Here are a couple of questions taken straight from the Open Water Exams for those of you coming to Big Blue to do your open water course:
Question 1- in “time to fly” mode, dive computers report how much time the diver must wait a) before making another dive, b) before flying on an airplane, c) before taking a hot shower, d) before traveling on a boat.
Question 2- how do you behave to avoid injuries when diving? a) treat all underwater creatures respectfully, b) answers A and D are correct, c) stroke animals from behind only, d) avoid touching anything.
If you answered b and then b, then congratulations, you will pass your open water exams with flying colours. If you answered c and then c, maybe take up speed walking as a hobby instead.
A lot of people seem to worry about the open water exams, but they really don’t need to. It’s 50 questions multiple choice, and by the time you have to do it you will be fully prepared. Your instructor will talk to you about dive theory as part of the course, and you will cover everything that’s in the exam. As long as you listen to the instructor and do your homework, you will have no problems whatsoever.
We do get the odd person that fails, but that’s usually because they have either drifted off consistently when they should have been listening, they have a learning difficulty, or they’ve been secretly looking at Facebook under the table. 99.99999999% of all people pass with flying colors. If you were to fail, we would put you in the stocks and throw tomatoes at you. I mean, let you sit the exam again after a little coaching. So you can move on to the next part of the course- diving in the ocean. Alternatively we could take you on the dives and then at the end of the course coach you through the exam. So relax and concentrate on the task at hand- learning how to dive. The theory compliments the practical anyway so most of what you’ll learn in the classroom will apply to your dives.
Plus you can look forward to the advanced course straight after your open water- 2 days, 5 dives, NO THEORY!
