Thank you for your interest in our Handicapped Scuba Association Dive Buddy Course. This fun filled program will challenge you and is loaded with information.  It’s sure to open your mind and guaranteed to open your heart.

What You’ll Learn

During this three day course, you’ll gain the knowledge and experience to safely and effectively assist divers with disabilities. The training you receive will be like nothing else you’ve ever done before.

Day 1 – 9am-5pm
We begin by meeting your fellow candidates and collecting the various documents, and after that, we'll wade into the many aspects of the HSA program.   After lunch, we continue in the classroom and dive into the HSA Performance Standards and certification procedures.

Day 2 – 8am to 4pm
We’ll head to the pool and begin our series of role-playing exercises as a dive buddy and as a person with a disability and other skill training.  We promise, you'll learn the meaning of trust, faith, belief, confidence, expectation, reliance and dependence.

Day 3 – 5am to 5pm
Here’s your chance to put many of the techniques you learned in the pool to use in an Open Water environment in the Avalon Underwater Dive Park. Again, you’ll be working in buddy teams and performing several of the skill learned in the swimming pool. As in the pool, you’ll be playing the role of a disabled diver and as a dive buddy.

Prerequisites

• Certified Open Water Scuba Diver, or above, by a recognized diver training agency
  Please bring your certification card to the first class.
• Minimum age 15 years old
• Complete the Course Registration and Liability Release, Dive Buddy Course Application, Inherent Hazards and Risks of Diving Activities, and Medical History forms.
• Be fit for diving, if you answer “yes” to any medical questions, you will need to see a physician and have them complete a standard scuba diving medical form stating that your are medically fit to dive. Please bring your completed Medical Form (signed by a physician if necessary) to the first class.
• Logged a minimum of 10 open water dives within 2 years prior to the starting date of the course. Please bring your log book to the first class.
• Logged a total minimum of 20 open water dives to complete the course.
• Successfully challenge HSA Air Sharing and Life Saving Skills or equivalent. You will be asked to demonstrate these skills the first day of class.