Advanced Open Water

The SSI Advanced Open Water Diver course at Duikcentrum van de Ven builds on an existing Open Water certification through a set of specialty dives. The Classic version runs approximately €358 all in; the VIP private version is around €400. Night dives, if included in the Advanced track, carry a small extra surcharge (~€25 per person). All dives take place at the center's regular sites along Curaçao's southern coast.

The specialty modules that appear in the course catalog include Deep Diving, Navigation, Perfect Buoyancy, Photo and Video, Enriched Air Nitrox, Night Diving and Limited Visibility, Wreck Diving, and Full Face Mask Diving. The exact combination for the Advanced course would need to be confirmed with the center at booking, but Curaçao's dive sites make several of these modules particularly well-suited: the Superior Producer wreck is a natural fit for a Wreck Diving specialty, and the reef structures around Caracasbaai and Directeursbaai give good navigation and buoyancy practice.

As with the Open Water course, the VIP format means one instructor for your group only throughout the course. The Classic format caps at four students per instructor. Guests combining the Open Water course with a VIP Specialty in a single booking qualify for a promotional package that currently includes a free Mares Rover mask and snorkel (terms apply, booking in advance required).

The center's instructors — Gerard holds SSI Master Instructor status — have the qualifications to take students through the full advanced curriculum. The SSI Diamond Center rating applies to specialty instruction as much as to entry-level courses, which means the training record is maintained at the same standard across all levels.