Scuba diving is swimming underwater using SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Using a cylinder of compressed gas to breathe (usually air, but sometimes other gases), scuba divers can stay underwater much longer than would be possible by just holding their breath - for hours or even days!

With the assistance of equipment such as scuba masks, breathing regulators, buoyancy devices, fins, and gauges scuba divers can explore the underwater world. Modern scuba diving is very safe and easy to learn. All basic skills can be learned in as little as three days.

Scuba diving is a sport that is practiced recreationally all around the world and can even be a profession. There are many diving jobs such as recreational divemaster and instructor, commercial diver, police diver, scientific diver, and military diver.

Why do people scuba dive?
For some it's the beauty of the reef and the marine life that inhabits it, for others it's the thrill of discovery deep inside a wreck or cave - everyone has a different reason for scuba diving, but most would agree that it's for the sheer enjoyment of experiencing the underwater world, a world so far removed from ours that it will truly amaze you. Whether you want to relax while photographing brightly colored tropical fish, be thrilled by the power and grace of a school of sharks, or make a living working underwater, scuba diving has it all.

Who can scuba dive?
The simple answer is - almost anyone. Scuba divers are aged from 8 years and over and come from all walks of life. Here are some basic considerations:
• Age
Children as young at 8 years old can start diving with programs taught in the safety of shallow water and aimed specifically at young children. From the age of 10 years old children can be certified as Junior Open Water Divers and those 15 years and older can be certified as Open Water Divers. There are no upper age limits.
• Health
You need to be in a state of good health. This doesn't mean you need to be super-fit, but you have to be free of any serious medical problems. You'll answer a medical questionnaire when you sign up for a course and if you or your instructor have any concerns you will be referred to a medical doctor for assessment. You will also need to be able to swim and float or tread water.
• Disabilities
Scuba diving is accessible to people with physical disabilities. Many instructors are trained to provide courses tailored to physically challenged divers and there are diving societies whose primary goal is to facilitate and promote diving for physically challenged people.

What types of scuba diving are there?
There are many types of scuba diving which means there's always something new to do and see. Here are the most popular types:
• Recreational
Most divers are recreational divers and this is the form of diving that is devoted to having fun. Some divers love looking at fish and coral, but there are also many specialized areas of scuba diving. After Open Water certification you can complete courses in all sorts of specialties including, but not limited to: night diving, wreck diving, deep diving, navigation, fish identification, underwater naturalism, photography, videography, cave diving, ice diving, altitude diving, and rescue diving.
• Technical
Some recreational divers want to explore the marine world even further than recreational diving equipment and training allows. Technical diving encompasses areas such as extreme deep diving, advanced wreck diving, and advanced cave diving. Technical diving is for very experienced recreational divers and requires specialised training and equipment.
• Commercial
Commercial divers scuba dive for a living. They build underwater structures such as oil platforms, carry out underwater maintenance, conduct surveys, create maps, participate in salvage operations, and work in many other diving related occupations.
• Military
Military diving is similar to commercial diving but also involves such tasks as underwater surveillance, mine clearing, and military research. Military divers and scientists have historically been responsible for most advances in dive equipment and dive medicine.

Where do people scuba dive?
You can scuba dive anywhere you can find water. Over two-thirds of the planet is covered by water, so you can dive almost anywhere. Tropical coral reefs tend to be most popular amongst recreational divers but there are also many wonderful things to be found in cold water environments such as lakes, rivers, and quarries.
Divers can be found in all corners of the globe from the tropical reefs of the Caribbean and the Great Barrier Reef, to the world's biggest lake in Siberia - even under the ice of Antarctica. While most dive shops and resorts operate in warm tropical environments it's also common to find local dive centers and dive clubs in most cities around the world - even inland cities with no water.

Are you a responsible diver?

• Be aware, check your air
• Let's respect it, not collect it
• The best regulator on the market is common sense.
• Diving education doesn't end with certification.
• A diver in poor health may be moments away from no health.
• Only fools stretch the rules.
• Living reefs are dying not to be touched.
• When in doubt, just get out
• Diving Safety is no accident
• Never dive deeper, than the depth of your experience.
• Just because you are certified, doesn't mean you are qualified.
• Be a reef lover, always hover.
• Coral reefs hate standing ovations.
• Don't blow it; have your tank checked out once a year.

Dive Vacation Planning

How to choose your dive destination
1. What is your certification level and experience?
Choose a location that is right for you. Some locations cater to novice divers, others to the more advanced, and many accommodate all levels. Don't get caught on the wrong end of the spectrum.

2. What do you want out of your dive vacation?
Do you want to spend as much time as possible underwater? Do you want to take in some topside attractions? Or maybe you are seeking a happy medium. You should consider these questions when planning.

3. Will you be doing any training on vacation?
If you are planning to complete your open water training, or to take an advanced or specialty course, you should check on the agency affiliations and availability with the operator you are going to use.

4. What accommodations are available?
Are you looking for a campsite or the Taj Mahal? Or do you just want a place that is cozy and comfortable? Do your homework and get what you want.

5. Are you on a budget?
If you answered yes to the Taj Mahal, skip this part. If on the other hand you are like most of us, you must stay within a certain budget for vacations. Plan carefully and intelligently and you can stay within your means.
 

Take your time; talk with those who have been to the location you are interested in. Ask lots of questions and do not hesitate to call dive operators and hotels for more specific information.
Some common questions to ask are listed below to help you along. Some will matter to you, some will not, and still others will just be nice to know. This is not a definitive list but something to help you get started

- What type of dive boats does the operator have and how many divers do they carry?
- Are there medical facilities nearby, and how far is the nearest recompression chamber?
- What kind of air fill system is used and is the air quality checked?
- What brands and types of equipment can be bought, rented and serviced?
- Are the dives guided or independently planned with a buddy?
- What are the diving depths at this location?
- What is the visibility and water temperature for the time of year you are visiting?
- What should you expect to see on your dives?
- Are instructors available for a class you would like to complete?
- Are camera and/or video equipment available for rent?
- Is photo processing available?
- Do the boats carry oxygen and first aid kits?
- Are there specific policies concerning the use of dive computers?
- Is nitrox available?
- How far is the hotel from the dive boat?
- How long are the boat rides to the sites?
- When is the best time of year to visit this location?

In addition to planning your travel, you should determine what you would need to take with you. Make a list (and check it twice) of dive equipment, spare parts, tickets, reservation confirmations, clothes and other personal items.

By carefully planning your dive vacation, you will have that extra assurance that you are getting the best value and most enjoyment out of those diving dollars. It may sound like a lot of legwork, but it is actually a lot of fun. So what are you waiting for? Start planning!!!
 

6 Tips for Better Buoyancy Control

• Minimize your weighting. Extra air in your BC, to support extra lead on your belt, will change volume and buoyancy with depth, causing you to yo-yo and preventing you from maintaining neutral buoyancy.
• Check it at the safety stop. It's at the end of your dive, not the beginning, that you should be weighted for neutral buoyancy at 5m. That means you'll be about 2kg heavy at the beginning of the dive. (That's the weight of the air you use.)
• Suspend a weight bag. Hang a mesh bag with some 1kg weights from the boat at about 5m. Start the dive with 1kg or so of your weight in a BC pocket. At the safety stop, next to the weight bag, you can transfer weights between pocket and bag to find your perfect weighting.
• Relax. To find neutral buoyancy, go limp. Any sculling with hands or feet will create upward thrust.
• Add and subtract air in small squirts. You must wait a minute for adjustments to take effect before adding or subtracting more. The effect is not instantaneous.
Use your lungs, not your BC. Make slight temporary changes to your buoyancy by holding more or less air in your lungs. That way you don't disturb the correct inflation of your BC.

Tips for Diving in Surge

Step 1: Back Off

Surge, like the waves that cause it, comes in sets of stronger flows, and lulls of weaker ones. If your problem is to approach the boat ladder, back off a few yards and watch the situation until you can read the rhythm of sets and lulls.

Step 2: Don't Fight It

Even moderate surge is stronger than you are. Don't exhaust yourself trying to move forward against it. Instead, hold on to something (a current line, an anchor line, a rock) when the surge tries to carry you backward, and ride it when it carries you forward. Nothing to hold on to? Fin steadily forward just enough to remain stationary. Backward and forward flows are about the same and will cancel out.

Step 3: Timing Is Everything

Wait for a lull (a period of weaker flows) to make your move. Exiting the water? If you time it right, you can ride an inflow to the ladder or rock, hang on during the outflow, and climb out during the slack water before the next inflow. Going through a wreck opening or swim-through? Likewise, ride the inflow to the edge, hang on during the opposite force, then use the lull and inflow to swim through and away from the opening where the surge is strongest. Be cautious on your approach. It's better to fall short of the ladder or opening and have to do it again than to be thrown against it.

When Surge Is Strongest
• In shallow water. Usually you can avoid surge by going below 10 or 20 feet. (But it depends on the size of the waves.)
• When waves are big. Big surf means surge is not only stronger but reaches deeper.
• At narrow openings. Remember the venturi effect? Surge accelerates in gaps between rocks and through openings in wrecks.
• Around stationary objects. When water has to make a detour around a rock outcrop or a wreck, it goes faster.
Why Doesn't the Boat Move?
You and the dive boat are both floating. How come the surge moves you but not the boat? Actually, the boat probably does move, especially if it's small. But the heavier it (or any object) is, the more inertia it has to resist the surge. And it may be big enough to span several waves at once--in which case inflows and outflows cancel each other and it's as immobile as a rock. Plus, if the boat is at anchor, the anchor line restrains the boat's movement.

Please contact us if you require  advice or assistance regarding a Scuba Diving expedition or Scuba Diving Hotspots, Ideas and Tips.

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