Recreational Scuba Diver Training
By Natalie Gibb, About.com Guide
- Tips for Easier Diving
- Risks and Risk Management
- Dive Medicine and Safety
- Advanced Diving/ Scuba Specialities
Frequent Asked Questions About Scuba Diving
Before signing up for a scuba class or buying dive gear, you probably have some questions about scuba diving. Here is an overview of some of the most frequently asked questions I hear as a scuba diving instructor. If you have a question that is not answered below, feel free to email it to scuba.guide@about.com and I will make every effort to answer it!
- How Do I Start Scuba Diving?
- Is Scuba Diving Dangerous?
- Can I Scuba Dive - Scuba Prerequisites
- Why Does Diving Make You Need to Pee in Your Wetsuit?
- How Deep Can You Scuba Dive?
- How Do I Keep My Scuba Mask From Fogging?
- How Long Can I Stay Underwater On a Scuba Dive?
- Can I Vomit Underwater If I Get Seasick?
- How Does a Wetsuit Keep You Warm Underwater?
- What Can I See on a Night Dive?
- Can You Scuba Dive With Breast Implants?
- What Is the Difference Between Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression Sickness?
Scuba Courses
Scuba diving certification organizations offer variety of recreational courses to fit almost any diver's needs. Experience courses provide a chance for non-certified divers to experience the underwater world with an easy half-day course. Open water certification courses offer a life-long scuba certification that allows participants to dive anywhere in the world. Learn about fitness requirements, training options and scuba certification agencies here.
- Medical Requirements for Safe Diving
- Scuba Diving Certification Agencies
- Experience Courses - One Day Courses
- What Is the Open Water Course?
- Open Water Course Options
- Referral Courses - Study at Home, Dive on Vacation
- 5 Courses to Advance Your Diving
- Online Diving Courses
Essential Concepts
Most divers know that they shouldn't hold their breath underwater and that they need to equalize their ears as they descend. Fewer scuba divers understand why they need to follow these rules. A working knowledge of the physics and physiology of diving is essential for safe diving - it encourages divers to follow safety rules and enables them to handle unexpected situations. Here are articles on basic concepts that every scuba diver should understand.
- Ear Equalization Basics
- How Deep Can You Scuba Dive?
- Buoyancy and Scuba Diving
- Trim - Good Trim Improves Your Diving
- Pressure and Scuba Diving
- Air Consumption Rates
- Nitrogen Absorption
- Carbon Dioxide and Scuba Diving
- Boyle's Law and Scuba Diving
- No-Decompression Limits
- Visibility (Viz)
Skills and Techniques
Student divers practice scuba skills and techniques in a shallow, controlled environment before diving in a more realistic setting. Mastering basic skills is important because it helps divers to gain confidence with their equipment and its use. Even experienced divers can benefit from reviewing these techniques periodically to stay proficient with emergency management skills.
- 20 Hand Signals for Scuba Diving
- The Pre-Dive Safety Check
- Controlled Seated Entry
- Five Point Descent
- 6 Steps to a Properly Controlled Descent
- Check For Proper Weighting
- Mask Clearing
- 4 Emergency Ascents and When to Use Them
- Regulator Recovery
- Fin Pivot
- Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent
- Free Flowing Regulator Breathing
- Low Pressure Inflator Disconnection
- Mask Removal and Replacement
- Natural Navigation
- Neutral Buoyancy Tip: What to Do With Your Hands
Tips for Easier Diving
After years as a full time scuba diving instructor, I have learned many tricks to make scuba diving more enjoyable for both my students and certified divers. Here are some articles aimed at making scuba diving easier!
- 13 Tips for Good Boat Diving Etiquette
- Tipping Guidelines
- Make Descents Easier and More Enjoyable
- It's Not the Up Button - Correct a Bad Habit!
- 4 Ways to Easily Deflate a BCD Depending Upon Your Position
- What to Do If You Panic and Hyperventilate Underwater
- 8 Methods of Preventing a Foggy Mask
- How to Relax on the Surface
- Follow Your Head - A Tip for Easier Buoyancy Control
- Trim Weights Can Improve Your Swimming Position - How and When to Use Them
- Don't Get Lost! Cues and Features to Navigate Successfully Underwater
- Avoid Problems Associated With Clear and Turbid Water
- 8 Tips for Being a Better Dive Buddy
Risks and Risk Management
Like most adventure sports, scuba diving has minimal risks. Learning to manage those risks is one of the things that makes diving fun and exciting! Diving continues to be a safe activity because of quality diver education - divers who understand potential hazards will be safer underwater because they take precautions to minimize those hazards. This section is not intended to frighten divers, but to teach them how to avoid dangerous situations and behaviors.
- Flying After Diving
- Nitrogen Narcosis & Its Dangers
- How to Avoid/Reduce Nitrogen Narcosis
- Emergency Decompression
- Reverse Block (Ear Pain on Ascent)
- Decompression Sickness
Dive Medicine and Safety
Can you scuba dive with asthma? How old should a child be before he can safely learn to dive? This section is dedicated to ensuring that scuba divers understand what is required to be physically fit to dive.
- Fitness to Dive Checklist
- Water Skills Assessment For Certification
- The Maximum Safe Ascent Rate for Diving
- Why Make Safety Stops?
- Kids and Diving
- Asthma and Diving
- Breast Implants and Scuba Diving
- Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) and Diving
- Flying After Diving
- The Golden Rule of Scuba Diving
- Are Sawtooth Dive Profiles Dangerous?
Advanced Diving/ Scuba Specialities
Are you already open water certified and ready to take your diving to the next level? Here is information on advanced diving topics and speciality diving courses, as well as hints and tips to help you safely venture into new environments.