Which skills are required to complete the Independent Diver course open water dives?
Students must have completed all required skills in the table below by the end of the open water dives. It is essential to introduce skill types, such as mask skills, logically.
For example, mask partial flood comes before mask full flood, and so on. However, the specific timing of when to teach these skill types during Confined Water sessions will depend on the confidence levels of your students and logistical considerations.
Students must have completed each skill in Confined Water before repeating them in open water.
See Recommended Schedules for suggestions on how to organise skills within training dives.
Numbered skills in bold must be completed in order.Â
| Mask Skills | Buoyancy Skills | Snorkel Skills | Equipment Skills | Regulator Skills | General Skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Partial mask flood and clear | 1. BCD inflation and deflation at the surface. | 50 Metre Snorkel swim | Equipment assembly and disassembly (x3) | 1. Breathing underwater | Equalisation techniques |
| 2. Fully Flooded mask clear | 2. Neutral Buoyancy | Disconnect and reconnect LPI | 2. Regulator clearing | Predive check (each dive) | |
| 3. Mask removal and replacement | 3. Hover | Weight system removal and replacement at the surface | 3. Regulator Recovery | Controlled descent | |
| 4. No mask breathing | Weight Check | 4. Alternate air source ascent | Ascent | ||
| 5. No Mask Swim | SPG Use | Snorkel to regulator exchange | Hand Signals | ||
| BCD removal and replacement at the surface | Deep Water Entry | ||||
| BCD removal and replacement at the surface |