Current Activities
The WSC is currently organizing a PADI referral course for all day Feb. 28 and 29, 2004, just in time for spring break trips. If you are interested, see below for more details.
The WSC is also organizing a spring break trip this year to follow up on our successful Thanksgiving trip to West Palm Beach last year. Please contact Alexander Goulandris for more info.
Open Water Courses
To obtain your PADI Open Water certification, you must complete: (1) theory lessons; (2) pool session; and (3) 4 open water dives. Due to the climate in Philadelphia we do not recommend that you undertake your open water dives here; although, we are happy to arrange for you to do so if you wish.
The WSC offers an Open Water Referral program, whereby you take the theory and complete the pool sessions over a weekend. You will then need to complete the 4 open water dives within 6 months of completing the course. We recommend that you do so as soon as possible after the course is complete, and preferably within a month.
The WSC organizes weekend courses twice a year, once in the fall and once in February. The course cost $295 for Club members. This includes books, tuition and certification card. In addition, we strongly recommend that everyone buys a mask, snorkel and fins before starting the course. (You can rent these from Blue Horizon if you do not wish to buy them.)
The course is limited to 18 places. Places can be reserved on a first come first served basis by placing a check for the full amount of the course in Alexander Goulandris' mail folder (JMHH, 2nd floor).
Blue Horizon holds additional PADI Open Water Referral Courses several times a year. It is held over 7 consecutive Tuesdays. Please contact Keith Dalton at Kascubaduo@aol.com if you are interested. The cost of the course is $225.
Please note, that due to the effects of breathing compressed air everyone will be required to fill in a medical form acknowledging that they do not have any medical problems (including, but not limited to: heart problems, claustrophobia, asthma, etc. If you do you will need to obtain a medical before you start the course. If you are (or think you may be) pregnant you cannot dive.
Advanced OW/ Rescue or DM
Members can sign up on the Scuba Club Webcafe page if you are interested in taking an advanced courses including:
• Adventure Diver
• Advanced Open Water
• Rescue Diver
• Divemaster
• Specialty Courses (e.g., Nitrox, Wreck Diver, Deep Diver, etc.)
In addition, the Club will generally offer any course you want during any of the Club trips, simply advise us in advance so that we can organize the course for you.
Dive Trips
Spring Break Trip
We are presently looking at one of three alternatives:
• Costa Rica
• Turks & Caicos
• British Virgin Islands
Please feel free to make your opinion heard by emailing us at goulandr@wharton.upenn.edu on or before January 25 for the 2004 trip.
Post-Graduation Galapagos Trip
We are looking into the possibility of organizing a once-in-a-lifetime liveaboard trip to the Galapagos, assuming there is enough interest. If you are interested please contact Alexander Goulandris at goulandr@wharton.upenn.edu .
Non-Club Trips
If you are planning a dive trip at any point in the term we would request that you contact Lucien Parsons at lucien@wharton.upenn.edu . As a Scuba Club the WSC can frequently obtain wholesale rates for dive trips. We can also post your trip if you are looking for other people to join in. Lastly, we would like to build a database of the best dive locations and dive stores for future Whartonites.
