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| >> | TYPICAL COURSE | > | Balmorhea Weekend |
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Open Water Weekend
(2 days - 5 hours each day) BALMORHEA, TX 400 miles south of Albuquerque (US 285 - Longer on I-25/I-10) Once you have completed all the requirements in the academic and pool development sessions, you will be ready for the Open Water Training Dives and become a certified PADI Open Water Diver! There are four required training dives, with an optional skin diving exercise. In each of these dives you will get a chance to practice the same skills you learned in the pool in a real diving environment with your instructor. In the summer time we meet in Balmorhea State Park in west Texas. Particularly the long weekends lend themselves to driving down there. After the required training dives, we offer an Adventure Dive at no additional charge. Here you set the pace, and simply enjoy the tranquility of scuba diving. |
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Travel: We recommend that you leave Albuquerque on Friday to Balmorhea, TX. It´s about a 6-7 hour drive. Plus any rest stops. This will allow you to be rested and fresh for your open water diving. Balmorhea, TX is at an altitude of 3,205 feet. Breakfast: Breakfast in the little town of Balmorhea is limited. At Dutchover´s you can get a hearty, farming-town kind of breakfast It is important that you keep your energy level high. Eat a good meal. Meeting: We will meet at San Solomon Springs at 09 AM Texas Time on Saturday, just inside the gate to the right. All dive gear will be assembled and kept on a large tarp. (Keep in mind that dive boats are small and space is limited and you are responsible for the gear) Facilities: At San Solomon Springs there are excellent restrooms available. Hot and Cold showers are available. Same with telephones and in the summer months, a concession stand sells Tamales, Candy and Soft Drinks Diving: You will be doing three scuba dives on Saturday On Sunday you will do the forth scuba dive and one optional snorkel dive. During these dives you will review all your skills plus learn a few more - like Underwater Navigation. Lunch: There will be no time to leave the Balmorhea State Park during the day. Bring seasonal warm clothing, sun protection, folding chair and your favorite foods and non-alcoholic beverages. Dinner: The class meets at a local restaurant for dinner on Saturday at 6 PM, or we may just have a cook-out over a mesquite wood bar-be-que. The choice is yours. Alcoholic beverages shall not be consumed less than 12 hours prior to diving. Therefore, all alcoholic beverage drinking is to be completed prior to 8:30 PM on both Friday and Saturday. After dinner you can return to the pool and watch all the lights from the night divers. Going Home: After the last dive on Sunday we rinse off our equipment in the warm showers and then we normally do the last minute paperwork, certification procedures and some general discussions. Plan on leaving Balmorhea, TX on Sunday in the early afternoon. We try to get out of Balmorhea, TX at approximately 1:00pm. Texas Time Please take care in driving. You will be quite tired after a full weekend of diving. |