Newcomers Welcome: Best Ways to Get Into Scuba Diving
Getting into scuba diving as a hobby can seem intimidating for newcomers. The gauges, tanks, precise measurements, and dive planning have a way of making people new to the activity get scared off by the seeming complexity. However, with a few helpful tips and tricks, turning into a scuba diving enthusiast is easier than ever. The following six tips will help you get acclimated to scuba diving in no time!
Pick Your Scuba Training Course
The quickest way to get into the water and familiarize yourself with your scuba gear starts with enrolling in a comprehensive training course. These “learn to scuba dive” courses help new and even experienced divers get more comfortable using the equipment before their first open water dive. Each class focuses on a different aspect of scuba diving and provides students with an accessible entry-level to get acclimated.
Know Where You’re Going to Be Diving
The key to any successful dive revolves around knowing where your next dive will be. Every dive site offers unique challenges and quirks that divers have to account for before and during their dive. Currents, visibility, water temperature, and historical weather data will better inform you before taking to the water. These conditions can also affect the type of scuba gear you buy and the kinds of courses you take to get scuba certified.
Buy or Rent Your Gear
Once you become scuba certified, the next step on your scuba journey is ensuring that you have the best gear for the job. Whether it’s your first time or you’re an advanced open water diver, feeling confident and knowing how to use your equipment can make your next diving adventure go as smoothly as possible. Before visiting your first diving site, you need to buy or rent your gear. If you’re unsure about which equipment is right for you, our “try-before-you-buy” program allows you to try out your gear at a pool or local dive site to make sure you are making the appropriate choice.
Deciding between buying or renting your gear starts with answering a critical question: How often do you plan to dive? If you’re only planning to go diving once in a while or when you’re on vacation, renting your gear makes the most sense for your situation. However, if you plan on diving regularly and taking frequent diving trips, investing in quality gear can prove a worthwhile investment.
Enroll in an Open Water Course
While some divers’ certification courses have you diving into a pool to learn the basics, those courses can only go so far to prepare you for a real excursion into the ocean. The different factors that influence an open water dive cannot be replicated in the confines of a pool. Thankfully, open water courses are available for beginner scuba divers to help you prepare for the open water.
Open water courses at a certified diving center teach students how to use their gear in a real-world environment. Under the supervision of a diving instructor in controlled conditions, students learn what to expect and how to react when they’re in full gear and the vastness of the ocean — or in this case, a lake.
An open water course exposes you to specific situations that may arise during your next trip and gives you the chance to develop the necessary skills and responses to deal with them. After you receive your scuba certification, you can start diving for real.
Get Ready for Your Next Dive With Scubadelphia Diveseekers!
Finding respected scuba certification courses and gear from the best brands on the market has made plenty of scuba beginners stumble. Getting the necessary certifications and quality equipment will give you the confidence and experience you need to tackle your newest hobby head-on. Browse our inventory to find proven certification courses and a wide selection of scuba gear — including tanks, fins, snorkels, and wetsuits — and get ready for your next diving adventure today!