Frequently Asked Questions – Everything You Need to Know Before Diving

Learning to dive is an indescribable adventure! With PADI as your dive training organization by your side, the exciting journey to breathing underwater is broken down into three exciting phases.

1. Knowledge transfer/theory
2. Practical training in shallow water/pool diving skills
3. Open water dives

1. knowledge transfer to the theory

During the first phase of your PADI Open Water Diver training, you will learn the terminology and first develop an understanding of the fundamentals of diving. For example, you’ll learn how water pressure affects your body, how to choose the best diving equipment for you, and what to consider when planning your dives.

At the end of the five chapters on diving theory, you will review the material you have learned with your instructor before your knowledge is tested in a short test. The subsequent longer exam will show whether you have really internalized all the basic concepts of recreational diving. However, if there are any points that are unclear, you will go over them with your teacher until they are clear to you.

The following options for learning the theory are available to you:

Start now and learn to dive online with PADI eLearning and set your own pace – whenever and wherever you want. Attend a scheduled dive course at the PADI dive center nearest you. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn from home with PADI multimedia materials (manual, video, CD-Rom) available for purchase at your local PADI dive store or resort.

2.swimming pool dives – practicing diving skills

Here it’s all about one thing – diving. With your first dives in the pool or pool-like conditions, you will develop basic diving skills. Here you will learn how to assemble your diving equipment and you will see how easy it is to remove water from your mask without surfacing.

Learning some emergency situations, like sharing your air with another diver or exchanging your mask with another underwater, are also part of diver training. Your training includes five swimming pool dives that build on each other. During this time you will learn all the skills you need to dive in open water.

3. open water dives – learn to use your skills

After the dives in the pool, you’ll head into the “real” water with your new friends and your PADI instructor for four dives. Here you will experience the real underwater adventure – of course, first as a beginner, and you will have to repeat some exercises that you have already learned in the pool. For the open water dives we go 2 days out to the Red Sea with our dive boat.

It is quite possible to complete your pool and open water dives in as little as three to four days if you do the theory portion either online through PADI eLearning or self-study through your local dive school or resort.

The PADI Open Water Diver course is extremely flexible and performance-based, which means that your PADI dive store can offer you a tremendous variety of lesson plans to suit your own learning pace.

Your instructor is all about you learning to dive, not letting you stew in the classroom for a long time.

Your training is therefore primarily focused on knowing what you need to know and how to apply that knowledge properly. This means you set your own pace and either progress faster or slower – depending on how much time you need to become a confident diver who goes diving regularly. You can start learning to dive directly through the Internet with the PADI eLearning program. Contact us and we will activate your digital learning package for you.

Compared to other popular recreational sports or activities that take place outdoors, learning to scuba dive is not expensive at all. You’ll pay about the same in the beginning as you would spend on, say, the following:

1. one full day surf lessons
2. a weekend rock climbing
3. one weekend kayak lessons
4. one weekend of fly fishing lessons
5. about three individual hours of golf lessons
6. about three hours of private lessons in water skiing

Learning to dive is even really affordable when you consider that your instructor is highly trained, experienced and highly professional – your PADI Instructor. Diving will change your life from day one. You’ll share your new experiences with your friends, and you can pursue your new hobby virtually anywhere there’s water. Start your diving lessons now via internet and get ready for your first breath under water!

Choosing and using your own scuba equipment is part of the pleasure of recreational diving. Your local PADI dive store or resort will help you choose the right equipment for you. Each element of your diving equipment has a different function, and all of them together help to adapt you to the underwater world.

When you start diving, you should purchase the following diving accessories:

• Diving mask
• Diving fins
• Snorkel

All three pieces of equipment should have a perfect fit for you. Your local PADI dive store will be happy to help you choose the right products.

The registration fee for your PADI Open Water Diver course usually includes the provision of the following diving equipment for the entire course or for large parts of the course:

• Regulator
• Diving jacket
• Dive computer
• Diving bottle
• Diving suit
• Weight system and weights

Check with your local PADI dive store or resort to find out exactly what is included in your course package. Nevertheless, it is recommended to buy your own equipment at the beginning of your diving course, because:

• A personally selected diving equipment fits better
• Learning to dive with your own equipment is much more relaxed
• Divers who have their own diving equipment, find diving more enjoyable and make more dives
• Your own diving equipment is part of the diving adventure

The choice of diving equipment depends on the diving conditions where you go diving. Maybe you need:

• a diving equipment for tropical areas
• a diving equipment for moderate temperatures
• a diving equipment for cold water environments

It’s simple: there is no best equipment. But there is one that is best for you. The professionals at your local PADI Dive Center are trained to help you choose the equipment that meets your needs, according to:

• Your preferences
• Your size
• Your budget

These professionals will not only equip you with the right equipment, but will also be happy to assist you with maintenance and help, so that you can enjoy your equipment for many years and it will also work reliably.

In the PADI Online Diving Community, you can interact with other divers and get recommendations, tips and advice on specific manufacturers and models of dive equipment.

If you’re up for a challenge and adventure, chances are you’ll become an avid PADI diver. You should have the following requirements in mind:

The minimum age is 10 years. Students under the age of 15 who successfully complete the course earn the PADI Junior Open Diver certification, which they can upgrade to the PADI Open Water Diver certification when they turn 15. To participate in online diving lessons with PADI eLearning you must be at least 13 years old, due to international internet regulations.

If you are under 13 years old, you can still learn to dive please contact your parent or guardian, your local PADI Dive Shop or Resort.

Health Requirements:

For safety reasons, all students must fill out a short health questionnaire asking about illnesses that could be a problem while diving. If there are no illnesses, you simply sign the questionnaire and you can start. If anything is present, to be on the safe side, you will need to see a doctor before the course starts, who will check your condition related to diving and sign a form assuring that you are healthy enough to dive. In some areas, a prior medical examination is required by law for all student divers prior to the start of the course.

Water suitability:

Before completing the PADI Open Water Diver course, your instructor will ask you to demonstrate some basic water skills. You must be able to swim 200m (or 300m with mask, snorkel and fins). There is no time limit and you can use any swimming style you like. In addition, you need to tread water or float on the surface for 10 minutes. Again, no particular method is prescribed.

Physical limitations:

Any person who meets the performance requirements of the course can obtain the diving license. There are many usable techniques that allow individuals with physical limitations to meet these requirements. Individuals with paraplegia, amputations and other physical disabilities are regularly certified as PADI Open Water Divers. People with more extensive physical limitations can also dive. For more information, contact your PADI Instructor at your PADI Dive Shop or Resort.

Learning Materials:

If you do not choose PADI eLearning via the Internet, you will need the following learning materials during the PADI Open Water Diver course and as a reference for you after you have completed the course:

The PADI Open Water Diver, Manual The PADI Open Water Diver Video on DVD or the PADI Open Water Diver Multimedia (here the manual and video are combined for learning on the computer). You will also need your PADI logbook and Recreational Dive Planner (in spreadsheet or eRDPTM format) or a dive computer/dive computer simulator.

You can dive almost anywhere there is water – from swimming pools to the ocean and everywhere in between, such as quarries, lakes, rivers and springs. Where you can dive depends on the following factors:

• Your diving experience
• Access to dive sites
• Environmental conditions
• Personal interests

For example, if you have just completed your PADI Open Water Diver course, you most likely won’t be doing your next dive under the Antarctic ice. Still, when you think of diving, you shouldn’t think exclusively of the warm, clear water that travel magazines show you. Some of the best dive sites are closer than you think.

The dive site at your location can have many sides: specially built facilities for divers, such as in Brussels in Belgium, or natural dive sites like the Great Blue Hole in Belize, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or the Yonaguni Monument with its underwater pyramids in Japan. It may be an artificial reservoir or a fossil-rich river. It’s not just about great sightlines, because what you see is more important than how far you see.

The only thing that really matters when choosing your dive site is that you have the proper dive training and experience for the location you want to dive, and that you have a dive buddy to dive with. Your local dive store or resort can help you plan great local dives or book a dive vacation. Don’t wait until tomorrow to do it!

No, as long as you don’t have any injuries in your ears and sinuses. The uncomfortable feeling is the very normal effect of the water pressure pressing on your ears. Fortunately, the human body is capable of adapting to pressure fluctuations in the ears – you just have to learn how. If you have no trouble adjusting to air pressure when flying in a passenger plane, you probably won’t have any trouble adjusting to water pressure when diving.

Not necessarily. Any pre-existing condition affecting the ears, sinuses, breathing or heart function, or affecting consciousness, must of course be checked before diving, but only a physician can assess the individual condition and associated risks for each person. Physicians may contact the Divers Alert Network (DAN) – if necessary – when assessing a student diver’s health. Download the health status questionnaire and present it to your doctor.

Sunburn and seasickness, both of which are easily prevented with over-the-counter antidotes. The most common injuries from underwater creatures are scratches and stings, which in most cases can be easily avoided by wearing a wetsuit, good buoyancy control in the water without touching the bottom, and being careful when touching the underwater world with your hands or feet.

Only if you are lucky, you will get to see a shark while diving. Even though there are incidents with sharks from time to time, it is very, very rare that anything happens. Shark accidents while diving are mostly cases of harpoon fishing or shark feeding, both of which arouse the sharks’ feeding instinct. Most of the time you will only see sharks swimming by and it is a rather rare sight to be enjoyed.

With the proper training and experience, the limit for recreational diving is 40 meters. Beginner divers should not dive deeper than 18 meters. Although these are the usual limits, the most popular dive sites are often in shallower water, no deeper than 12 meters, where the water is warmer and the colors are more vibrant.

This case will most likely never happen to you because you have a gauge that tells you how much air you have left throughout the dive. This way you can get back to the surface in time and with a safe air reserve. But to answer the question anyway, if you do run out of air, use your dive buddy’s second mouthpiece to breathe from their tank while you surface together. There are other ways you will learn during your dive training.

The “weightlessness” you experience while scuba diving underwater is considered by many people to be very liberating. Modern diving masks are available as transparent models, which may be more suitable for you if you feel constricted by the mask. During your dive training, your instructor will give you plenty of time and practice opportunities so that you feel confident in every step and learning process. Your instructor will work with you at your own pace, making sure you master every skill necessary to become a good diver who enjoys diving regularly.