If you've just decided to learn to dive you've made an excellent decision and if you're not quite sure yet, let me help you make an excellent decision. Let's have a look at everything you need to know about learning to dive.
What courses are available?
Introductory courses can be as brief as a half day trial in a swimming pool all the way through to full certification. Courses may have slightly different names but they are generally versions of the below courses:
Discover Scuba Diving A brief half day or more introduction to diving. This course provides a first experience of scuba diving under the watchful eye of a scuba professional.
Scuba Diver The Scuba Diver course is an abbreviated Open Water Course that is commonly taken by people who either don't have enough time do a full Open Water Course or who don't need a certification for the type of diving that they enjoy.
Open Water Diver The Open Water course is the most common course and a full introduction to scuba diving. The course takes 3 days or more and once you complete it you'll be certified for life and ready to go on to further training and a lifetime of great diving.
Where should I learn?
You can learn to dive almost anywhere in the world, so this will usually depend on where you live and where you spend your vacations.
When deciding which dive center to learn at it's important to understand the differences between certification agencies and even more important to feel comfortable with your instructor.
How fit and healthy do I need to be?
You don't need to be an Olympic athlete, but you will need to be in good overall health. There are some conditions that may prevent you from diving and you'll need to pass some basic water skills test, so if you're generally healthy and can swim and float well enough you should be ok.
What equipment to I need?
You won't usually need any equipment when you start to dive as it can all be rented for the duration of the course, but some dive centers may prefer you to buy your own mask, snorkel, and fins. Once you're certified there are all sorts of things to buy and many divers love new dive gadgets just as much as the actual diving.
What will I learn?
If you do a Discover Scuba Diving course you'll learn the basics of dive safety and a few basic skills to make sure you're safe underwater. During the Open Water course you'll learn all of the basic skills that you'll need to be able to dive accompanied by a buddy who is also Open Water certified without the supervision of a dive professional. Here are some of the basic skills you'll learn in an Open Water course: Open Water Skills OverviewWhat's next?
Once you've completed the Open Water Course and you're a certified diver you may like to do further courses like Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver or even go on to become a professional Divemaster, Instructor, Technical Diver, Commercial Diver, or even Military Diver. There are also many diving specialty courses that you can study that will broaden and enhance your underwater experiences.
