All instructors at TSC are multi-agency instructors. When signing up for your course you will be assigned digital learning materials as part of your course from SSI. In the event you prefer to be trained using materials from another agency please let us know and we can discuss the material costs associated. The scuba experience you will receive and the instructors teaching you will be the same.
Your scuba diving certification begins here. To enrol in the ‘Open Water Diver’ course with Toronto Scuba Centre you must be 10 years old or older and complete the medical questionnaire before entering the pool. Should you answer ‘YES’ to any questions on the questionnaire that ‘require’ a physician sign-off you will need to have this completed before entering the water. The certification course is in 3 parts. Part 1 and 2 are combined. This is called your academic and pool course. You will first complete the required reading through an online course that you will be given access to by TSC. You will then attend an instructor-led session in our classroom where you will complete some required paperwork. You will then be guided through the proper fitting of your dive gear and taught how to correctly size yourself with BCD’S, scuba masks, fins and wetsuits. We will also discuss dive equipment like regulators and dive computers and layering options to help with water temperature. You will have the opportunity to look at and try on different equipment at the TSC store before collecting your gear bag and heading to the pool. If you sign-up for the ‘FULL COURSE’ then the 3rd part of your training, referred to as the ‘certification dives’ which are conducted on a separate weekend and typically in the summer here in Canada will also be discussed. You can also complete your certification dives anywhere in the world with a referral form we will provide you on successful completion of part 1 and 2. You can also complete these dives on one of our international trips if you would like to.
You need adequate swimming skills, but no prior experience with scuba diving is required. During your course you will learn all the scuba skills required to be a safe and competent diver. On completion of the full course, part 1, 2 and 3 you will be issued with your certification card by the certifying instructor and will be allowed to present your card anywhere in the world and dive to a depth of 18 metres (60 feet).
At Toronto Scuba Centre you will learn how to safely use the very latest scuba diving equipment including a scuba mask, snorkel, fins, regulator, buoyancy compensator device and a tank. With TSC you also get to use a dive computer during your certification dives.
The Open Water Diver course consists of three main components, all of which need to be completed to receive your full certification:
The first step in your scuba training is the academic component, where you learn about the science of scuba diving, equipment selection and care, and various safety considerations. Your academic component will be delivered to you online followed by a scheduled classroom session held at the TSC Dive Centre. The classroom session will include some paperwork and a quiz (just to make sure it was you who completed the online course:), followed by a gear presentation and fitting session which will get you ready to head to the pool.
You’ve completed your academic component online and finished the in-class led session and are now heading to the pool. During the two in-pool sessions your instructor will teach you all the scuba skills required to be a safe and competent scuba diver. Here is where you will learn skills from setting up and breaking down your gear, giant stride into the pool and skills like breathing from a regulator, buoyancy, and how to clear your mask.
Four certification dives are conducted after the academic and pool components have been completed successfully. This course is completed over 2 days, typically mornings, on weekends, but can also be completed privately mid-week. TSC is happy to enrol any student who presents a referral form dated within the past 12 months from another training facility or organization. Currently our certifications dives take place at Gulliver’s Lake (Sun Retreats RV Park), in Millgrove and on international dive trips we arrange which can be found on our vacations page.
The full course option includes all three components of your Open Water certification training listed above: the academic component, pool component and certification dives. You will log your open water training dives and upon completion of all requirements, your Open Water certification card will be issued. Pool training is available all-year round; open water certification dives are available from June to September. The full course is completed over 4 days (typically two weekends). Date changes can be accommodated, subject to availability, if you provide at least 2 weeks’ notice. Private courses are also available.
Your certification dives must be completed within 12 months of completion of the pool training. If this time lapses, you will need to refresh your skills with additional pool training so that we can adjust this timeline.
If you are planning to complete your open water certification dives abroad, the correct choice here is to complete your academic and pool training with TSC before leaving for your trip. It means you will create more time for fun diving while on vacation without losing days to pool training and in-class paperwork. Academic and pool training is available all-year round at TSC and you will find our entire year schedule listed when booking. For clarity, when you complete your academic and pool training with us, TSC provides paperwork to you indicating that you’ve completed this training. You simply give this paperwork to the PADI or SSI dive centre you plan to use and they’ll finalize your certification.
Absolutely no prior experience with scuba diving is required!
TSC includes all scuba gear for in-pool training. Mask, fins and snorkel are considered personal items and are items that you should own. TSC does include these items for the pool training so that students can experience a high-quality product before committing to purchasing. Wetsuits are optional for the pool, but recommended and available for rental. Students will, however, be required to rent or purchase these personal items for the Open Water certification dives. Due to our class sizes, students are required to take their equipment to the pool minus tanks and all equipment to the lake including tanks.
Although they would like you to think this, no agency owns scuba diving or scuba diving stores. Dive stores are independently owned. Dive stores employ scuba diving instructors to teach scuba courses. Dive instructors are certified to teach by agencies that in turn then provide materials to them to teach their syllabus. There are many agencies all over the world such as SSI, PADI, NAUI, RAID, BSAC, TDI, SDI, GUE and CMAS. You will find that many instructors are instructors for multiple agencies because having choice is important. At TSC our instructors are SSI and PADI instructors, so we can offer both because we have students who have trained through both agencies. When signing up for a course you will automatically be assigned materials and certification through SSI as the philosophy and culture of SSI align more with our store. The quality of your training is delivered by the store and your instructor. It is important therefore, to remember you are being trained by TSC and not by an agency. Like any product or service, you will find great instructors and bad instructors and everything in-between. The important question for any student when training is, am I happy with my dive shop and the way they are teaching me, not with whose syllabus they use? Any certification you earn through any agency will allow you to dive anywhere in the world and that is the most important thing to know.
It’s the same Toronto Scuba Centre that you know and love with a new look!
