Scuba Diving Courses
Recreational scuba diving is a very exciting hobby, and is a great way to really see the natural wonders below the surface of the water. Proper training, instruction and equipment is essential for a safe experience.
Scuba diving does have a reputation among many as an "unsafe" activity. There are many fears associated with scuba diving, from drowning, simply running out of air, getting trapped under water or eaten by a shark.
However, when practiced properly, with an experience instructor, scuba diving is a very safe and rewarding experience compared to most other physical activities.
SCUBA stands for "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus", and in one form or another, has been around for almost a hundred years. In the beginning, scuba diving was not practiced for fun or recreation, but for industrial, exploration and scientific uses – the equipment simply wasn’t practical for recreation. Advances in technology and cost of equipment has made scuba diving a fun activity for the past 50 years.
In the modern day and age, dive shops rent out all the equipment you need, meaning you aren’t required to own any actual scuba equipment to enjoy diving on a regular basis. You will, however, need to provide basic aquatic gear such as a diving mask, fins (and boots if required), as well as scuba weights and belt (these must be fitted to you personally).
Keep in mind you will have to show proof of formal training before most shops will rent equipment to you. They don’t want anyone hurting (or even killing) themselves, and being responsible for giving out equipment to someone that isn’t trained to use it properly.
There are two popular forms of scuba diving certifications. Those are the NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) certification and the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certification.
Scuba training will generally begin with classroom instruction to instill in your head the knowledge and theories that you will reference while in the water. You might be surprised at how much raw science is behind a basic scuba dive. Even though you will be doing casual diving with a knowledgeable instructor, they want you to know exactly what’s going on in case you have an emergency situation in the future. The best way to avoid an accident is to be prepared.
You’ll need to learn the physics of diving, and how air pressure works – as well as the scientific makeup of what actually composes what we commonly call "air". You’ll need to understand the physiological response of the human body when it is breathing compressed air as opposed to regular air. The classroom instruction will also cover many of the common risks associated with diving, how to plan ahead, and how to stay safe.
Certification classes are available for beginner, experienced and advanced scuba divers. NAUI and PADI even offer skin diving (snorkeling) instruction if you want to start out easy.
Obtaining your advanced diving certification can also be fun and exciting. Some of the different dives that are open to you are search and recovery, boat diving, light salvage, diving for photos / video, both fresh and salt water dives, hunting and collecting, wreck diving, exploration and aquatic mapping, diving in currents, and data collection. And those are just a few of your options!
Eventually, you can obtain your master scuba diver certification if you wish. A required minimum of 8 open water dives include emergency procedures and rescue, search and recover, limited visibility / night diving, deep diving with simulated decompression, and advanced underwater navigation.
These are all options available to you later – but starting off, you’ve got to get your basic diving certification first! Generally speaking, you only have to be around 10 years of age and in average physical condition to begin diving. There are very few medical disorders that might prohibit you from diving. If in doubt, of course, you will want to speak to your doctor before beginning any new activity.
After your classroom training, you will most likely head out to a shallow swimming pool to practice basic techniques and to become comfortable with your equipment. Your training will require at least five open water dives for you to earn your scuba certification.
Selecting the right instructor is the most important decision you can make. You can ask around your local dive shop for some suggestions on local places that offer instruction, as well as specific instructors. If you know anyone who is a diver, be sure to ask them where they learned.
You’ll want to make sure the instructor is certified by either NAUI or PADI, and that they have significant actual diving experience. On top of that, it’s about the personal relationship. If you don’t click with your instructor, it will be very hard to learn scuba diving from them. Make sure they are patient and eager to help you learn. They also need to be able to answer all of your questions in detail.
Diving is a fun and memorable experience, and one way to remember that for a long time is to bring along an underwater camera. If you’re wanting to take very nice pictures or to take them digitally, you can either purchase a waterproof camera made for diving, or a waterproof housing for your existing camera. If it is a somewhat popular camera design / brand, you should have no problem finding a housing for it. Or, on the cheaper side of things, a disposable film based camera that is made for diving is available at most major stores for under 20 bucks. They’re not very high quality, but you can still take some fun pictures.
Do keep in mind the depth rating for dive cameras and housings, however. They will only be rated to a set number of feet, and if you dive below that depth, you risk damaging the camera.
In closing, scuba diving is a very rewarding experience – and with the help of a capable instructor, is not a hard skill to acquire. So find a good teacher, buy some basic gear that’s fitted to you, grab a waterproof camera, and start diving!