Before you start talking about the courses, for beginners explain what a baptism. Is simply to try scuba diving in a simple and fun. It explains the basics of diving and equipment. Once this with an instructor or divemaster we go to the port (in El Hierro have been diving in the harbor), a bubbling and flap a while to check the feeling of breathing underwater and marine life to spy from a position privileged front row.

Within the diversity of existing associations in the diving world, we in El Hierro, we work with the U.S. federation PADI. Like all federations courses are staggered from lower to higher level.
The first course is to make the Open Water Diver course certifies the diver to dive graduates anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 18 meters and always in open water, no cave or closed site.
This course contains the vision of a video, reading a book and performing some easy tests only for review learning. Since the human body was not designed to live under water, is explained in a simple way the effects of pressure, cold and nitrogen on the human body. There is also talk of diving equipment, the organization within a boat, the sea, computers and everything related to the diving world for an insider.
The practice consists of 4 lectures in confined waters, in this case would be the port for about 20 years to give the diver skill as the mask off underwater, namely gauge latigillo collect, remove and put the team etc ... These exercises then be carried out in 4 dives in open water, ie from boat, which also gives much importance to the issue of buoyancy, and that is basic to neutral buoyancy diving like fish.
Of paperwork is needed: 1 photo, medical certificate (your family doctor makes you free with an official paper of the Medical Association to be bought at the tobacconist) and little else.

Then comes the Advanced Open. This course basically allows us to dive to 40 m (the limit for recreational diving) and at night. The night diving is not who is better or worse than the day, just different. In fact the weightlessness of scuba diving, almost flying, we must add the fact of the darkness that gives a touch of fascination. At night he sees a kind of life that is not seen by day and at the end of the immersion awaits the stars in the sky, beautiful feeling.
The advanced only consists of 5 dives, 3 binding, such as: deep, navigation with compass and buoyancy. The other two are optional and can include: diving underwater torpedo, night, Enriched Air (Nitrox) very useful in El Hierro, naturalist (not nudist), boat dives, diving and mutlniviel computer.
The theory is a small video and book reviews. It must bring a photo.

After this course is the CPR and Rescue. In CPR, first aid is taught and how it has to resuscitate a person in cardiac arrest. It's a one-day course, where its importance lies in knowing how to act and when to see an accident (both land and sea), as a value and how to act to save the wounded and not get us hurt.

The Rescue is the last step before reaching the Divemaster (title that lets you work within the recreational diving). Rescue teaches you to control situations and accidents under the water. Such as: tired diver, and unconscious under the water, panicked diver assets / liabilities under and over water. It also teaches how to: organize a rescue boat to be soothed and coje the diver, as he pulls the boat or beach, etc ...
It teaches the theoretical and then taught open water exercises described above are in total ten. Once you know all this will do two drills. Without the student knows nothing is recreated by the instructor invented situations where you see the skills of the student and the teacher's nasty. One thing is clear, the more difficult the course the more you learn, but we must never forget the fun.
The requirements for this course is to have a diploma course in CPR (the above explained, Red Cross, etc ...) the 24 months prior to the course and have registered about 20 dives. It must bring photo.

Finally this Divemaster, this course serves to work in a diving center as underwater guides, attend courses with the instructor, to christenings and any other tasks that require extra-divemaster a center, not few.
The course usually lasts a couple of weeks or a month, is quite complete. He teaches physics, different pressure laws: Boyle's Law, Charles, Dalton, etc & There are two books: the Encyclopedia of diving, which is a very comprehensive book that talks about various topics of interest such as diving, that is a drop of water or how to act in light of the sea and why. After walking the second book, which tells you that it is a DM and should do.
In this course, especially learning how to carry people have a psychology to know when people say things, who can file and how to solve problems before and during the dive, how to organize a boat at the beginning of the dive, how to organize a group under water (to balance the different experiences to make dives balanced that everyone enjoys) and much more.
It requires taking the ongoing rescue, CPR (with 24 months previously), medical certificate, a photo and have 60 logged dives.

That's that for wanting to enjoy futures patarranas in El Hierro.