Girls That Scuba, the world's largest female dive community, have clubbed together with its members to offer exciting and interactive online ‘dry' courses to help support incomes and connect the dive community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These courses are taught just like they would be in person, and you can even emerge from the other side with a new certification. Each course is hosted by a different instructor – who is a member of Girls That Scuba – and has been affected by loss of income due to COVID-19.
The price of the course (minus any course fees) is split between the instructor and GTS, helping the instructor to stay in work, and helping run the Girls That Scuba community. The courses will run every Saturday, and spaces are limited.
9 May: Equalisation Workshop (for scuba divers and freedivers)
Run by Argentinian sister team Lu and Cande Fabre from Amanacay Freediving, this course is aimed at anyone that has ever experienced issues equalising either in freediving or scuba diving. You will learn new techniques in equalisation and understand the process more helping you more successfully equalise. £33 GBP.
16 May: Journey into Marine Conservation – Project Aware Specialty Course
Run by Ellen Myers from Dive Ninja Expeditions, this dry conservation workshop will jumpstart your journey in marine conservation. Ellen is an instructor from USA that has worked in conservation projects ranging from coral to sharks and rays in some of the most abundant yet threatened regions of the world.
For those that are looking to make a positive impact in their dive careers, or share their passion for the ocean in their own communities, this is a great place to start. Empower yourself with the resources and tools that conservationists use to speak out for our oceans and create change, with these passionate instructors who are immersed in the field every day. £60 GBP, includes a $10 donation to Project AWARE, plus your own Project AWARE cert card with a manta or a whaleshark on it!
23 May: Coral Identification Course – Easy Techniques for Spotting Corals
Run by coral expert Nicole Helgason, the ‘coral queen’ who has her own blog dedicated to coral education, and leads coral identification presentations at numerous dive shows, and dive resorts worldwide. Whether you are a dive professional looking to increase your coral knowledge, a recreational scuba diver, or underwater enthusiasts interested in learning more about corals, this course is for you.
Learning to identify corals can be a challenge, especially if your only resources are a few old ID books. This course will give you simple techniques for identifying corals and will have you seeing the reef with new eyes in no time. £37 GBP.
30 May: Turtle Identification, Anatomy, Surveying Techniques and More – PADI Distinctive Specialty
Hosted by Natasha Gillespie-wong from Hong Kong, who is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer looking to make a positive impact on the fragile underwater world. She has worked as a dive instructor and researcher in Indonesia for the last two years and is now based on the glorious island of Gili Trawangan. This course is open to anybody aged 10 and above, whether you dive, snorkel or just want to learn more about sea turtles!
You will learn in this course how to identify turtle species, sea turtle anatomy and feeding habits, mating, nesting and hatching habits, surveying techniques, threats to turtle populations and the importance of conservation plus much more. £95 includes a PADI speciality card.
Scholarship programme
Girls that Scuba has launched a scholarship programme alongside these courses to give divers the opportunity to join one of these courses free of charge – as sponsored by a dive company/brand/dive centre/diver. An application is available for anyone who has lost income in the dive industry due to the effects of COVID-19, but also for young divers who are looking to progress in diving but don’t have the funds. All divers aged from 13 years old onwards are accepted into the application process.
One place on every course is guaranteed by Girls that Scuba as a sponsor and the hope is to get more sponsors in the dive industry that would be willing to sponsor an applicant. Promotion will be given during the courses by Girls that Scuba on their network of over 700,000 divers for any sponsors if wanted. Sponsors can also be anonymous and only known by the selected scholar, and can also be an individual who would like to sponsor. Sponsors will be presented with a list of scholars and can choose which one they would like to sponsor. GTS understand this is a financially difficult time and ask to only consider sponsoring if you are able to.
To apply for a scholarship (open for all dives ages 13 and above), click here.
