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No, you do not have to be a competitive level swimmer. You do
have to have a comfort level in the water and be able to swim
a required distance, but there is no time limit. Water and weather
conditions can vary from dive to dive, and even from beginning
to end of some dives. At times, divers may swim in a current,
or, depending on the dive, may have a lengthy surface swim going
to or from a dive site. As long as you aren't afraid of the water,
you can learn how to SCUBA dive.
Unfortunately, asthma can be a contraindication for SCUBA diving.
Check with your own physician and also contact The Diver's Alert
Network. They can help you determine if your case is such that
SCUBA isn't possible.
Learning to equalize the pressure you feel in your ears is one
of the skills that you learn as an open water SCUBA student. If
you want to learn to SCUBA, we can help you learn this skill.
No. At Diver Dawg SCUBA, use of our equipment except for mask,
fins, and snorkel, is complementary during the time of the SCUBA
class. Even though it is not a requirement that you have your
own gear when you dive with us, diving gear is very personal equipment
and you will certainly want to consider investing in a quality
set of mask, fins, and snorkel. We do offer mask, fins, and snorkel
sets for rental.
Your gear will have a life time directly related to how well it
is maintained. As part of your open water training, we at Diver
Dawg SCUBA will teach you how to care for SCUBA equipment, so
that you can protect your investment.
One should never enter a SCUBA class to please someone else. The
decision to learn SCUBA should be a personal one. You will be
the one who has to learn the skills, pass the tests, and demonstrate
skills. If you feel uncomfortable with any aspect of SCUBA, you
should talk to one of our instructors about it before attempting
the classes.
SCUBA certification does not expire. Once you are certified, you
are certified. We do suggest that if you have not been in the
water for longer than 1 year, you should schedule a refresher
course with us. Good divers are always learning.
Beginning Open Water SCUBA training prepares you for diving to
depths up to 60 feet. However there are no barriers at that depth
preventing you from going deeper. You have to be your own governor.
We look at Beginning Open Water SCUBA as a license to continue
your diving education. Being a safe diver means not diving outside
your ability level or comfort zone unless you are being trained
by an instructor.
You can take another SCUBA class immediately if you like. There
is no mandatory waiting time.
We recommend that you take Advanced Open Water as your second
class. The Beginning Open Water course is your license to continue
learning. Advanced Open Water helps to develop and refine those
skills you learn in Beginning Open Water.
You can, but we recommend that you do a more local trip as your
certification dives for Beginning Open Water. If you use an off-shore
tip as your open water check out dive, you will be spending two
of your dive days at that resort location completing SCUBA skills.
It would be far more enjoyable for you to be able to dive and
enjoy rather than do skills at a resort location.
SCUBA diving is a very safe sport. As with anything there is,
of course, risk but with proper training and keeping to that training
as you dive on your own, you reduce the risk to a minimum. Diving
accidents occur as a result of divers doing things that they know
they shouldn't do, and not paying attention to their training
or to their equipment.
First of all Let your dive instructor know if you are taking any
medications, whether they are prescribed or not. Today many conditions
are treated with medication. These include anticonvulsants to
prevent seizures, antidepressants and sedatives to alter behavior,
pain medication and a host of others. In addition to the intended
effect, many drugs have undesirable side effects, which vary from
person to person and are not entirely predictable. Others may
affect a persons heart rate. There could potentially be an interaction
between the medication and high partial pressures of nitrogen,
producing unexpected side effects such as anxiety or panic. Read
the warning labels carefully and consult a doctor or Divers Alert
Network (DAN) if you are at all unsure.
The Recreational SCUBA Training Council (RSTC), which is the governing
body of all SCUBA certifications agencies has changed their policy,
which used to state that 12 years old was the minimum age, to
allow each certification agency to make an age determination.
There are still several agencies that will not certify anyone
under 12, but most agencies have reduced the age requirement to
10. We feel that all children are different and it is maturity
rather than absolute age that is the major factor. We will be
glad to work with you to determine if your child is mature enough
to begin SCUBA.
If you have not dived for a year or more, we highly recommend
that you schedule a refresher course. It is not required, but
as with all skills, your SCUBA skills can become "rusty"
if not used.
If you are planning to make SCUBA a part of your life, you should
invest in quality gear. Masks and fins that are sold in discount
stores or toy stores are certainly not an option because they
are not made for SCUBA. Even the masks and fins sold in some dive
shops may be okay for SCUBA, but not really of good quality. The
more comfortable you are in a mask and fins, the more likely you
are to use them and enjoy the activity. If you buy lesser quality
equipment, you may find that it has to be replaced often or isn't
comfortable.
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