42. Take the PADI Nitrox Course

I've been meaning to complete my Nitrox certification since, well forever... Nitrox, or Enriched Air Diving (EANx) is basically diving on a tank containing a mix of nitrogen and oxygen (where oxygen content is between 22-40%). It gives you more no decompression time meaning you can usually stay underwater longer and get back in the water again sooner... and of course you can fly sooner, AND you feel better... due to the higher concentration of oxygen in the mix.

Honestly the course was a bit of a farce, a money making event for PADI and its dive certification stores.. Upon signing up you're given a book and a dvd and expected to go home and do a whole heap of pre-work, read the guide, watch the 45 minute DVD and complete all the review questions and dive table calculations... you then head into the class room and, with an instructor basically review the information, run through the oxygen analysing procedure and then complete the exam... two hours later and a exam score of at least 75% and voila.. you're Nitrox certified... without a single dive!

The best thing about completing the course (aside from the fact that I now have a dive certification issued in Fremantle and in Houston... hmmm what course am I going to complete when I move to Indo??) is that we've found an awesome dive shop.. one that we hope to become quite involved in, socially as well as recreationally... In fact we've already signed up on one of their group dive trips to the Flower Gardens National Park, a three day live aboard dive trip into the Gulf of Mexico... looks like that Nitrox training is going to be a very worthwhile investment!!