Nothing else even comes close to the experience of floating completely weightless underwater, watching dolphins, sea turtles, seals, rays and tropical fish swim all around you.
And the only thing standing between you and this amazing experience is training. In order to SCUBA dive, you need to be trained and certified.
You may have seen shops, schools or cruises that offer to certify you for SCUBA in a very short period of time. While learning to dive in a weekend is tempting, a couple of days just isn’t enough time to learn the skills you need to be happy and safe underwater.
How can you tell if you’ve found a good SCUBA school?
In Central NY, National Aquatic Service has excellent SCUBA classes. I know because I teach there. NAS gives you as much class and pool time as it takes for you to be happy and confident in the water, and we’ve been teaching this way for the past fifty years. It worked great then, and it works great now.
If you’re not in Central NY, here’s an easy way to tell if you found a good SCUBA School:
Ask them: “How long does it take to get certified?”
- If they say “a weekend”, run away.
Nobody can learn to be a safe confident diver in a weekend. It’s just not possible. You can learn how to probably not die, but that’s about as far as it goes. - If they say “as long as it takes for you to feel comfortable”, you’ve found a winner!
People learn at different speeds, and the right class for you is the one that lets you learn at your own pace. - If they say “X” classes, it might or might not be OK, depending on if “X” is enough for you.
A good class for people who are already comfortable in the water would include at least seven class and pool sessions. Six isn’t really enough and five or less is just asking to have problems when you get out into the ocean.
If you’re not really comfortable in the water, you should absolutely make sure you find an “as long as it takes” class, since rushing will only make you more anxious.
I think Dave Barry said it best: “I will spare you a gushy description of the dive itself, except to say that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you’ve been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.”
Any thoughts? Just leave a note below!