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DOWNLOADABLE (PDF)
FULL 2024 CLASS & LOCAL DIVE SCHEDULE ---
Learning to dive in a
basic Open-Water class just barely scratches the surface (no pun
intended) of what you need to know. We've long said that getting
your certification card is like getting a license to learn. And no
matter how many dives you've done or how long it's been since you
were originally certified, there's always something new to think
about. We've tried to narrow things down to what seem to be the five
that people are not only most interested in learning, but which can be the
most immediately useful:
PLEASE NOTE THAT
SOME OF THESE CLASSES ARE DONE VIA ZOOM
WILL OTHERS TAKE PLACE AT VETS PARK IN REDONDO BEACH
ALSO NOTE THAT WE FEEL SO
STRONGLY THAT THESE CLASSES
TEACH ESSENTIAL SKILLS, EACH ONE (except nitrox)
IS OFFERED FREE
AT LEAST ONCE DURING THE YEAR
(and the Squid Dive is ALWAYS free) |
BEACH
DIVING |
Beach
diving is a big part of the SoCal diving scene. But not everyone
necessarily got a beach dive during their basic class or maybe your
training consisted of the instructor saying "Go!" This
non-certification class will take you on one beach dive at Redondo's
Veterans Park and will give you the ins and outs of "reading" the
waves and the beach, make the entry, make the dive, and get out
without embarrassing yourself. This can also be taken if what
you simply want is an escort for your beach dive experience. Always
on a Saturday at 9AM.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: January 27, May 11, August 10, November 16
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NIGHT
DIVING |
Similar to the thought behind the Beach Diving class, you may simply
want an escort when you do your first night dive. You've come to the
right place. We also do these at Redondo's Veterans Park and
the experience consists of a single-tank dive. It's recommended you
have a few post-certification dives under your belt and it's helpful
if you've done a couple of beach dives prior to trying one at night.
Always on a Thursday, meeting some time around sunset.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: May 9, June 27, July 25, September 5, October
24, December 12
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TAMING
SURF
ENTRIES
& EXITS |
Chances are that your "training" for surf entries in your basic
class consisted of your instructor yelling "Let's go!!" while waves
that you swore were 10-feet tall bore down upon you. Most people are
either not very good at surf entries, terrified of them, or both.
But the reality is that we've got lots of good shore diving here in
SoCal, so it's a useful skill. This class is taught as
skin-dive-gear only (so no tanks) and will start with a short
lecture on how to "read" a beach and what to watch out for. Then
we'll go play in the surf, showing you not only the right things to
do but the wrong things to do as well and how to recover from those.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: April 13, July 6, October 12
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NAUI NITROX |
You
knew it had to happen eventually. Although we were one of the last stores
in the world the accept the concept of recreational divers using
nitrox as a breathing gas, we're the best store to learn how to use it
because we've thoroughly investigated all the ins and outs of diving
nitrox, and didn't just succumb to the hype. We'll teach you all about PPO2s, proper and improper uses of nitrox,
the dangers of oxygen toxicity, how to analyze tanks, and a whole
lot more. At the end of the classroom session you'll be qualified to
dive nitrox. Course fee covers instruction only. You may need to
also purchase a book.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: January 31, June 19, December 4
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NAVIGATION
MADE EASY |
There's
a great peace of mind to be had knowing that when you enter the
water, you have the ability to return pretty close to the spot where
you started. And that's what our Navigation class is all about. We
teach it in two parts: Dry and Wet. "Dry" is actually done on land (much easier to see and
correct mistakes) and requires no dive gear whatsoever, other than a
compass. We will cover the basics of what the compass is telling
you, show you how to run a reciprocal (out and back), as well as how
to start to get fancy with triangles, squares, etc. And we'll give
you some easy tips as how to estimate distances traveled. If
you like, you could just do the "dry" version and get a
very good feel for how to use a compass along with natural aids to
navigation.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: March 9, June 22, September 7, December 7
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SECRETS OF
FISH ID |
The
question we hear most often after a dive is, "What was that
fish?" This class aims to help you discover those answers on
your own. We'll start with some basics of fish identification, learning common
shapes, behaviors, habitats, and other things that help ID fish.
Then we'll follow that up with some practical applications of
actually figuring out the IDs of some fish pix. Because people
travel so much nowadays, we'll cover California fish, Caribbean
fish, and Indo-Pacific fish. But you'll also learn, in addition
to some specific names, that there are common characteristics that
work in each ecosystem and once you get comfortable with some of the
basics, the techniques work anywhere in the world.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: March 6, August 14
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PHOTO
WORKSHOP |
With
the proliferation of cameras nowadays, from small point-and-shoots
to big housed DSLRs to small video/still cameras like the GoPro, it
seems like everyone is taking pictures or shooting video. And - as
many of you probably already know - it's easy to take crappy shots.
But to take ones you're proud of takes a little bit of work and
thinking about what you're doing. This 2-3 hour workshop aims to help you in those areas. We'll cover
some of the basic things to remember when shooting, go over ways you
can "fix" shots with things like Photoshop and Lightroom, and we can
even look at things you've already shot and see if we can spot what
the problems are. It's very free-form, and very hands on. The goal
is for you to walk away with some skills and perspective that you didn't
have when you walked in. And whether you're a new shooter or a veteran,
we're willing to bet that you can become a better shooter after
spending an evening with us.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: January 3, May 15, November 13
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EASY
TABLES &
COMPUTERS |
With
more and more diving "education" on-line these days, it seems
there's less and less emphasis on some of the science and math
behind our sport. This class is designed to simply that for you and
make the process easier to understand. We'll start with the basic gas laws and physics: Boyle,
Dalton, and Henry. Then we'll look at Haldane's research into
decompression sickness which will take us into a simplified
explanation of how (and why) dive tables work. After we've cleared
the mental cobwebs about that, we go into computers, which
essentially tell you the same thing as dive tables do, but on a much more
sophisticated level.
SCHEDULE FOR 2024: April 17, October 9
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