Aqua-Life
Aqua-Life
Aqua-Life
Challenging students to be better, smarter and safe
Our Aqua-Life programs are designed for your students to hone inherent life skills, develop new life skills and provoke fresh perspectives for who they are and who they can be.
Life Skills: The main objectives for our Aqua-Life programs is to develop life skills and aquatic survival skills to prevent drowning accidents for our youth.
For Life: We also provide unique experiences that have the real potential to impact positively on students’ lives - for life, by:
Creating awareness and direction for careers, sports and recreational activities which they never considered previously
Improving confidence by participating in a very challenging activity that provokes a high level of apprehension and fear.
Our programs have excellent links to PASS, SLR, PDHPE, Outdoor Rec and Aquatic Syllabus Outcomes
Syllabus Outcomes
This student has panicked once and is on the verge of panicking again.
The Instructor is now guiding him through techniques for managing his panic, to breathe and think his way through his fears and take control.
This is a definitive lesson in building mental strength
Panic Management
Panic Management is high on our agenda for life skills development:
To manage ones panic response is a unique and incredible life skills
SCUBA Diving is one of those rare activities that gives us access to panic in a way that we can utilise it for educational purposes
Aqua-Life Programs
Programs are conducted at the local aquatic centre, school pool, harbour netted areas or open water
Aqua-Explorer is highly praised by teachers for being the most comprehensive snorkel program they've seen.
1. Aqua-Explorer: Students learn basic, advanced and rescue techniques for snorkelling. Combined with how to select and prepare equipment and safe snorkelling sites. Read more
2. Aqua-Tuff: Everyone wants to see what Scuba is like, but most people don't. This is an excellent opportunity for your student to not only experience SCUBA, but to develop some awesome Life Skills along the way. Read more
3. Aqua-Master: Is our most popular Aqua-Life Program. It is a combination of all Aqua-Life Programs, providing your students excellent opportunities to develop and learn some superb life skills and how to explore the marine environment in more exciting ways. Read More
4. Aqua-Safe: Each Aqua-Life program begins with this very comprehensive discussion and worksheet on the hazards associated with exploring the coastal environments around Australia and for some of our favourite holiday destinations internationally (it covers tides, currents, schoolies, alcohol and lots more). Read More
Aqua-Explorer
Aqua-Explorer
Program 1: Aqua-Explorer
(program can be conducted at your local aquatic centre, school pool or ocean
There are so many benefits to snorkelling. It is low impact, relaxing but still burns lots of energy. It is educational, adventurous and relatively easy to access.
Annually, there are hundreds of fatalities and tens of thousands of people seriously injured because of snorkelling accidents.
Favourite holiday destination like Indonesia and Thailand, lack regulations for snorkelling guides and too often holidays are cut short because tourist put their trust in guides that have no experience.
From our experiences conducting this program for coastal and inland schools, the greater majority of students, did not know how to clear a snorkel or duck dive, but most concerning is that very are aware of hypoxia and the dangers it represents for their age group,
Duration: 60 - 90min
Max Participants: 30
Age: 4+
Costs for in-pool: $20 (pay own entry fee)
Cost for ocean: $25 (programs are conducted at Shelley Beach, Manly, however we can make arrangements for other snorkelling sites NSW wide)
Students compare effectiveness of swimming without equipment with wearing equipment.
Our Snorkelling Safety & Skills, is very comprehensive, covering hazards associated with snorkelling, including:
- Choosing safe sites
- Environmental conditions – research on tides, currents and weather (e.g. on the east coast, Blue bottles are mostly seasonal, blown in on the Northerly winds)
- Marine biology – dangerous species to watch out for, how to avoid them and first aid
- Entry/exit points – especially around rocks or strong tides
- Failing to recognise personal abilities in respects to site selection, weather, currents etc.
- Boat traffic – often issue snorkelers overlook
- Understanding common dangers associated with snorkelling
- Hypoxia kills more teenagers than any other age group
- Reef rash is the cause of many coastal holidays being destroyed
- Inexperienced guides – too often victims to the reef have been led by inexperienced tour guides
- Choosing equipment – Ill-fitting equipment account most for snorkelling deaths and injuries
Skills include:
- Choosing equipment
- Safe breathing techniques
- Determining best finning techniques
- Compare the effectiveness of movement with and without equipment
- Safe duck diving techniques
- Snorkel clearing
- Self rescue techniques
- Buddy rescue techniques
- Conserving energy
Aqua-Tuff
Aqua-Tuff
Program 2: Aqua-Tuff
Aqua - Tuff is a combination of our Aqua-Safe and the PADI Discover Scuba Diving Course. introduces the student to scuba diving in a highly supervised and relaxed manner. It dispels common misconceptions about scuba by allowing individuals to try it for themselves. Under the guidance of a PADI Professional, students learn about the basic physics of diving, the effects of diving on human physiology, safety concepts, mechanic of equipment, communication and complete underwater tasks set by PADI worldwide.
Students complete skills under the close supervision of the instructor and at a depth where they can stand out of the water at any time. Based on performance, students progress through the course demonstrating that they meet measurable learning objectives from simple to intermediate to complex.
Once skills are completed to the satisfaction of the instructor, the students have a choice to perform tasks in the deeper end of the pool. They then practice their new found skills and explore new limitations with movement using balance and breathing to maintain neutral buoyancy, remaining suspended in one spot upside down in the pool and experience the feeling of flying or.
Duration: 2 hrs for the first group (an hour for other groups if they are their for the initial discussion and gear set up component)
Age: 12 +
Max Participants: 10 Per session
Costs for pool program: $50 per person
Costs for Ocean program: $80 per person (inside nets)
Costs for Ocean program: $100 per person (open Water)
Aqua-Master
Aqua-Master
Program 3: Aqua-Master
Aqua-Master is our most popular program. It is a combination of our Discover Scuba Diver and Snorkelling Safety & Skills Programs.
Aqua-Master is a must for all Australians, it is programs like this that save lives, prevent lifelong injuries and enhances your experience within the marine environment.
Learning objectives:
- Essential safety knowledge for marine environments
- Snorkel Skills & Safety
- Unique Life Skills, with a focus on panic management
- Alternative career paths (scuba opens up the thought for career paths the student hadn't before considered)
- Incredible experience (most people put Scuba on their bucket list, but never try it)
Duration: 3 - 4hrs (depending on number of participants)
Age: 12 +
Max Participants: 20
Costs for pool: $60 per person
Costs for Ocean: $90 per person
Aqua-Safe
Aqua-Safe
Program 4: Aqua-Safe
Going on the premise that ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’ our Instructor draws from his experience to discuss the common and uncommon dangers that our coastlines present, It is very comprehensive, covering:
- Tides
- Currents
- Dangerous surf
- Waves
- Weather changes
- Exploring rocky platforms or tidal platforms
- Sun
- Marine life
- Alcohol
- Holidaying abroad
- Schoolies on the coast
Example summary of how the discussion goes with each subject
Tides - hazards
1. Changing water depths
- Diving off rocks, jetties, bridges etc. into water which was deeper earlier in the day
- Crossing land bridges where the water was shallower earlier in the day
- Being cut off from returning to safety when exploring coastal areas that are surrounded by cliffs
2. Changing water direction
- Tide direction has an impact on rip and longshore current strength around surf areas.
- Where a swim area is safe when the tide is incoming, can become significantly dangerous when the tide is outgoing
3. Changing current speed
- Swim areas that are safe during high and low tide can become dangerous as the tidal current picks up speed
What to do: Take the time to learn how to read tide charts and plan your day with the tides in mind
Website www.bom.gov.au