Frequently Asked Questions About Diving

Why doesn't Breezeway Bubbles sell equipment?

We do not sell dive equipment because we are not a store. We are a family owned SCUBA diving education business. Breezeway Bubbles SCUBA provides all the equipment needed to learn to dive. We focus on only two things 1- Teaching SCUBA and 2- SCUBA Travel

If students want to buy their own equipment after learning to dive, where should they go?

First of all, we suggest that you do not buy any equipment until after you have at least been through the pool lessons. We have a wide selection of top quality equipment for you to learn with. While in the pool we will encourage you to try different types of fins, masks, BCD's, etc. By trying various brands of equipment you will get a good feel for what you like and don't like while practicing in the water. When you are ready to buy your own equipment, we will recommend several local dive shops to buy the equipment you are looking for. We have fantastic deals worked out for our students to buy gear at local shops and recieve a student discount.

WE DO NOT RECOMMEND BUYING ANY GEAR ON THE INTERNET. The local dive equipment retailers we will refer you to will provide a much better price and will include a warranty that is not valid on internet dive sites. Support local dive shops - you can't get air fills on the internet.

How long does it take to learn to dive?

Much of learning to dive is done as independent study. You will be given a PADI student manual, a video to watch, and a short booklet to read before you come to your first classroom meeting. Plan on spending about 4-5 hours of reading time to prepare for class. We will meet for class two times for about 3 hours each time to review the material, take quizes, and the final exam. The pool sessions are two meetings of 4 hours each time, usually done in one weekend. The four required checkout dives will be done in two mornings of about 3 hours each time.

I see that students can take the Academic portion of the class online through the PADI website, isn't that better?

PADI has recently offered the option for students to replace the classroom meetings held with an instructor with an online version of the Academic lessons. This may be a good option for some people and we can accomodate this if needed. However, we strongly suggest that you attend a classroom session instead of the online version for the following reasons....
1- Your instructor can tailor the presentation to your upcoming dive trip or place of interest.
2- You can ask questions and recieve immediate feedback while you are in class.
3- You will participate in classroom demonstrations. You will learn better in person.
4- We can be very flexible in scheduling your classroom sessions so we can make it work.
5- Your instructor can make complicated theories easy to understand while in class.
6- Your instructor ALWAYS makes it fun and entertaining, the time will fly in class.

How did you get the silly name "Breezeway Bubbles"?

The former owners of the business live near Cross Plains on a road called "Breezeway Drive". When Don and Casi took over the business they kept the name because the business had a great reputation. There have been many times while on vacation that Breezeway Bubbles is recognized by dive operators, resorts, and locals in foreign countries. The former owners, Barb and Terry Spennetta, have hundreds of former students that send their friends and children back to Breezeway Bubbles to learn to dive.

Can I pay by credit card?

We are happy to accept Visa and Mastercard using a secure transaction via PayPal.

What if I have trouble in the pool and need extra time to learn?

We understand that some people may need extra time to learn the dive skills. We are happy to allow students to come back to a later pool session to catch up on any skills they still need to master. We are commited to helping you every step of the way. We will never push you toward the next step until you are competent, confident, and are ready to move forward.

After I am a certified diver, what's next?

When you achieve the PADI Open Water SCUBA certification, you are certified for life. A good diver never stops learning and should continue to take additional dive training, read up on the subject of diving, and of course keep diving. We will encourage you to come along with us on a student group trip for additional experience and training. We suggest you dive the many beautiful lakes in Wisconsin. We encourage you to join the Four Lakes Dive Club to make friends and connect to the local dive community http://www.fourlakesscubaclub.org/