Scuba Diving Book

Nearly anyone ten years of age and over can become a scuba diver. Before you can become certified as a scuba diver, you must first take a course in scuba diving and pass a test.

The first thing the instructor will do is give you a medical form to fill out to make sure there is nothing in your medical history that might prevent you from scuba diving. People with asthma or pregnant woman should not dive. In some states, a physician’s form is required before you are allowed to dive. This form states you are in good health and are able to dive without physical problems.

If you pass the medical portion of the testing, then you are ready for the swimming portion of the testing. You will need to swim a distance of 200meters/yards using any style you wish. This is not a times tests. You must also be able to swim with your mask, fins and snorkel a distance of 300 meters/yards, again, not timed and however you wish to swim it. This is to test your swimming skills.

A scuba diver must pick out their own mask, fins and snorkel but can rent the rest of the equipment and outfit if they like. However, it is best to purchase your own diving suit and equipment because it will fit you and only be worn by you and this way you will have all the adjustments made to suit you and ready to go.

Scuba divers must pass a basic scuba diver lesson or class in order to become a certified scuba diver. There are also longer, more involved classes in which one can become a scuba instructor and teach others how to scuba dive and take people on dives.

Some of the learning takes place outside of the pool. There are several booklets that must be read and committed to memory before entering the water. All of these are for safety reasons and need to be taken seriously by the divers. Diving is a fun and exciting recreational sport, yet it can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing or don’t follow the rules carefully.

Many people wonder about claustrophobia when diving and it’s not really an issue because you are floating through water and not in a confined space. The dive suits are made to hug your body and the masks give you plenty of ‘breathing room.’ Probably the hardest part to learn would be the snorkel and breathing apparatus, but a trained dive instructor will help you learn this and you will be an expert before you go into the waters.

When you first begin to dive, you want to start out slowly and dive only a few hundred meters from the service to get used to the pressure of the water. After several dives at that amount of meters, you could go deeper. You should have several dives and be more experienced before attempting to dive to the deep bottoms of the ocean. And remember; always dive with a partner or a group of people because you never know what will happen.