Find out what it feels like to fly under water. The Drift Dive / Waves, Tides and Currents specialty will enhance your dive skills and understanding, so you can enjoy diving in currents safely and with confidence.
Enjoy a 10% discount by booking online!
OVERVIEW
Water motions and especially currents can be challenging for new divers. Since currents and surges can be common on the Gili Islands it is really useful to know how to handle these environmental conditions. Become a confident drift diver with Divine Divers Gili Meno!
Currents can bring the coolest underwater things with them: they may draw in gliding manta rays and your chances of spotting sharks and pelagic are usually heightened. It is not worth it to miss out on bucket list scuba diving destinations simply because you feel intimidated by currents.
What is current?
In a broader sense a current defines a water movement.
A mild current may barely affect your dive. A light to medium current could be enough to help you glide along the reef. But there are also incredibly strong currents that impact on how you conduct your dive.
Currents are affected by various factors: large oceanic systems move constantly, whilst smaller (but not less strong) currents are affected by tides, water density and wind. Currents don’t just consistently move into a specific direction. Currents can also really keep us on our toes: they can switch direction, push upwards, downwards, or change intensity at different points of your dive. You can also come across surge, which is more of a rolling-back-and-forth motion.
Get on your magic carpet (aka BCD) and navigate through the underwater universe of currents. The skills you will learn during this specialty training are fundamental skills you will use many times in your diving adventures.
The fun part
Diving in currents often opens up a world of new dive sites that often host the most spectacular marine life. Done properly, drift and current diving can be both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. Being able to go with the flow is just great fun. During the two training dives, we will teach you some new and fun skills such as negative entries or deploying a surface marker buoy without shooting yourself to the surface.
With negative entries we won’t meet each other on the surface and then descent together. We will empty our BC’s before entering the water, descent immediately and meet at 5 meters depth.
You will also learn how to check a current. You can usually tell by looking at the marine life and topography from the surface. Fish (especially small fish) will face into the current. If the fish are swimming calmly, the current is likely lighter, whereas if they are swimming hard and fast you may find a stronger current.
What you will learn
Upon completion of this program, you will earn your Drift Diver or Wave, Tide and Currents (pretty much the same thing but with a different name depending on PADI and SSI) specialty certification.
This specialty course also count towards the prestigious Master (Scuba) Diver rating.
Content and Schedule
Divine Divers Gili Meno conducts the drift and current specialty course in one day. The two open water training dives usually take place in the morning (09:00) and in the afternoon (14:30) of that day. Since this is a course that deals with water movements, we will of course try to find both currents and surges.
Please expect a mix of academic and hands on training experience and a fun day in and around the water that will surely influence your future diving career.
DETAILS (FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO KNOW MORE)
Would you like to know what other speciality programs we teach? Or you wonder why you should consider doing a specialty course?
Our courses are conducted in accordance with PADI and SSI standards. If not mentioned otherwise, you are booking an SSI course. Should you prefer PADI, it is absolutely no problem. Just leave us a note when placing the order. If you are interested in learning about the difference between the two agencies, you’ll find answers in the FAQ’s
You will also find the full (onsite) price list, the cancellation policy and our terms and conditions in the download section.
CONTINUE THE ADVENTURE
OUR COURSES ARE ALL-INCLUSIVE AND YOU WILL ENCOUNTER NO HIDDEN COSTS DURING YOUR DIVING JOURNEY.
TO ENROL INTO THE COURSE PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING:
SECURE YOUR PREBOOKING DISCOUNT
Please make sure you book the course one day before your arrival. We know it is tempting to just learn about the prebooking discount and then quickly book online but if everyone does that, we will at one stage have to adapt our prices to meet that behaviour.
Plans change. We know that too. Our cancellation policy is flexible and we are trying our best to meet your holiday schedule and potential interruptions of it.
To secure your prebooking discount you can either pay for your course or dive experience in full in advance (online) or you pay for it upon arrival. Please book it through our online system through.
We can however only send you the login details for the eLearning packages once you have paid in advance since it also involves costs for us. In the (hopefully unlikely) event that you can’t start the course as planned, you will get of course more time to make it to the island and if even that isn’t going to happen, you will get all your money back minus the arising expenses. Those we will however push through to you as much at cost price as possible. You will not be empty handed through because you are still in procession of the dive theory.
If you’d like to know more, please check our cancellation policy and terms and condition.
WHY SHOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER DOING A DIVE SPECIALTY COURSE?
In general, specialty programs are a great way to improve your current skills and learn new ones that peak your interest. Also, when you complete a certain number of logged dives and specialty programs you will earn and automatically receive some recognition cards (with SSI): Specialty Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver and Master Diver – one of the most elite ratings in diving today.
With PADI you can apply for the Master Scuba Diver Rating once you have completed the rescue course, five specialties and a minimum of 50 dives.
WHAT SPECIALTY COURSES DO YOU OFFER AT DIVINE DIVERS GILI MENO?
As a scuba diver your depth is limited to 12 meters and you can only dive with a dive professional. There are thousands of amazing dive sites in the world that can been dived at 12 meters or less. However, being able to dive deeper opens up even more dive sites and also the chance for more advanced dive training. Additionally, some marine species live in deeper waters. Being able to dive deeper increases your chances on seeing them.
Specialty courses allow you to focus on a certain area of diving that interest you. They are a great way to improve your diving skills. Divine Divers on Gili Meno offer following specialties – we will list them according to popularity:
Nitrox Specialty: The most popular specialty course. Dive safer, become less tired and extend your no-decompression time by breathing enriched air nitrox.
Deep Specialty: Become certified to dive to 40 meters and learn about decompression theory and diving planning.
Perfect Buoyancy: The most recommended specialty by most instructors. During PPB (Peak Performance Buoyancy) we improve your buoyancy by playing games underwater, experimenting with breathing patterns, weight placement and learning efficient finning techniques.
Drift Diving / Wave, Tide and Currents: Learn about drift and current diving and discover flying under water. We will practice buoyancy control, negative entries, navigation, use of surface signaling equipment and buddy communication. By the end of waive, tide and current course, you’ll have the skills you need to go with the flowand navigate through a strong surge.
Night Diving: Learn techniques for diving at night and discover the unique creatures that come out after sunset. It’s a whole different world after dark.
Fish Identification / Underwater Naturalist: Get a better understanding about the marine ecosystem and the differences between terrestrial and aquatic worlds. See new things, learn about the most important fish families in the tropical waters around the Gili Islands and learn to differentiate between different fish
Underwater Photography and Videography: Learn to take awesome photos or videos underwater to show off online.
Wreck Specialty: There are thousands of shipwrecks to be found in the oceans, seas and lakes all over the world! This course will give you skills to navigate and enjoy shipwrecks while teaching you how to recognize and avoid unique hazards wrecks pose to us as divers.
Underwater Navigation: Navigation can be quite a hard skill for a new diver to master. Learn compass proficiency, navigation patterns and natural navigation to make your dives more enjoyable.
Search and Recovery: Learn about search patterns, knot tying and use a lift bag to find missing objects underwater.
Scooter DPV Diving: COMING SOON! Diver Propulsion Vehicles, also called DPVs are underwater scooters. They allow you to see more, conserve air and get from one place to another faster – with a huge smile on your face. It is the most fun you can have underwater
Sidemount Diving: COMING SOON! Learn about the many benefits of diving with a sidemount setup. A sidemount configuration (diving tanks alongside of the diver) offers more flexibility and better steamlining options.
Rescue Diver: Yes, SSI considers the rescue course to be a specialty course. Learn the skills and knowledge required to recognize and deal with stress, prevent accidents and deal with emergency situations encountered by divers.
First Aid & CPR: A prerequisite to the Rescue Course. You will learn important techniques that may one day save a life and improves your willingness to help at an accident scene.
Science of Diving: The SSI Science of Diving specialty will teach you a complete understanding of the underwater world and its effects on the human body. This specialty is required training for most SSI Professional programs and is an essential way to expand your dive knowledge. Available online, you can earn your Science of Diving specialty certification from home and get ready to begin your dive professional career.
Environmental / Ecology Specialties: Environment specialty programs are the perfect way to enhance your dive experience by learning about different marine life, how ocean ecosystems function and how to dive safely with sharks, rays and more. The environment specialties can either be taught as a dry course (online and with classroom sessions) or as a two dive specialty. Here are the Devine Divers Gili Meno options:
Other specialty courses
If there is anything else that tickles your fancy, just let us know- other specialties are for example: Boat Diving, Equipment Techniques, Decompression Diving , Self-Reliant Diver, Full Face Mask Diver, and of course specialty programs that don’t really fit our tropical environment (ice diving, dry suit, etc)
HOW LONG WILL MY CERTIFICATION LAST?
Your entire life! Certifications do not have an expiry date. If you have not dived in more than a year we do recommend refresher training especially when you don’t have extensive dive experience.
CAN I DIVE WITH HEALTH ISSUES?
There are some serious conditions such as epilepsy, active asthma, emphysema, heart disease or haemophilia that could prohibit any diving activity. Since you are looking at advanced training you have surely filled in a medical questionnaire at least once before. If you had to provide a before a fit-for-diving-confirmation from a doctor then, you will most likely have to bring one again. However, things change and maybe some health issues have resolved themselves whereas other might have appeared. If you are not sure, please check the medical statement in the download section or contact us.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PADI AND SSI?
PADI and SSI are the two major training agencies in the world. You might have asked yourself: Is there a big difference or is one better than the other?
Instructors of both agencies will teach you how to be a skilled diver, as there is a certain skill set that every diver needs to have. To make sure of this, all diving agencies follow a legal framework laid down by the World Recreational Scuba Diving Council. The training agencies also accept each other; hence you could do an Open Water Course with the one and an Advanced Course with another diving agency.
The main difference is in the theoretical education, requirements and potential eLearning costs. And of course, much comes down to personal preferences and other factors such as the teaching skills of your instructor and the conditions of the water.
In general, SSI allows more flexibility in teaching methods and allows a more personalized approach in teaching. Therefore, we have chosen SSI as our primary teaching agency. Should you prefer a PADI course, just let us know in the booking – this is also absolutely no problem.
WHAT DIFFERENT DIVER LEVELS ARE THERE?
WHY SHOULD I DO A DIVING COURSE ON THE GILI ISLANDS?
Postcard-like white sandy beaches, azure and year-round warm waters (28 to 29 degrees), the reef on your doorstep and a great lifestyle – does this sound like paradise to you? The Gilis offer great diving all year round and are known as the turtle capital in the world – rightfully so, because both green and hawksbill turtles are abundant. Reef sharks are also frequently spotted and there is a broad range of marine life to be met on all dives. The dive sites are rarely more than a 15-minute boat ride from Divine Divers Gili Meno. The dry season is running from May to October and the rainy season from November to April. Rainy season sounds more extreme than it actually is because it hardly ever rains an entire day – expect showers at different severity but therefore less people.
WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE DIVINE DIVERS GILI MENO?
We love what we do! We have been in the diving game for over 10 years as Divine Divers on Gili Meno (but our passion for diving didn’t start here). Apart from our location in paradise and at the most beautiful spot on Gili Meno we are both professional and enthusiastic about diving. Our groups are small and our instructors hand chosen for their personality and excellent teaching records. Safety is our primary concern; our equipment is in excellent order and of course regularly maintained. We are committed to offering first-class service and superior quality dive courses. However, our main differentiator is our personal approach. We live Divine Diver and consider the dive shop more as a family than a business. Some guests just end up staying for months or even years…
