Stay down longer with PADI's Enriched Air Nitrox Course

Nitrogen, you learned about it as an Open Water Diver, then again as an Advanced Open Water diver you started to see how it really affects you and your allowable bottom times (NDL - No Decompression Limits). Well why not reduce the amount of nitrogen we breathe?

Diving on Air (21% - Oxygen - O2 / 79% Nitrogen N2) to 18m, you can potentially stay for up to 56 minutes if you have enough air in your cylinders. In comparison to Enriched Air Nitrox x32 (EANx32)  (32% O2 / 68% N2) where you can stay for up to 95 minutes and on 36% for up to 126 Minutes.

Go a little deeper on air (21% O2) to 25m (say on the Northland's Canterbury or Waikato wrecks or many of the sites at the Poor Knights Islands) and you can stay for upto 28 mins. But on EANx32 (32% O2) you can stay for up to 40 minutes and on EANX36 (O2 36%) for up to 50 minutes.  

Is it starting to make sense yet? Now add in the cost of a charter and the time you spend underwater and the training will be well worth it.

So to dive on "Nitrox" you just need to complete the PADI Enriched Air Nitrox course with us.  This involves reading the PADI manual and then attending an evening of theory here in the classroom.   We will plan some dives of different depths using different EANx mixes to decide which mix will be the best for that dive and practise analysing scuba cylinders containing EANx. .

Here in New Zealand, you are also required by Worksafe to complete two Nitrox dives with your instructor. We can complete these "FUN" dives on any of our Poor Knights Islands or Bay of Islands trips. Note the cost of these trips is not included in the course cost.

Cost: $250 | 1 day theory session | 2 "Fun" dives with your Instructor (charter fees are not included in course costs)

Cost includes all PADI training, certification and study materials. Any specialist equipment will be provided for the duration of the course.

Stay warm and dry all year round

Do you feel the cold or want to dive in New Zealand all year around and not just the summer? Perhaps you are a photographer or even a dive professional looking after students and you don't move very far underwater. Well you will not be creating much heat through physical exercise. Whatever the reason, there's no benefit to getting cold whilst diving. In fact, it's actually a predisposing factor for decompression sickness.

The PADI Dry Suit course is taught here at Dive Now Whangarei by instructors who dive all year in New Zealand in Dry Suits.

The course involves a little bit of theory from the PADI Dry Suit Dive manual and then the rest is all practical. We will introduce you to the different types of dry suits available and the pros & cons of each. We have access to world leading brands such as DUI, Fourth Element, Santi and Scubapro so have the experience to advise you when it comes to choosing the right suit for you and your diving.

Once we have sized you up for a suit to train in and the appropriate undergarments from our school, we will spend time in our pool learning how to control the suit. Once you have mastered the suit in our pool, we can head to the Open Water for two dives to complete your PADI Dry Suit training.

What you will learn on the course:

• Putting on and taking off your dry suit with minimal assistance
• Mastering buoyancy control using your dry suit
• Dive safety procedures when using a dry suit

Cost: $300 | 1 day Theory and Pool session | 2 Open Water Dives

Cost includes all PADI training, certification and study materials. Any specialist equipment will be provided for the duration of the course.  The cost does not include the Charter cost for the 2 Open Water Dives.

Getting you ready to jump back in.

If you haven’t been diving for a while, then let us take away the stress of your return to the sport with a short session with us in our pool.

After finding out a little about your previous dives and qualification, plus the length of time out of the water, we will tailor the session to suit your needs.  If you have been several years out of the water, multiple sessions maybe required.

Generally a refresher session involves the following;

• A quick quiz to find out what you do and do not remember.
• Re-introduce you to the equipment and have you get comfortable setting it up ready for the pool.
• Talk through the skills that we will be performing.
• Conduct the skill circuit in the pool, giving demonstrations of the skills for you to repeat.

Our refresher sessions run for about 2 hours and are conducted by our instructors.  We may also have a Dive Master in training run the session under the guidance of one of our instructors.

The session gives you a chance to get familiar with your own equipment,  if you do not own your own gear you can use our school equipment.

We can run our refresher courses most days and at short notice providing we have the staff available.

Cost: $120 | 2 hours Theory and Pool session 

Any specialist equipment will be provided for the duration of the course.