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How To Get Certified In Scuba Diving
by Clint Leung
The first two steps in getting certified in scuba diving is to
make sure that you are a reasonably proficient swimmer and you
get medical clearance from your doctor to take up the sport. As
for the swimming, you don't have to master every type of stroke.
Scuba certification only requires that you are able to swim about
200 yards using any stroke you want and to be able to float or
tread on water for about 10 minutes. If you are in good general
health and are comfortable in the water, then you should be able
to scuba dive without any problems.
There are about 1,900 professional scuba dive centers in North
America alone and your local ones should definitely be checked
out. Most will run basic certification programs on a regular
basis. These centers or shops should be listed in the yellow
pages and you can also check with websites of some of the major
scuba diving certification agencies such as PADI or NAUI as they
will also have listings. Sometimes scuba diving courses are
offered at universities too.
Make sure that the course you are interested in taking as well as
its instructor are certified with one of the major scuba diving
training agencies. This will ensure that you get proper, safe
training for both the technical background knowledge and
practical skills required for certification as a scuba diver. You
also want to end up with an internationally recognized
certification card if you want to go scuba diving at various
locations around the world.
Some vacation resorts offer `resort' courses lasting a day or two
which offer beginners some very basic training in order to try
out scuba diving. These are not certification programs. Full
certification programs involve classroom work, exams, practical
skills sessions at a pool and usually about four open water dives
in the sea (lake or ocean). The duration of the classroom work
and pool sessions vary from a very intensive weekend (with
advance reading) to once a week over several weeks. The open
water dives will usually take two more days. Dive centers located
in the tropics also offer basic certification programs that last
several days to a week. Although the intensive weekend programs
are quite feasible, many feel that basic scuba diving courses
spread out over a few weeks will help beginners learn the skills
better. Scuba diving does involve new skills and to learn them
all during one full weekend may be too much for some people.
As for which scuba diving certification training agency is the
best, there isn't any one recognized organization that is better
than another. PADI is the most popular in the world but not
necessarily better than NAUI or SSI. NAUI course are often more
technical in the classroom than those offered by PADI but both
will adequately train you to be a scuba diver. The more important
factor would be the individual instructor and your own effort
during training/studying. In fact, many scuba diving instructors
have certifications from several training agencies.
For people living in the more northern regions, there are a few
possible routes to take in order to obtain certification. One can
travel down south to the tropics and do the entire basic
certification course down there in warm weather. However, this
will take up a good portion of a vacation since reading,
classroom, pool sessions and open water dives all must be done
during that time period. A second option is to take the entire
course including the open water dives back in home territory.
This usually offers beginners the most time since courses can be
spread out over a few weeks. However, the water up north is not
as warm as in the tropics and the scuba diving could be seasonal.
A third option is to take all the classroom and pool sessions
back home and then go down south to do the open water dives in
warm waters. Many people have taken this route. Your instructor
back home will give you a referral letter to bring down to an
instructor located down south who will oversee your open water
dives. This is a good combination of taking ample time back home
to practice the skills in the pool plus getting the classroom
work out of the way followed by having nice warm water to dive in
for the open water dives. One thing to be aware of if considering
this option is to make sure that your travel to the tropics for
your open water dives is not too delayed after finishing up with
your pool sessions at home. If too much time has elapsed, one
could easily forget the skills learned in the pool by the time a
vacation comes along.
The underwater world has so much to offer and only a small
percentage of the world's population will ever have the privilege
to see it in person rather than on television. Become one of
these individuals who will have the honor of exploring the oceans
by getting certified in scuba diving.
About the Author:
Clint Leung is a NAUI certified Master and Rescue Scuba Diver. He
is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear
(http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com) , an online retailer and
designer specializing in premium quality activewear with
specialty sports themes including scuba diving, skiing,
snowboarding and martial arts. Free Spirit Activewear has
numerous information resource articles on selected specialty
sports as well as free eCards.
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