Coming To Tasmania, what now?
Everything you need to know about before you attend a commercial dive course here in Tasmania
Booked on a course, What next?
First off, congratulations on choosing to book onto a commercial dive course with us at the Commercial Dive Academy.
The courses themself are very exciting with great mixes of theory and practical skills taught through out.
In fact, each of the ADAS part one, two and three courses have roughly 21 dives per level and a huge mix of tool tasks such as welding, broco thermal cutting, chain saws, rigging, lift bags and more.
Many students are often readily prepared on the practical side and bring there A game. Some students prepare by learning key Knots such as the bow line before arriving, and this is a great idea!
Other students will come from a very practical background and be mechanics, builders, sparkys etc, and will have a great base of practical skills built up before the course.
You might be one of these highly practical individuals, but when was the last time, you recapped on physics? How about hyperbaric (pressure related) physics? or even anatomy or dive legislation?
Whilst we strongly believe we have the best mix of tutors and training systems of any commercial dive school in the world, it required that you do some online preperation before the course.
Lets set up your online account for free!
1. Click on the online study set up link at the top of the page or bottom of this write up.
2. on the right hand side at the bottom is a button entitled “create new account” – you gueesed right, click it.
3. it will take you to a sign up page, fill in the required fields to get a user name and password, click the box to agree to the site policy and the click “create my new account.”
4. If this does not log you in from here you may need to start again at the login page at 1 and use your new username and password to log in.
5. The first time you log in you will see a list of courses. Choose “On line revision modules”.
6. You will be asked to “choose your school”. Choose “CDA” (it should be the second option).
7. At the bottom of the school six revision modules will become available. This is what you need to study!! Note you will also be able to download a maths and physics study aid to help with formulas and definitions.
Accomodation and Food
Travelling out of state to do a course is daunting and can be expensive, especially accommodation. That is why CDA has worked with the local community in both Beauty Point (part one and two) and Sheffield (Part three) to find a diving house that can host all CDA students. This house used during part one and two is $165 a week (April 2021) and has all utilities and amenities that you could need.
For part three when you train on our saturation barge you will stay at a wilderness village park and the cost is $180 a week!
Food is not included in this price; however, all cooking facilities are including an outdoor barbeque. Savvy students will typically pair up with others to share meals reducing days cooking and total cost.
How to prepare practically?
All right, so your on top of the theory, or you want to have a bit of fun at the same time. No worries, that is a great idea.
First, is your knots, know them. A bad diver is exposed quick by his knot tying ability, if you come to our course with zero knot tying ability, you will be fine as we teach all the core knots you need to know assuming you have no experience. That said, learning the knots is a sensational idea.
Second, get comfortable diving in open water. Yes to do our course you need a recreational ticket and 10 logged open water dives, but it can not hurt to go out and do a few extra fun dives. Perhaps you could even take a small piece of rope down and practice tying knots under water, to see what it is like.
Third, if you have time, get used to handling hand tools in awkward positions, once you are a diver, your bodys position relative to your hands can be all over the place, in the water you might be upside down with your hands outstretched past your head, get used to doing some work with your hands orientated above you, if you have no work that can be orientated above you, try tying some knots.
Finally, have fun in the water, whilst the money is alluring, diving is a fun career. Make sure you have the joy of the ocean in your blood before you attend the course!
Employment after the course
CDA graduates up to this point have all found job placements on completion of our course. We typically recommend students to start contacting employers around 2-3 weeks before they graduate with a date that they are ready and able to work.
Upon completing our courses you will be able to work for almost any occupational diving employer in Australia and for part three divers, the world.
We will work with you and assist you in finding work and this includes past students who reach out to us when they need help.
Equipment you need to bring
for diving courses at CDA you are required to bring the following dive equipment:
- Wetsuit (we recommend thick and warm)
- Booties
- Fins
- Gloves
- Half mask (used for the pool assessment
we also require you to bring the following equipment
- Steel cap boots
- Long sleeve top and pants
We recommend you bring the following:
- Computer / tablet
- Warm clothing for Tasmanian weather
Pre Requisites
Now that you are attending our Diving course, it is essential that you meet all pre-requisites, click the link below to learn more about our pre-requisites.
