://www.tigerair.com/au/en/
Firefly	http://www.fireflyz.com.my/
Malindo Air	http://www.malindoair.com/

Flights we can recommend

Airline	From	To	Dep	Dep	Dep	Dep
AirAsia	KUL	Krabi	07.00	13.15	16.25
AirAsia	Krabi	KUL	14.25	17.20
Malindo	Penang	Krabi	11.15
Malindo	Krabi	Penang	12.30	14.05
AirAsia	Singapore	Krabi	15.00
AirAsia	Krabi	Singapore	11.30
TigerAir	Singapore	Krabi	10.05
TigerAir	Krabi	Singapore	11.50
AirAsia	Bangkok	Krabi	07.10	09.05	11.40	13.50
AirAsia	Krabi	Bangkok	13.30	15.35	16.10	17.50