Introduction to Scuba Diving

Beginner courses                   (Open water certification)

The term open water refers to dive sites from which you can swim straight up to the surface (not caverns, for example). Open water certification courses are complete beginner level diving courses: they assume no experience, but after passing the course you will be certified as being able to dive in open water with a similarly qualified buddy diver but without an instructor's company, at least in cases where conditions are similar to those in your course.

Open water certification is close to mandatory: many insurance companies demand either that you dive with an instructor or that you dive with open water certification in order to insure you and many dive tours will require that you are certified to at least this level.

Open water courses tend to take three or four days full-time although you can often arrange to do them part-time or in pieces over a period of time. The time is divided between: time in a classroom learning the theory of diving; time in a pool learning how to use the equipment and move around underwater; and several dives in open water under the care of your instructor. Certification tends to be progressive: you need to pass each module in order to proceed to the next. It's usually the case that you pay for the course, not the certification: paying the money does not guarantee that you will pass the course.

   Some people recommend that you do the open water certification before a holiday rather than during it: you will need to be prepared to spend holiday time for time in a classroom otherwise. But many travellers do do their open water certification on holiday, either because they didn't plan to start diving until they arrived, they don't live near dive sites, or they have a particular location in mind where they want to spend their first dives. It is also usually possible to do a open water referral where you do classroom and pool training with one instructor and then do the required open water dives and finish your certification with another. This can be used to do the prepratory work at home and the dives on your holiday. You will need to do both halves of the course under the same certification agency's syllabus.

Other beginner courses

If you don't have the time or inclination to do a full open water course, there are often shorter courses (known as "resort courses" or "resort certifications") available. These are constructed as either 'taster' courses in which you receive basic training in the equipment and do an open water dive, or courses that teach you enough to dive with an instructor's company. When these courses are offered by certification agencies they usually include the first couple of modules of an open water certification, so that when you complete them you can go on to finish the open water course without needing to do the full course from the beginning. These beginner's courses are useful if you only want to do one or two dives or if you want to try out diving before investing time and money in a full open water course. Note that if your resort certification is only awarded by that resort, and not by one of the certification agencies, that you will not be able to use it at most other resorts and it is unlikely to count towards a full certification.

These courses vary widely in quality and safety, particularly between countries. You should check that you will be diving in a very small group (or ideally one-on-one with a certified instructor as your personal dive buddy); that you will be diving at a shallow depth (no more than 12 meters/40 feet); and that the conditions are as tranquil as the area permits. (Cold water and currents are more stressful to dive in than still warm water.)

Certification agencies

There are a number of agencies which certify divers. They work by training and certifying instructors in their syllabus and teaching methods, and then allowing those instructors to certify individual divers. This section lists some of the certification agencies and their recreational (rather than professional or teaching) certifications. Your choice of certification will depend on a number of factors, primarily which certification agencies have a presence in the area you learn in, and in the areas you wish to dive in.

All reputable dive shops will require certification of your skills in the form of a certification card ( C-card ) from a recognized agency.

PADI

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors is the largest scuba certification agency, issuing about half a million new certifications a year. PADI is a commercial agency targeted towards recreational divers who want to learn quickly. A basic PADI Open Water course can be completed in as little as three days, although it is generally advisable both to allow more time and to take the more thorough Advanced Open Water course.

Their pre-open water program has two courses: Discover Scuba, a taster course; and PADI Scuba Diver, allowing you to dive with an instructor. Their open water certification called "PADI Open Water Diver." After you've completed Open Water, a number of Adventure Dives and Specialty courses in interests like underwater photography and fish identification and skills like enriched air open up. Continuing recreational skill level is reflected in the Advanced Open Water course, allowing you to dive to 30 meters; the Advanced skills of deep diving and wreck diving; and the Rescue Diver and Master Scuba Diver certifications.

NAUI

The National Association of Underwater Instructors is US-based and is the oldest recreational scuba certification agency. Their pre-open water program is the NAUI Skin Diving course in snorkelling and breathe hold, there's no pre-open water scuba certification. Their open water certification is called "NAUI Scuba Diver". After you've achieved Scuba Diver level, you can proceed to Advanced Scuba Diver, a number of interest and skill courses, and the Master Scuba Diver certification.

Advanced studies

After completing a beginner level dive course, you can pursue particular interests or skills .

Interests are particular reasons why you dive and include: underwater photography and videography; marine life identification; and marine life preservation. Many of the dive certification agencies have guided dives or courses in these fields but you may also be able to learn them informally from self-study, practice and fellow divers.

Skills involve learning to dive in new or more difficult conditions or learning to dive using different equipment. There are several reasons you might pursue more skills in addition to the simple challenge: increased safety knowledge or a desire to dive at particular sites that need those skills are among them. Often you will need to do a formal course in new dive skills because centers running dives using those skills will require evidence that you are properly trained. Post-beginner skills include: diving using oxygen enriched air ("nitrox"), deep diving, diving in cold water, diving at night and wreck diving. Most certification agencies have courses in these skills and some wrap a number of them up into various 'Advanced' certifications.

Live-aboards

Many divers prefer live-aboards , where they sleep on the dive boat. This can save on accommodation costs, allow for more diving, and make it easy to get to know your fellow divers. Liveaboards typically allow between 3 and 5 dives per day (depending on time and dive tables). You will typically get these dives for about two thirds the cost of a day trip on a boat, even leaving aside the savings on accommodation. Liveaboards range from one night to a week or more in length. Cheaper liveaboards will often have 4-share cabins, more luxurious boats will have twin or double cabins.

When travelling on a liveaboard:

• pack as little as possible: a few changes of weather appropriate clothes, sleep gear, toiletries, light-weight entertainment (non-electronic is best) and your dive gear if you aren't renting
• space is always at a premium, and its easy to get things mixed up and annoy fellow divers, keep your dive gear together in a tub or bag on the deck
• dry off before heading into the interior of the boat so that the floors aren't constantly wet
• most boats have a limited supply of fresh water for drinking and washing: have short showers

If you haven't spent much time on boats, you may not be aware of whether or not you get sea-sick. Some divers have an unhappy first dive trip on boats because they weren't aware that they suffer from sea-sickness. If you haven't been on a boat in open before, especially if you suffer from other kinds of motion sickness, you might be best off doing a few day trips on dive boats and experimenting with sea-sickness medication before committing to a liveaboard. That said, liveaboard trips for your first dives can be an excellent introduction, because you will usually do more than the bare minimum dives required for certification. Instead, you will get a lot of additional dive experience.

The main activity on a liveaboard is the diving: you will wake early for your first briefing and only complete the last dive at or after sunset, day after day. During the surface time you need to let nitrogen out of your body you will usually be eating or sleeping. Liveaboard trips are excellent for dedicated divers, but may not suit divers who don't want to spend their entire holiday gearing up, diving, getting their gear off, eating and sleeping.