Before undertaking a Scuba diving course you will need to complete a “Medical Statement” with your Instructor.   After this, you may need to undergo a dive medical with a Hyperbaric trained physician, there are several such doctors scattered around Melbourne and country Victoria, we can advise you of one closest to you or source your own at www.spums.org.au .

A dive medical is not claimable on MEDICARE, and will cost from $150.00 up to $250.00 depending on the physician. Make sure you ask when you make the booking.

You will need to be aged at least 13 years old (for Junior Open Water) and 15 years old for standard Open Water Certification.

Scuba diving is an equipment orientated sport, let’s face it – you can’t go trail riding without a motorcycle, you can’t go canoeing without a canoe. We are up front in telling you about equipment purchase expectations, that’s why on our information sheet for each individual course, we detail all inclusions and exclusions. Don’t’ be fooled, you only get what you pay for. Make sure you read any fine print.

At Scuba Culture, all our Open Water instructors have been trained by our resident Instructor Certifier who has 30 years of experience in training divers, and who has personally certified over 3000 divers. We have a very tight quality control system in place ensuring that all aspects of your course are taught far in excess of what any other training facility may deliver. Your safety and enjoyment is paramount to us and our years of experience speak for themselves. There are no “Zero to Hero” instructors at Scuba Culture, and when it comes to you, there are no shortcuts.

SSI demands and promotes a low student to instructor ratio to insure that you have the attention given to you that is personal enough to make sure that you become a safe, competent diver. Australian standards allow a ratio of 1 instructor to 8 students, at Scuba Culture our Instructor / Student ratio is 1 / 6 plus an assistant instructor to further reduce ratios, providing greater safety, personal service and attention where and when needed, as such, our actual in water training ratio is often 2 / 6.

Our years of experience have demonstrated that plenty of physical diving experience during your course is vital in helping you become a safe, competent and confident diver. With SCUBA CULTURE you will be taught over & above minimum standards where many will only teach to minimum standards, this places a ceiling on the amount that you can learn. At Scuba Culture you will receive approximately 7 hours of pool training as a minimum & approximately 3.5 hours over 5 dives (on scuba) of OPEN WATER EXPERIENCE.

Boat dives enable you to explore sites further afield, get to deeper waters and more remote reefs (in comfort). Boat dives also enable you to experience boat dive protocol & get used to the way boat operators run dives. At SCUBA CULTURE you will do 2 boat dives.

Go to www.divessi.com/fac_search . Look up any country and see just how many other SSI facilities there are. Call or email a dive centre overseas and ask them if your SSI certification is recognized by them.

Learning to dive with SCUBA CULTURE is an experience that, we are proud to boast can not be equalled anywhere else. All divers that train through us automatically receive free membership to our dive club for the remainder of the membership year, you will receive all the benefits associated with our membership program. The benefits are numerous and start with regular newsletters advising you of our dive schedules, free guided shore dives, our dive travel trips overseas, interstate and local, our club activities, priority notification of any equipment sales specials, as well as club nights, guest speakers, and many other social activities.

Renewing members also receive upto $120 worth of either air/nitrox fills or tank hire.

Annual membership is $120 and runs from November to November (the equivalent of $10 per month!)

Scuba Diving is an adventure sport that carries a certain element of risk. Risk is minimised by education and experience. At the end of the day there are many ways to do serious harm to your body whilst diving, and if you are not made aware of these or shown how to identify them and give the appropriate first aid, how can you ever hope to prevent these from occurring or help a dive buddy who may have received an injury? And at the end of the day, wouldn’t you like to know that the person you are diving with can give you the equal attention and assistance that you can give them?

It makes it easier if you have a car so that you can transport your dive gear with ease however we suggest students to car pool in order to cut down on the cost of fuel for themselves. We encourage students to make these arrangements during the theory session and in all our years of running courses, we are yet to have someone stuck without a lift!

Theory evening: Scuba Culture, Burwood, Pool training: Boroondara Sports Complex or Ashburton Pool & Recreation Centre (this will be confirmed when you book your course), Shore dives: Location in the bay is weather dependent Boat dives: Ex Queenscliff or Portsea

We are located on Highbury Road near the corner of Highbury Road and Lytton Street. You can park your car in various areas around the showroom, on Highbury Road, Lytton Street and Tudor Street. If you are picking up gear or getting some air fills you can park onsite drive straight in!