What happens during the training dives?
After your pool and classroom sessions are finished, you’ll make about four open-water dives with your instructor. On the first open-water dive, you’ll be called on to demonstrate some of the skills, such as flooding your mask and then clearing it of water. In landlocked areas, these dives are often held in lakes, quarries or springs. In coastal areas, they’re done in the ocean. As with the written test, the purpose of the training dives isn’t to wash you out or disqualify you but to help the instructor judge whether you’re ready to dive without supervision and to help you feel safe and comfortable in the water.
