|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Silent World offers personalized dive instruction that is designed to maximize your learning whilst having the most fun possible. Our instructors are selected for their exemplary customer service, ability as educators and overall professionalism as opposed to interns and new instructors that you find at many dive resorts. Our courses are generally taught on demand with just you and your friends or family. This means individual tuition the majority of the time at a fraction of the price you will pay elsewhere for a private class. All of our entry level courses include all equipment you may need. Boat trips, any and all rental gear, manuals, pic cards, photos, etc.. are included in the pricing. There are no hidden charges. We will provide ANY rental gear you need for the entry level courses at no charge (Advanced and continued education courses include tanks and weights.) Dive instruction reservations are secured with a $100 deposit, non-refundable within 24 hours of the start time of the class.
You will receive a PADI or SDI certification for all recreational courses. We believe this gives you maximum value and flexibility as your card will be recognized all over the world. Please note however, that all the major training agencies utilize RSTC (Recreational SCUBA Training Council) standards and are therefore similar in content and approach, so you have no need to be concerned if you have a referral or basic certification from an organization other than PADI or SDI.
Although it is not true to say that you need to be an underwater Olympian in order to SCUBA dive, you do need to be in good overall health. Like all active sports, the fitter you are, the easier it is. Check out the questionnaire about your medical condition prior to enrolling on a course. If you have a physical challenge, then you may benefit from SCUBA diving. At Silent World, we have instructors who are members of IAHD and trained to help disabled divers experience the thrills of the underwater world.
Your Open Water Certification is recognized the world over and never expires! There are three aspects to the course (Knowledge Development, Confined Water Skills Development (Swimming Pool) and Open Water (Ocean) Dives) that can be completed in the style that most suits you and your schedule!
1) Complete the full course at Silent World in two and a half days! The first day you are in class in the morning, pool lesson in the afternoon for some training and two short swim tests. The second day, in the morning, you will be finishing your class work, and then, in the afternoon, doing your first two open water dives. The third day, either in the morning or afternoon, you will be out on our boat for your final two dives. Alternative schedules can be arranged to suit your particular schedule. Then, congratulations! You are certified to dive worldwide with a card that will not expire.
2) Complete your knowledge development in advance and cut your class time in half! We send you a CD-ROM to complete in your own time in the luxury of your own home or place of work. You print out the completed knowledge reviews and bring them to the shop with you. This option leaves you with just quizzes, final test, a pool session and 4 ocean dives to complete before certification.
3) Learn online with PADI eLearning! Complete all your knowledge development, quizzes and test in advance of your trip to Key Largo. After a quick review at the store with one of our instructors, you will then complete pool work and ocean dives over two days with us. This is the most convenient way to learn, however there is an additional cost payable direct to PADI / SDI. Click the pictures below to start learning with SDI or PADI. Choose either, it doesn't matter which!
 |
 |
We take you on our regular reef trips with our paying customers for your Open Water dives, so you get to see the best coral and marine life the sanctuary has to offer. We also have alternate spots to complete your course if the weather makes it impossible to do the check-out dives out at the reef.
Your own mask, fins and snorkel are strongly recommended. If you have not purchased gear, we recommend not buying until you reach Key Largo. We are experts on diving equipment and can give you honest sound advice on regulators and BC's. We only stock and rent what we dive ourselves, so you can be sure that you are learning in the best equipment available.
Course Fee: $430 per person
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q - What is the minimum age for scuba diving?
A- 15 years of age for Open Water or 10 years of age for a Junior Open Water Diver. Please note that because children develop academically at differing rates, additional class time may be required in order to complete the knowledge development. 8 - 9 year olds can participate in a Bubblemaker pool experience - call us for details.
Q - How deep can I dive?
A - 60ft with an Open Water certification or 40ft for 10 and 11 year olds. After Certification, Junior Open Water Divers must dive accompanied by a certified diver of legal age. 10 and 11 year olds must dive with a parent, guardian or PADI professional
Q - Will I see sharks?
A - Hopefully! Sharks are fascinating creatures and often become the divers favorite. The majority of sharks we see are harmless nurse sharks, although we occasionally see reef sharks, bulls and hammerheads. The big sharks are extremely timid and will usually flee as soon as they see a diver. They don't like bubbles and see you as a fellow predator, so you have no need to be concerned. Unfortunately due to overfishing for shark fin soup and due to by-catch from long lining, many species are on the brink of extinction. Click here to learn more about these awesome animals.
Click here to see why you need to learn to dive and become a friend of sharks! (Warning - this footage shows the barbaric act of shark finning and is quite graphic)
We also offer Referral (sometimes called Check-out) dives for ALL agencies. The four required dives cannot be done on one day, they must be done over two days.
Don't forget that we can help with equipment purchases! We strongly recommend not buying anything but mask, fins, and snorkel before coming to Key Largo. (Even then - we have an excellent selection of quality masks, fins and snorkels!) Key Largo is a very competitive market and Silent World is the most competitive. We can save you literally hundreds of dollars. Don't buy until you call and get a quote. We are an Aqualung and Oceanic authorized dealer.
Course Fee: $260 per person
Please ask your instructor for your referral paperwork and bring it with you when you check in. You should have all your knowledge development sections, quizzes, exams and confined water work signed off by the instructor.
Our PADI Advanced Diver Course is made up of five dives consisting of two core dives, Deep Dive, and Navigation. The three remaining elective dives can be made up of Night Dive, Underwater Naturalist, Photography, Drift, Search and Recovery, Boat Diver, and Wreck Diver, among others. The advanced course can be done in two trips, two dives on one trip and three dives on another. If the student wants to include a night dive as an elective, there is an additional charge for that third trip. The PADI Advanced Open Water Program provides the novice diver with a structured, well-supervised means to gain additional experience. The PADI Advanced Program involves students in various underwater tasks that broaden their awareness of the environment and their capabilities as divers. This course will not make you an expert diver, but rather gives you a taste of what more specialized diving activities have to offer. There is very little classroom, just the completion of knowledge reviews, mostly fun diving with some learning thrown in.
We generally send course materials out ahead of your course start date to give the student some time to read the manual and do the knowledge reviews prior to arriving in Key Largo. We charge only what the actual shipping costs are. This helps the courses go more smoothly.
PADI Course Fee:
$350 per person (plus $8 for light rental if needed)
$POA for night dive, dependent on the number of divers
Course Fee: $170 for one person or $85
pool only
You will meet one of our highly trained PADI instructors, who will fit you with our first-rate Oceanic dive gear. You will watch a brief video, then go to the pool where you will have a chance to become familiar with the feeling of breathing underwater. After your pool lesson, you are given time to take a lunch break. Then you will meet your instructor to go on the afternoon boat with the regular divers out to the reefs of John Pennekamp State Park and the National Marine Sanctuary. Your instructor will be at your side at all times. There is no certification for this course.
Course Fee: $180 per person. Includes all costs - registration card, instruction,
pool entry, equipment rental and boat spaces.
We provide Guided Dives for several reasons. One is that
the guide, one of our instructors, knows the dives sites like
his or her back yard and is able to find things that may be missed
by a diver that has not been to the site before. Another is that
hiring a guide guarantees a competent buddy for the lone diver
that otherwise would be buddied up with some other diver on the
boat. A guide would also help the novice diver gain some confidence
on his or her first ocean dives. A diver that has not been in
the water in a while would also benefit from hiring a guide.
Guide Fee: $50 for one person, $75 for two or three people, $100 for 4 or more.
Go Pro! Our Divemaster course can be done in a week or over several months - its up to you! Click here for prerequisites, equipment requirements and overview.
We are passionate about instruction and really enjoy working with Divemaster candidates. The focus on on self-learning, with our entire staff acting as mentors and facilitators to ensure you get the most out of your course. In a resort location such as Key Largo, we have an advantage due to the regularity of our diving activities. We are running dive trips twice a day, every day, with dive instruction courses running all the time, so you can be confident that there will be an opportunity to work on your Divemaster certification each day you are with us.
-Learn how to crew a dive boat, and manage dives in varying weather conditions
-Learn from our instructors during real courses, both in the classroom and in the water.
-See how a dive business operates and what makes it tick. At Silent World we have retail, charters, instruction, rentals, tech diving, gas blending and repair. Candidates are encouraged to experience each aspect of our business.
Course Fee: $650
Silent World Dive Center is located at MileMarker 103.2 bayside, in Key Largo's Central Plaza. For reservations or further information, call us at 800-966-DIVE (3483) or 305-451-3252; write us at P.O. Box 2363, Key Largo FL 33037, or email us at Silent World. We look forward to meeting you!
Silent World is proud to offer the highest level of diver training available via Global Underwater Explorers and Technical Diving International. Unlike some courses that offer decompression training without first establishing a sound platform from which to develop; GUE courses will build your experience and ability from the bottom up, ensuring that safety and comfort is never compromised. Our TDI courses offer a modular approach with courses suited to many levels of advanced and technical diving. Click here for our Advanced & Technical Training Page.
Silent World is the only Halcyon Dealer in the Keys! Click here to visit our Doing It Right equipment Page!