Scuba Diving Certification

You don’t know if it was that last trip you took to the Cayman Islands, but you suddenly want to learn how to dive and get certified. Good news! There are many groups that offer scuba diving certification programs, among the most popular are PADI and NAUI.

Contrary to what some people may think, getting certified in scuba diving is not that difficult. In fact, there are only two pre-requisites that you must comply with before you can get scuba diving certification. The first is proficiency in swimming, and the second is a copy of your medical clearance from your doctor to show that you can take up the sport.

Know How to Swim

If you don’t, get ready to sign up for a few lessons. Just the basics are required. You do not have to master every stroke there is. And you do not have to be an Olympic swimmer in order to get scuba diving certification.

The most you have to do is be able to swim about 200 yards using any stroke you want. That, coupled with your ability to float or tread on water for about 10 minutes, and you are on your way to getting that much coveted scuba diving certification.

Get the Green Light from Your Doctor

This much is a given and pretty simple, too. So long as you are in good general health and are comfortable in the water, then you should not have any problems with getting that scuba diving certification.

Where to Get Certification

There are about 1,900 professional scuba dive centers in North America alone. Start with the ones nearest your locality and move from there if you don’t find what you’re looking for. You can also find any in your area by checking out the yellow pages and websites of some of the major scuba diving certification agencies, like PADI and NAUI. Sometimes, universities may even offer scuba diving lessons.

Most of the centers regularly run basic scuba diving certification programs. When you decide on a course, make sure that it is something that you are truly interested in and that the instructor is also a certified scuba diving instructor. It is even preferable if the instructor got his or her scuba diving certification from one of the major scuba diving training agencies.

Earn How to Dive from Resorts

There are many vacation resorts that offer scuba diving courses. These may last anywhere from a day to two days, offering beginners like you some very basic training. Although these courses do not often include scuba diving certification at the end, they are however helpful when all you want to do is to try out scuba diving first. Later on, you can just take any of the full certification programs offered.