What Exactly Are Scuba Diving Certifications?

When you are talking to someone about scuba diving, they keep throwing out certified and certification classes they took before they went in the water. You thought they were just going on vacation, why did they get certification on something they were only going to do once? Or maybe even twice if they ever go on vacation again? Why would you take all of the time to get certified on something?

What that means is the person took a class by a certified instructor that taught them how to use the instruments properly to dive. You don’t have to be certified in order to dive, but it is highly recommended for people who have never done it before. A certification class will be much more thorough and in depth than a 30-minute class you would take outside of your hotel lobby. And since your health and safety is potentially at stake, wouldn’t you rather be certified than not on the equipment? Certification really isn’t that complicated or expensive.

How to Get It

In order to get certification, you simply need to take a class and pass the test at the end. The test reviews everything you have learned in class and in the pool (or lake) where you did the hands on portion of the class. The class will go over the process of getting the right amount of air in through your regulator, what to do if there is a problem with any of your equipment, how to surface properly and ways to stay safe underwater if the conditions change. The class will teach you how to safely enjoy any type of dive. Classes might be offered at the local pool, the college pool in the area or if there is a rec center nearby that has a pool. If you happen to live by a resort, they might also have classes where they teach certified scuba diving. Some resorts only teach basic classes to get you in the water, so make sure you enroll in the right one.

Who Can Get It

Anyone can take a scuba diving class and get certified. The classes will last for a couple of hours each time and probably meet for 4 – 6 weeks, depending on the level of the class. The basic class will have a blend of both classroom instruction and in the water instruction, using the instruments and getting a feel for how to use them. Once the class is over, you might need a test in order to receive your certification or else they will just give it to you for attending.

In order to move on to more advanced classes, you will need even more training and hours in the water. There are several different classes you need to take in order to become an instructor to teach other people how to scuba dive properly. All of the more advanced classes will require specific dive conditions, a certain number of dives and classroom training in order to become more certified.

Comments for this post are closed