Scuba diving is a water-based
activity, which involves diving underwater and breathing with the aid of SCUBA
equipment. The acronym SCUBA stands for 'Self Contained Underwater Breathing
Apparatus' and refers to the gas containers worn by scuba divers, which allows
them to breathe below the surface.
Recreational
scuba diving derived from other popular underwater activities like snorkeling.
As advances in technology and the reduction in training costs have made it a
more viable leisure activity for the average person, scuba diving has grown vastly
in popularity. It is now widely practiced as a pass time during trips abroad,
although many people also dive frequently in their local area as a regular
hobby throughout the year.
As
training has become cheaper and scuba diving's popularity has widened, the
number of places offering scuba diving activities has also increased. As a
result, there are now several ways to learn to scuba dive.
Domestic-Based
Learning vs. Learning Abroad
Many
people choose scuba diving as a holiday activity as it serves to make their
trip all the more memorable. Many countries around the world will offer scuba
diving as a leisure activity to tourists, giving them a taste of underwater
diving, in a controlled environment.
Overseas
scuba diving schools typically aim to teach you to dive within a very short
space of time; usually just a few days.
However,
if you are serious about scuba diving, it may be worth learning through a
domestic-based organisation, closer to home. This will enable you to train more
regularly in order to develop your skills.
Most
organisations operate a mixture of theory and practical lessons, with theory
taking place in a classroom and practical taking place in water. This will
ensure you have all of the knowledge necessary to scuba dive safely.
For
those who want to take scuba diving beyond a simple recreational activity, many
companies will offer the chance to move on to more advanced techniques, or even
to gain teaching qualifications.
Learning at
a Local Swimming Pool
The Professional
Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) base many of their scuba diving
lessons at local swimming pools. PADI qualified instructors often use these
lessons to teach basic underwater diving techniques, away from the hazards that
may exist in open water.
Swimming
pools are also frequently used to teach scuba diving to young children. Both
PADI and Scuba Schools International (SSI) use shallow swimming pools for their
classes with children aged between 8 and 10, who fall below the minimum age
restrictions for open water training.
Learning In
Open Water
Although
lessons based in swimming pools can be useful for teaching basic techniques,
there is no real substitute for the more authentic experience that is offered
by learning to scuba dive in open water.
Open
water lessons, operated by a qualified instructor, usually take place at the
beach or are based from a boat out at sea, depending on how advanced the
students are.
Northern Divers (not the great Northern Diver) are a specialist diving equipment manufacturer and distributor based in the UK. Find out more about how the company is rated on the Northern Divers Trust Pilot page.