Precision workshop for divers after AOWD
LevelUP! Advanced Open Water Diver
Course description
LevelUP! Advanced Open Water Diver is a one day workshop for AOWD certified divers who want to fine tune their precision. The most common problem is the safety stop: the diver holds 5 m by moving the fins and loses position during a slow ascent. We record every session and review it after you get out of the water.
We work shallow, down to 9 m, because that is where buoyancy changes are greatest and every weighting error shows straight away. We check position faster than at Open Water level, so more time is left for the buoyancy window, regulator adjustment and tasks that keep your hands busy: buoy, spool, wet notes.
The workshop is useful before a trip with deeper dives, before the Deep or Dry Suit course, and when you move from a wetsuit to a drysuit.
1 day.
3 parts: position, buoyancy control and breathing, propulsion techniques. Each part has a short presentation, a drill on the mat, a water session and video analysis.
3 water sessions of about 60 minutes each, down to 9 m, with no required decompression.
Maximum 2 people per instructor. A private 1:1 option is possible.
Air or Nitrox with the right certification.
- Recordings of every session,
- A buoyancy window of at least 1 m without the inflator,
- Hovering within 0.5 m while deploying a buoy,
- A list of 2 to 4 priorities for your next dives.
- Minimum age 15.
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or an equivalent certification from another organisation.
- A current medical statement.
Main configuration
Single cylinder, wing or BCD with harness, weights and trim pockets, regulator with an alternate second stage, SPG and inflator.
Instruments and safety equipment
Dive computer, buoy with spool, spare mask, wet notes.
Thermal protection
The wetsuit or drysuit you usually dive in.
Also recommended
Your own camera, if you want to record your next training dives. We provide a line with markers and small weights on site.
Training fee
Set individually, according to the current Long Deco price list.
Registration and certification fee
None. LevelUP! is a Long Deco workshop and does not end with a PADI card or a card from any other agency.
Training materials
Presentations and session recordings are included in the workshop price.
Additional costs
Venue entry, fills, Nitrox and equipment rental if needed. We confirm the full amount before you sign up.
Theory
- The most common position errors in divers after AOWD.
- Weighting with a full and an empty cylinder: 15 l of air at 230 bar weighs about 4.5 kg.
- Weights in a wetsuit and in a drysuit.
- Choosing a wing or BCD and trim pockets with position in mind.
- Adjusting breathing resistance and the venturi lever on your regulator.
- Modified techniques, a slow ascent and a stop without finning.
Practice
- Configuration check in the water, trim while moving and while hovering.
- Adjusting the regulator while hovering without losing position.
- Buoyancy window: on a line, a middle depth such as 6 m, control by breathing only, markers every 0.5 m.
- Hovering during tasks: spare mask, wet notes, deploying a buoy.
- Flutter kick, frog kick, back kick and helicopter turn along a laid line.
- Slow ascent to 5 m and a safety stop without finning.
- Depth changes of 6, 3, 6, 9 and 6 m with a one minute hover at each stop.
We assess progress on the recordings: what counts is a position you repeat every time. We widen the buoyancy window as long as you can hold it without the inflator.
FAQ
Projects
- Training dives with a Long Deco instructor,
- Underwater documentation and photography, where a stable hover is a must,
- A LevelUP! refresher before the season.
Note: compare your workshop recordings with a recording made a few months later.
Trips
- The Baltic and wrecks within your certification limits,
- Lakes and quarries in Poland,
- Trips to warm seas.
Note: we publish current dates separately.
Further training
- PADI Deep Diver, Dry Suit Diver, Enriched Air (Nitrox) Diver,
- PADI Rescue Diver,
- PADI Tec Basics or GUE Basic Fundamentals,
- LevelUP! Tec Diver after you switch to a twinset.
Note: LevelUP! does not replace any of these courses.
