Free diving is breath-hold diving, being in and under the water whilst holding one’s breath, without the use of a breathing apparatus or scuba gear. The origins of free diving can be found in Ancient cultures that used to dive for sponges, using weights tied to their body, to reach bottom of sea floor. Mentions of sponge by Plato suggest that free diving dates back as early as the Archaic Period. Today, free diving is exploding in popularity! Once only a sport for accomplished divers and photographers, it’s now becoming a sought after hobby for general sports and ocean lovers!
Course Information
This course was specially designed by Blue Holic Scuba to teach students free diving skills and techniques, breath holding, equalizing, and safety (and spear fishing if you desire). Every week we will increase your capability to deep dive and maximize your ability to stay underwater longer. By the completion of this course the goal is for every student to feel confident to dive up to 40 feet for 2 minutes. This is a training course only, and will not include a PADI freediving certification.
Academics
The Blue Holic Free Diving Course will take a total of 8 weeks to complete (8 pool sessions and 2 ocean dive sessions). You will be required to attend 4 Saturday pool sessions before you will be ready for your first ocean session, and then 4 more pool practice sessions before your final ocean dives, where you will also have the option to learn spearfishing (this will require purchase of a spear gun and fishing license). These sessions do not have to be completed back to back and can be spread out over time to accommodate your schedule.
Equipment
If you would like to attend this course, you will need to come to the shop to sign your student waiver and purchase your gear (if you do not have it already) before your first pool session. The next step is to reserve your pool session on our calendar page, and this will determine when you begin.
We carry all of this equipment in the shop and will offer you 15% off. Please stop by anytime to take a look .
If you already have all of your gear and would like to take the course, the cost is $400, and you can purchase through this page. You will also need to come to the shop to sign your waiver, and then purchase your first pool session on our calendar page to begin.
Join our Blue Holic Scuba family by starting the adventure of a lifetime. Once you have completed the Open Water Certification, you will be able to dive all over the world.
Diver certification for anyone from 10 to 99yo begins here! If you’ve always wanted to take scuba diving lessons, experience unparalleled adventure and see the world beneath the waves, this is where it starts. Get your scuba diving certification with the PADI®Open Water Diver course – the world’s most popular and widely recognized scuba course. Millions of people have learned to scuba dive and gone on to discover the wonders of the aquatic world through this course. To enroll in a PADI Open Water Diver course (or Junior Open Water Diver course), you must be 10 years old or older. You need decent swimming skills and be in moderate physical health. No prior experience with scuba diving is required.
Additional Charges
The $209 base fee advertised here covers all instructor fees as well as the PADI fee to receive your Scuba Diver License card in the mail. There are additional charges on top of that to participate in the course.
The whole course will cost anywhere between $1000-1400. This will cover everything:
Your Scuba Certification License allowing you to dive up to 60ft around the world (included in base fee)
Knowledge Development Classes and Final Exam (included in base fee)
All Course Materials needed for the class: Open Water Manual ($95.50) OR Elearning ($250) as well as Log Book ($10) , SMB ($55) and Reel ($33)
6x dives in the ocean (two full day dive trips, 3 dives a day - $200/dive trip)
YOUR OWN personal gear: Mask, Snorkel, Fins, Booties and Gloves (~$350-600+ we offer different price points for all gear. You will pick based on fit and budget )
(add 15% off when purchased in our store, unlocks FREE Rental for rest of gear)
When you come into the shop to purchase your personal gear, one of our staff members will walk you through all the gear and have you try on everything! You will then be able to pick your gear based on fit, comfort and budget.
The cost varies depending on which gear you pick. We have different price points for all gear as well as different options depending on what your scuba life will look like (ie. heavy duty fins for California diving vs lighter fins for traveling to warmer climates). Make sure you talk to the staff member helping you and share what your scuba goals will be :)
We offer two different types of trips (no overnights!) to Catalina Island every Sunday. One aboard the Sundiver Boat, the other to Casino Point national Park on the island. Each ticket costs $180 which covers tanks and three dives in the day. Our boat trips on the Sundiver also cover snacks and meals throughout the day. Non Divers are more than welcome to join any trip simply purchase an extra ticket for them! You can also rent an extra suits and snorkeling gear for them to get in the water if they want to!
Academic
Our PADI Open Water Diver course takes 4 days total and consists of three main phases:
Knowledge Development to understand basic principles of scuba diving.
Knowledge Development: After your first visit at the shop you will be emailed 5 PADI videos to watch at home before starting your first pool session! On your second Saturday around 1PM you will take your Knowledge Development class. Make sure you do your homework by completing the Knowledge Reviews in your Open Water Manuals before showing up!
During the class we will go over every single knowledge review question - some in more depth than others. This is your time to ask all the questions you may have! At the end of the class you will be more than ready to take your final exam which takes about 40 minutes.
The class takes about 2 hours and gives many opportunities to ask any questions and clarify some techniques before practicing them on your final ocean! Please expect to be done, final exam completed by 4PM.
Confined Water Dives: Pool sessions run every Saturday morning from 8:30AM to 12PM at various different pools within 10 minutes of the shop. You will be emailed the week of which pool to go to.
Your instructor will take you through a set of basic skills to start out before heading to your first ocean. You will then be ready to practice more advanced skills on your second weekend before completing you final dives on your second boat trip!
Open Water Dives: On Sundays we go on full day boat trips to Catalina Island. Some aboard the Sundiver Boat docked at the Long Beach Harbor, others to Catalina Island, Casino Point National Park.
These are full day trips ranging from about 6AM to 6:30PM. We board the boat at 6AM, sign paperwork and set up our gear. We will then head for the island.
On the Sundiver, warm breakfast and sleeping bunks are provided for the 2 hour trip to Catalina. Once at the island, we will suit up and jump in for our first dive! We will then take a break, snack, and jump in for the second dive. Have lunch and finally jump in for our third and final dive of the day then chill on our way back to the Long Beach Harbor!
At Casino Point, we will arrive on the island and drop off our gear to a delivery service. We will them walk through Catalina Island (about 8 minute walk) to our dive site Casino Point. There we will gear up and do three dives before getting changed and heading to a restaurant in town for lunch before boarding the boat back to LA!
When you purchase your boat and pool tickets you are reserving your spot for the whole weekend. The Open Water course takes two weekends to complete. Feel free to start with booking one weekend at a time ! We ask that you complete the course within three months of starting.
Please take a look at our DIVE CALENDAR to see when you'd like to get started!
Equipment
In the PADI Open Water Diver course, you learn to usebasic scuba gear, including a mask, snorkel, fins, regulator, buoyancy control device (aka BCD) and a tank. The equipment you wear varies, depending upon the time of year and the water conditions.
Before you start the course you will be required to purchase your own personal gear mentioned above (mask, snorkel, fins, booties and gloves). We offer 15% off to all of our students. When you buy your personal gear at our shop we will waive any rental fee for additional equipment (BCD, regulator, tank, weight belt... $95 rental fee cap waived). We will walk you through everything no prior knowledge of gear is required! Although browsing our online store will give you a good idea of the gear we carry if you are someone that likes to prepare beforehand!
Getting Started
If you are ready to take on this beautiful adventure in your life, please follow the following steps:
1. Add the PADI Open Water course to cart.
2. Navigate to our Calendar and reserve your spot for your first boat trip as well as your pool session! When you purchase your boat and pool tickets you are reserving your spot for the whole weekend.
3. Once purchased, come to the shop at least 1 week before your first Saturday to sign your paperwork & pick up your gear and class materials. Please allow 40 minutes when you come to the shop as we would like to take our time to take you through and try on all the personal gear. We ask you to come at least 7 days before your start date so that you have enough time to watch the PADI videos and scan through the manual at home before you start your course.
Feel free to give us a call if you have any additional questions- we are happy to help! We can be reached M-F from 10AM to 7PM at (323) 641-7416 and Saturdays from 10AM to 4PM as well.
FAQ
Still not 100% sure how to proceed? Its normal, this is a lot of information. Let me break it down all over for you!
Okay you've read about the Open Water course. You understand that the Open Water fee on this page covers the instruction however does not cover boat trips ($180 each, you will need two to complete the course), course materials: Open Water Manual ($70.80), SMB ($36), Log Book ($10), and Personal Gear (5 items: mask, snorkel, fins, boots and gloves, costs between $350-600+ all together). All of the course materials can be bought directly in the Blue Holic retail shop located on Olympic.
Next step, you've added the Open Water course to cart. Now you can navigate to the Calendar to see when you would like to start your class. You understand that when you buy the pool session and boat trip, this reserves your spot to begin the course that weekend!
Before the first weekend of your course, you will come into the Blue Holic Scuba shop to sign your paperwork and get all course materials including your personal gear! Which you will get 15% off of in the store, and it will unlock free rentals for all heavy duty gear (Wetsuit, Tank, BCD, Regulator, Weights). Once you've gone to the shop to sign the paperwork and collect materials, you will receive a code to videos online to start watching along with scanning the manual before starting your first weekend!
Blue Holic Scuba is located at 3636 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. Hours are Monday to Friday 10AM to 7PM and Saturday from 10AM to 4PM. On Sundays Blue Holic is closed because we're off diving!
What about the actual course? How does it work?
The course is going to take about 4 days, aka. 2 full weekends. On Saturdays we go to the pool, on Sundays we go to the ocean.
The first weekend you are going to learn basic skills and learn to get comfortable with this new gear and breathing underwater. On Saturday you will perform basic mask and regulator skills in the pool and on Sunday you will do those exact same skills, but in the ocean!!
The second weekend we're going to get into more "advanced" skills that you will be more than ready for because... the whole time in between both weekends you've been studying in your Open Water Manual and completing the knowledge reviews (little quizzes) at the end of each chapter!
On your second Saturday, you will head to the pool for your second pool session in the morning then join Keline in the classroom in the shop at 1PM to go over the quizzes in depth so everything is fresh in your mind when you take your final exam!
And then finally your final ocean trip on Sunday where you can complete your course in one or two final dives (mainly practicing Compass Navigation and Buoyancy) and enjoy an extra dive with your instructor, no skills needed, just practice your buoyancy and enjoy flying with the fish!
What about rental gear? Is it included? When do we pick it up?
Rental gear is included with purchase of your personal gear in the shop. This means that when you buy all five items of personal gear in our shop (Mask, Snorkel, Fins, Boots and Gloves all 15% off) you will receive free rental of your 7mm Wetsuit*, BCD, Regulator, Tank, Weights and Hood.
Rentals pickups are on Thursday and Fridays (first come first served) and drop offs happen on Monday or Tuesday. Our hours on weekdays are 10AM to 7PM and we are located at 3636 W Olympic Blvd, STE A on the corner of Olympic and 4th Ave.
Please make sure you read about how to clean your rental gear before returning it. Wetsuits, BCD's and Regulators must be returned free of salt and sand. Dunking them in freshwater and soaking for 20 minutes will do the trick. Make sure you rise after the soak before hanging to dry. And remember to keep your dust cap on the reg before dunking it! You will learn about this on your first pool session :)
* (please call ahead for special sizes, we will do everything in our power to accommodate! Shop: 323-641-7416)
More Frequently Asked Questions...
Q. How does Blue Holic Scuba compare to other stores?
We care, we are passionate and we love what we do. We have tried to surround ourselves with like minded individuals be it on the Sundiver boat with Captain Kyaa, Eryn and Captain Rob or with our staff of instructors: Michelle, Keline, Son, Gabi and Joseph. We are always ready to laugh when we need to and zero in on our mission to make quality divers in this world. We are proud to have created a safe space for people to be themselves and enjoy some safe, quality time in the ocean!
Q. Can I still SCUBA dive even when I cannot swim well?
You do not have to know how to swim well in order to SCUBA dive. Of course, knowing how to swim is important.
People who cannot swim well are most afraid of drinking water and sinking. However, when a diver wears wetsuits, he or she floats automatically. Also, SCUBA diving is a sport which a diver has to sink with a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA).
The biggest hindrance to start diving is not that you cannot swim well, but it is that you are afraid of water by not swimming well. Please stop worrying, and when you let the instructor know about your issues, they will lead you safely and comfortably into the wonderful underwater world.
PADI Advanced Diver Course
Regular price$350.00 USD
-40 in stock
We will offer a FREE Advanced Course to whoever buys their BCD and Regulator in our shop. Please call us for more details at (323) 641-7416.
This course can be taken after completing the PADI Open Water Diver certification. It's titled PADI Advanced Open Water Diver because it advances your diving knowledge & skills.
That’s what the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is all about. You don’t have to be “advanced” to take it – it’s designed to advance your diving, so you can start right after earning your PADI Open Water Diver certification. The course helps build confidence and expand your scuba skills through different Adventure Dives. You try out different specialties while gaining experience under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. You log dives and develop capabilities as you find new ways to have fun scuba diving. Additionally, if you would like to invest in your own BCD and Reg, you will learn how to use them in the ocean with the help of your instructor before going off on your own diving adventures!
Get credit! Each Adventure Dive may credit toward the first dive of the correspondingPADI Specialty Diver Course. If you’ve already taken a specialty diver course, ask your instructor if you’ve earned credit for an Adventure Dive.
PADI (Junior) Open Water Divers who are at least 12 years old are ready to step up and enroll in an Advanced Open Water Diver course. Young divers may only participate in certain Adventures Dives – check with your PADI Instructor.
If you’re already anAdventure Diver, you only need to complete two more Adventure Dives to earn the Advanced Open Water Diver certification.
To pass this course you will need to do 5 Specialty Dives in the ocean within two Ocean Trips (boat fee not included).
Academic
You’ll plan your learning path with your instructor by choosing from a long list of Adventure Dives. There are two required dives – Deep and Underwater Navigation – and you choose the other three, for a total of five dives.
During the Deep Adventure Dive, you learn how to plan dives to deal with the physiological effects and challenges of deeper scuba diving. The Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive refines your compass navigation skills and helps you better navigate using kick-cycles, visual landmarks and time.
The other knowledge and skills you get vary with your interest and the adventures you have – photography, buoyancy control, fish identification, exploring wrecks and many more.
You may be able toget college creditfor the Advanced Open Water Diver course.
Come visit us at the Blue Holic Scuba Shop to learn more about the gear you will need to start your adventures in the Advanced Open Water Diver course.
Getting Started
Call us now (323) 641-7416 or stop by the shop to get started! You will need to purchase the Adventures in Diving manual and watch the Adventures in Diving video.
Once enrolled in the course, you will get your materials and start learning! Your Blue Holic Instructor will meet with you to schedule knowledge review sessions along with your specialty dives.
Refresh Diving
Regular price$150.00 USD
-36 in stock
The REFRESHER course will be conducted on saturdays in the pool only. This price does not include rental gear, pool entry fee or ocean trip.
The refresher course is WAIVED with a purchase of the ADVANCED Course. This might be a really good way to move forward as we will be put you with an instructor for 6 dives in the ocean. You can get comfortable again diving, all while learning how to navigate, perfect your buoyancy and deep dive. The Advanced course will be two Sunday boat trips, 6 dives total, and give you the license to dive up to 130ft.
This course does not include rental gear. Rental Gear is $95 MAX (we recommend you purchase your own personal gear: mask, snorkel, fins, boots and gloves 15% off in shop- unlocks FREE RENTAL for wetsuit, BCD, Regulator, Weights and Tank)
Please call us for more details (323) 641-7416
Refresh Diving Course FAQ
Q. What do I do after purchasing Refresh Diving Course?
Please head to the dive calendar to reserve your spot for the pool. This will let us know when you will be joining!
Q. It has been a while since I had my last dive as a certified SCUBA diver. I am worried if I will be able to dive well again.
Then the refresher course was made for you! Your instructor will brief you about the key skills of scuba and then train you again in our deep pool. This will allow you to get comfortable again before heading to an ocean trip. If you are still worried about the ocean then the Advanced Course may be the best step forward for you as you will be able to dive with your instructor in the ocean, clearing out any kinks and learning some more along the way.
