Stage Niveau 1

The Niveau 1 course at Centre ISA is the first formal certification step within the FFESSM framework, giving divers access to depths up to 20 metres under the supervision of an instructor or club-qualified guide. At Morgat, that means being able to access the full range of the centre's regular sites — the rocky bottom dives, the coves, and the dive sites in the Parc Naturel Marin d'Iroise — rather than staying in the shallows.

Theory sessions take place in the classroom at the base, which is integrated into the building alongside the showers and changing rooms. Water sessions begin at the Plage du Kador, using the artificial structure as a shallow training environment before progressing to boat dives on the main sites aboard the ASTOA-II. The boat reaches sites in around 10 minutes from the port of Morgat and takes up to 20 divers, though Niveau 1 groups are structured as small-group formats requiring a minimum of 2 participants.

All equipment for the Niveau 1 is provided — the centre stocks Scubapro fins, masks, BCDs, regulators, tanks, and weights. Tank fills are handled by the centre during the midday break on multi-dive days, with the compressor running at 36m³/h to 300 bars so cylinders are ready for the afternoon session. A medical certificate of non-contraindication to diving, dated within the past year, is required at registration — a general practitioner's certificate is sufficient for Niveau 1.

The course is affiliated with both FFESSM and PADI. ISA has been running this course since 1981, which means the instructors are very familiar with the local conditions — the seasonal variations in visibility and weather on the Finistère coast — and how to structure training days around them. The Baie de Douarnenez is sheltered enough that most sites remain diveable throughout the April–November season.