SUE AND MARIE

We have talked before about the DSD (Discover Scuba Diving) program which is the dive today method and your instructor will be in control of everything you do.

So now we will let you know all about what to do if you have tried it or know you’re going to love it and want to become a certified diver.

All of the courses we teach are through the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) programme and are recognized worldwide.

The open water diver course certifies you to dive to a maximum depth of 60ft without the need for an instructor.

With your certification card you can hire gear anywhere in the world and go exploring with your dive buddy.

Scary you may think, but the course will train you to do everything in the safest way possible.

How long does this take? Years? Months?

Weeks? No, just 3 days in total. See, scuba diving really is easy.

The course covers everything from how to set up, check and care for your equipment.

The safety checks you need to go through before entering the water.

How to check how much weight you need to carry to stay submerged, when and how much air needs to be added to your BCD so you can swim along neutrally buoyant, not hitting the bottom or floating to the surface.

Neutral buoyancy swimming is fantastic, the feeling of being weightless, just like astronauts in space.

The course also teaches you about how to use your lungs to control depth under water, just like the seahorses in last week’s article.

As we breathe in we start to rise and we sink when we breathe out.

Awesome for avoiding coral and rocks with the minimum effort necessary.

In fact Scuba diving has got to be one of the most relaxing and effortless sports on the plant.

All of the skills are first taught and practised in a swimming pool and then perfected in the ocean.

You get to do four ocean dives during the learning process, which teaches you everything you need to know to go off on your own (well, with a buddy as solo diving is not a good idea) and explore.

You can even learn all of the dive theory online in the comfort of your own home.

This is very popular as during the course, you can spend your evenings relaxing for the next day’s training rather than having to study for the exam!

Exam I hear you say, yes, its 50 questions, multiple choice and 75% to pass.

It’s not hard. Honest. It the same exam the junior divers take at the age of 10! Childs play.

So whether you are here in Puerto Vallarta or reading this online, you can get started today.

Just log onto Padi.com/elearning and register under the store number 22262.