How to Scuba Dive: Expert Tips to Get You Started
Scuba diving is one of the most popular sports and also one of the most enjoyable. After all, what other sport lets you seek out luxury locations in the name of training and exploration? There is nothing quite like the job of scuba diving and, once you’ve learnt how to scuba dive, you can enjoy some of the world’s best scuba diving locations. However, before you can do this safely and enjoyably, it’s important to learn how to scuba dive.
Learn to Scuba Dive with Oyster Diving
All the scuba dive training courses we offer aim to provide you with the highest quality service, facilities, and equipment. We are one of the best scuba diving training agencies in the UK. Conveniently located in London and throughout the South East, you’re sure to find a location that suits you.
Click here to discover the diving courses we offer for beginners.
What You Need to Know When You Learn to Scuba Dive
You would perhaps be surprised to learn that there are so many people who don’t think about the fact that you can’t speak under water. It is the combination of hand signals that allows you to communicate with your fellow divers underwater. This is just one of the many important things you need to know when you learn to scuba dive. There are so many essential things you need to know when you’re learning to scuba dive as it will keep you alive on your water dive.
Let’s go through some of the things you will learn when you take a diving course.
The Pre-Diving Safety Check
One of the most important things you will learn about when learning to scuba dive is the pre-dive safety check. Perhaps the most essential part of any dive, the pre-diving safety check is performed by your scuba diving buddy and is commonly referred to as the buddy check. The pre-diving check is carried out to ensure both you and your diving buddy are fully kitted out for your dive and you know how each other’s equipment works, too.
During scuba dive training, there are five steps to the scuba diving safety check that you will learn:
- Check the buoyancy compensator
- Check the weights
- Check the releases
- Check the air
- Give the final okay
Once all of this has been checked and has had the okay by both your buddy and your instructor, you’re good to get in the pool and start your dive.
Learn to Signal Underwater
As we’ve already mentioned, learning to signal underwater in an underwater environment is one of the most important aspects of any dive as it helps you communicate with your diving buddy. When you attend a dive course, you will learn what dive signals mean and how to signal underwater successfully. During this process, it is important you have your buddy’s attention at all times so that you can learn how to hand signal and communicate with them effectively.
Orientation Under the Water
Fun fact: once you’re very experienced, you can orientate like the experts. Some very experienced scuba divers are able to use the position of the sun to work out whereabouts they are.
Learning How to Use a Regulator
Learning how to use a regulator while you scuba dive is essential as it is the mouthpiece through which you breathe. You would be surprised just how many people still have their snorkel mouthpiece in when they go under the water, because both this and the regulator can feel the same way.
Choose a Great Scuba Diving Course
While diving, just like any other sport, does have its risks, these can be managed when divers learn to follow their diving guidelines safely and use their gear properly. At Oyster Diving, we offer a huge variety of diving courses to try, from beginner’s dive courses to speciality and professional courses. All of our courses are available to help divers, beginners through to experienced experts, to enjoy the underwater world safely.
Get the Right Diving Gear
Scuba diving requires the right dive equipment and anyone learning to dive needs a full set of scuba gear that is properly maintained and fits well before he can start diving. However, if you are learning to scuba dive with Oyster Diving, owning your own dive gear is not essential.
However, if you do have your own dive gear, this does come with many advantages. Divers who come to lessons with their own dive gear can rest assured that everything fits well, functions, and is properly maintained. What’s more, divers are usually more confident and comfortable in their own dive equipment than they would be in other people’s.
Learn How the Water Affects You
- Pressure and scuba diving
- Buoyancy basics for scuba diving
- Nitrogen absorption
- Ear equalisation basics
- Safety stops
- No-decompression limits
Practise Simple Skills with an Instructor
After you have learnt the above skills and obtained the right scuba gear for you, it’s time to master your dive skills. The best way to do this is to practice mastering scuba diving with a scuba instructor. Our instructors at Oyster Diving are all highly trained experts with many years of diving experience under their belts. So, you can know you’re in good hands.
Remember, when you are learning how to scuba dive for the first time, there are no silly questions. At Oyster Diving, we love it when people ask questions during their dive training, as it shows us that they are engaged in the process and keen to learn. Learning to scuba dive with Oyster Diving can be one of the best experiences of your life.