How to Become a Scuba Diver

Have you ever watched a Scuba Diver in a movie and thought to yourself how fun and exciting that must be? Maybe you quickly dismissed the idea of trying it for yourself sometime because you assumed that it would be expensive, the equipment looked complicated, and you wouldn't even know where to begin. Well you can rest assured that it's really not that difficult to begin Scuba Diving and it's reasonably affordable.

Once you've brushed your fears aside, the first step you need to take is to get your Open Water Certification. Most likely, there are classes being offered in your area where you can do this. It's good to know that there are 2 main certifying authorities in the United States, the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI, pronounced 'NOW-EE') and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI, pronounced 'PAD-EE'). NAUI is a non-profit organization and they generally cover more detailed information in their classes than PADI. If you decide on NAUI instruction, you can expect the classes to be longer and the test to be more difficult, but you can be confident that you will know everything you need to know to be a safe diver. PADI is a for-profit organization and is also the world's largest recreational Scuba training organization. Do some research on these two organizations and decide for yourself which one you want to go with. No matter which one you decide on, you can expect that the certification process will consist of a classroom portion, a written test, and a certification dive with your instructor.

Most likely, your Scuba Instructor will have equipment they can loan or rent to you for the class. If you can afford it, you can buy your own equipment, but it's better to wait until you are certified and have a better idea about different types of equipment before making any purchasing decisions. Also, some dive shops will have pools and let you "try before you buy", however they will almost certainly require that you show proof of certification before they let you do this for liability reasons. That being said, there are several pieces of equipment that you need in order to dive. You will need a dive mask, fins, snorkel, booties, swimsuit or wetsuit, a buoyancy compensator (BC), weights, an air tank, a regulator (first and second stage), gauges, and a dive computer (optional but recommended).

The dive mask, fins, snorkel, booties, and wetsuit/swimsuit are all pretty straight forward and are really just a matter of preference. Just be sure the dive mask is a good-quality mask made for diving. It should be tempered glass to withstand pressure levels at depth. Some dive masks can even be customized with corrective lenses. The booties you will only need if you have open-heel fins, which are recommended since they can be tightened and better secured to your feet. Also, they come in handy when you need to walk over difficult terrain to get to the water. Choosing the right mask and fins will make a big difference in how comfortable you are in the water, so you will need to become familiar with what works best for you.

The buoyancy compensator, commonly called a BC, is a very important piece of equipment. This is the piece that you wear like a vest. It can be filled with air and the air released, which controls your buoyancy in the water and causes you to go up or down. There are 2 main choices for these, back-inflated and jacket style. This just has to do with where the air pockets are when you inflate the BC. Again, this is really a matter of preference and you will need to decide which one works best for you. Also, some BC's have integrated weight systems which is a good feature to have. Otherwise, you will need a separate weight belt. The air tank attaches to the BC. Because air tanks need to be inspected every so often and they are difficult to travel with, it makes it easier to just rent an air tank from a dive shop when needed.

A regulator comes with a first and second stage. The second stage is the piece that you put in your mouth and breathe from. The first stage attaches to the air tank and usually has several ports where hoses connect to provide air to the gauges/dive computer, BC, and a backup regulator (the backup is usually yellow which makes them easy to see).

That's pretty much everything you need to know to get started. You will learn about the gauges and dive computers in your Open Water Certification course, along with everything covered here, and more. Many dive shops can tell you more about affordable travel packages that are usually all-inclusive (dive fees, lodging, food, and air-fare). So what are you waiting for? Go find a Scuba Instructor and start diving this summer!