Should I Choose eLearning or Traditional Learning for My PADI Course?

The good ol’ traditional learning

Books, books, books. If you graduated school thinking OMG YES NO MORE BOOKS, you’re probably one of those scuba divers who shiver at the sight of a PADI Manual. Not sure it’s anyone’s favorite part of their PADI course, and we don’t blame you one bit. We all just want to jump in the water and descend into the magnificent underwater world but let’s face it, the theory is a pretty damn important part of learning how to scuba dive, or continuing your education in it!

Depending on when you started scuba diving, you were either given the opportunity to complete the theory “the traditional way”, or maybe you were offered eLearning. The traditional way consists of a PADI Manual, theory sessions, videos and knowledge reviews. You would usually complete parts of it in the morning before your pool sessions, or in the afternoon after your training dives. Sound familiar? For most of us, that was exactly how it went. Long days. New information. More new information. And again more new information. You know that feeling when you feel like you’ve been overly exposed to WAAAY too much new information at once? That’s how most new scuba divers feel after the theory sessions!

Well, guess what, it doesn’t have to be like that. What if we told you, you could do the theory at your own pace whenever and wherever you’d like and at any pace you’d like?

You have an option!

On top of making your life a hell lot easier, how would you feel like saving a couple of trees and do everything online instead? Now it’s possible with PADI eLearning! It’s been quite a few years now that PADI has given its students a splendid opportunity to learn the theory before even stepping into the dive centre. If you’re planning to do your scuba course while on holiday, PADI eLearning gives you the opportunity to study at home (or in the office, we don’t judge) and absorb the knowledge like a sponge! When you get to your destination all there is left to do is jump in the pool or the ocean and voila! Course completed.

PADI Student enjoying his afternoon after diving

Is it worth it? Hell yeah! In the PADI Open Water Course alone there are 5 theory chapters, 5 videos, and 5 knowledge reviews. If you’re doing it the traditional way, that’s a lot to read. The course generally takes 3 FULL days but with eLearning, you can trim those days into 3 fun-filled days of diving and relaxing! In addition to this, you’ve had time to absorb all the knowledge in that big fat book, so you’ll feel more comfortable in the water!

How does PADI eLearning work?

All you need is a computer, laptop, tablet or any other electronic device that you don’t mind staring for a couple of hours a day.

Step 1. Buy your theory

PADI offers everything from Open Water Diver to Instructor Development Course as eLearning. Pretty Awesome! Choose the language that you understand best (really helps), click “buy” and you’re on your way to expanding your knowledge of this industry!

Step 2. Study. At your own pace and schedule

This is why we LOVE eLearning. If you’re not a big bookworm, that’s cool. Take your time, read 1 chapter during the course of 2 days, that’s cool. You set your own deadlines and decide how intensively or non-intensively you’d like to learn. Let’s face it, most of us don’t really learn that much when studying under pressure. Also, let’s not forget that we don’t read our PADI manuals to just pass the exams, we read it because we NEED to and WANT to learn about this crazy wonderful sport we’re into!

Step 3. Show up at you dive centre, provide proof that you’ve completed the required knowledge reviews, gear up and DIVE!

It’s as simple as that! Once you’ve completed the knowledge reviews online, you will have to print the completion certificate from PADI eLearning. Your dive centre will ask for proof of this, so make sure you take it with you!

Is e-learning for everyone?

Anyone can sign up for eLearning. However, as STOKED as we are about eLearning we would also like to acknowledge those who maybe feel more comfortable studying with the presence of an instructor, hence would be more comfortable doing traditional learning. Independent studies can be difficult for some people and having someone there to supervise and answer questions immediately, is necessary.

So, when you consider whether to take an online PADI course, ask yourself if you are capable of studying independently and fully understand what the theory is all about!

Here at Blue Corner Dive, we give the option to opt for eLearning whenever you sign up for a course. Whether you’re interested in an Open Water Course, an Advanced Open Water Course, Rescue or even a PRO level course, you can get through all the theory online! However, we will continue offering the traditional learning method as well, which at the moment is the most common selection for our students.

If you do plan to complete your course while you are on a holiday, we recommend to look into eLearning and smashing that theory before you arrive on our beautiful little island! After all, it’s YOUR holiday, you might want to spend it chilling by the beach and sipping ice cold coconuts, or what do you think?

Work smart, not hard ;)

For more information on PADI eLearning, visit Our PADI eLearning Site

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