Scuba Diving Basics

Scuba Diving

Scuba Diving is an exciting activity in which everyone with a reasonable degree of fitness can participate. People with mobility problems may benefit from scuba diving as the buoyancy provided by the water makes it easier to move in the water. The great thing about Scuba diving is that every dive will be a different and exciting experience. You will have the chance to encounter sea creatures in their natural environment, where they have the advantage over you. You will get opportunities to explore wrecks and reefs all over the world, in a great variety of conditions.

To start Scuba diving you will need to join a scuba diving club or school. This is one sport where you will need formal training before you start. No dive center or charter boat will take you scuba diving unless you have first obtained the correct qualifications. The best place to get the essential qualifications are at either a scuba diving school or club.

The Basic Open Water course qualifies you to go scuba diving without supervision, it will not teach you the skills you will require to go cave diving, under the ice or beyond certain depths. To do these things you will need to have further qualifications and have gained a lot more experience.

The Basic Open Water course will teach you all about the equipment you will be using, safety skills, navigation, breathing gas at depth and pressure and all the calculations you will need to know when you go diving, plus much more including quite a bit of theory. You will probably start the course in the classroom, and then progress to putting what you have learnt into practice.

Most clubs and schools will have an introduction day where you can go along to your local swimming pool and try out scuba diving under close supervision. This is to see if you are suited to or enjoy scuba diving. If you want to gain more qualifications and experience you can then enrol onto the Basic Open Water course. This will also start in the swimming pools where you will be taught all the safety drills and skills required to take the Basic Open Water course qualification. You will then progress to a few introductory dives in the open water to build your confidence in your equipment and skills you have learnt. You will eventually gain the Open Water qualification but that is probably the start of a whole new life.

One of the largest scuba diving training organisations and most recognised is PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors). You can even learn to Scuba dive while you are on holiday, a lot of hotels all around the world now have courses which will give you the Basic Open Water qualification.

Once you have the Basic Open Water qualification you will be able to dive unsupervised, although diving alone is never recommended. Once you have the diving bug you will not look back and a whole new world of wrecks, reefs and sea creatures awaits you.