PADI EXPERIENCES: Andrea's PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course
I always had an interest in the world of scuba diving and finally in 2020‚ having had some free time‚ I made the decision to take my first PADI course.
I started looking for a PADI dive center and among the many I found Evasioni Blu Diving‚ a 5-star IDC PADI center. One of the dive center locations of Evasioni Blu Diving is located in Ustica. Ustica is a small and beautiful volcanic island off the coast of Sicily where the first Marine Protected Area of Italy was created. Ustica is a destination for many scuba diving enthusiasts.
Here I was lucky enough to meet Rino and Esther‚ two exceptional PADI instructors who not only teach diving‚ but transmit their passion for the Mediterranean Sea and scuba diving.
I immediately took them as examples to follow. And it was with them that I continued my training in this world that fascinates me so much: scuba diving.
After the first diving course‚ and certified as a PADI Open Water Diver‚ I returned to London for work‚ but something was definitely missing now...
Impressed by Ustica‚ its splendid dives and what I had been taught‚ I decided to return from Evasioni Blu Diving in Ustica to take the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course.
My experience of the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course
The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course immediately aroused such strong interest that it led me to finish the “PADI Adventures in Diving” manual in just one day! This diving course gives the opportunity to reach greater diving depths‚ which intrigued me a lot. In addition‚ you learn new diving skills that make scuba divingmuch more rewarding and help you to become more confident underwater. In the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course you have a first approach with the different PADI specialties available in the world of divingincluding: underwater photography‚ cave diving‚ wreck diving‚ fish identification and many other so-called PADI adventure dives. In addition to the “Underwater Navigation” and “Deep Dive” PADI Adventure Dives‚ there are 3 PADI Adventure Dives to choose from. I decided to try search and recovery diving‚ night diving and peak performance buoyancy diving.
On the dive site of Cala Galera in Ustica‚ I started practicing a good use of the underwater compass during my underwater navigation lesson. And despite the distraction of shoals of seabream and a huge dusky grouperthat took my eyes off my compass‚ I still managed to find my way during my dive.
I learned to improve my buoyancy while diving which I think is very useful for any diver! Trust me‚ better to be a diver with a stable buoyancy than to look like a drifting buoy.
Later‚ during my search and recovery adventure dive‚ I also learned different techniques for locating and recovering different types of objects lost underwater. This dive combines many underwater skills‚ from buoyancy control‚ to underwater navigation‚ to controlling the buoyancy of the lift bag attached to the recovered object by adding and venting air from it when needed. A great satisfaction to be able to do all of thisunderwater! Those who like a "treasure hunt" will surely have a lot of fun during this adventure dive!
My night dive was an exciting experience that allowed me to observe the underwater world from a completely different angle. You imagine seeing less to nothing during a night dive‚ but marine life seems to actually wake up during the darkest hours and it is wonderful to be able to admire this. The octopuses‚ crabs and lobstersthat come out of the Pastizza caves and the barracudas that whiz through the water hunting ...
Finally‚ I managed to complete the long-awaited goal: my deep dive and reaching 30 meters depth during my dive! It was a crazy feeling! Look above and see this roof of water that seems to never end. That perception of lightness‚ silence and peace that managed to completely take me away from the chaos of a city like London.
Andrea Denaro
27 years old
Head chef
London‚ UK
