Learning to scuba dive

How does scuba certification work?

Short answer: you study the theory, practise skills in a pool, then complete four open water dives with an instructor. Pass all three parts and you are certified.

Every major training agency, including PADI, SSI and NAUI, builds its entry-level course the same way. The certification is usually called Open Water Diver, and it has three parts:

1. Knowledge development. How pressure affects your body and your air, how the equipment works, how to plan a dive and how to handle problems. Most agencies now offer this as online learning you finish at home before the practical part.
2. Confined water dives. Pool or pool-like shallow water sessions where you learn to breathe from a regulator, clear water from your mask, recover a regulator you have dropped, share air with a buddy and control your buoyancy.
3. Open water dives. Four dives in the sea, a lake or a quarry, spread over at least two days, where you repeat those skills in real conditions and start to enjoy the dive itself.

When you finish you receive a certification card (often a digital card now) that lets you rent equipment, fill tanks and join guided dives anywhere in the world.

Who can learn to scuba dive?

Short answer: most healthy people aged 10 and over who are comfortable in the water.

The main agencies certify junior divers from age 10. Junior divers have shallower depth limits and must dive with an adult until they are older. There is no upper age limit; what matters is health and fitness.

Before any in-water training you fill in a standard diver medical questionnaire. It asks about conditions such as asthma, heart problems, recent surgery, ear trouble and some medications. Answering "yes" to a question does not automatically rule you out, but it does mean a doctor must examine you and sign a form before you dive. Read more about why health matters in the scuba diving safety questions.

Do I need to be a good swimmer?

Short answer: you need to be comfortable, not fast.

Open Water courses include a simple water skills check. A common standard is a 200-metre swim without stopping (or 300 metres with mask, fins and snorkel), with no time limit and any stroke, plus 10 minutes of floating or treading water. If you can do that calmly, you can learn to dive. Divers spend most of their time moving slowly with fins, so swimming technique matters much less than being relaxed in the water.

How long does it take to get certified?

Short answer: about three to four days, or a few weekends.

With the theory done online beforehand, many dive centers run the pool sessions and four open water dives over three or four days. Some people split it: theory and pool sessions at a dive shop near home, then the open water dives on holiday. Agencies call this a referral, and it means you spend less of your trip in a classroom. Ask the dive center you plan to finish with whether they accept referrals from your home shop before you book.

Can I try diving before committing to a course?

Yes. Most dive centers offer a try dive (PADI calls it Discover Scuba Diving). After a short briefing you breathe from scuba in shallow water and then, if all goes well, make a shallow supervised dive. It does not certify you, but it shows whether you enjoy breathing underwater before you invest in a full course.

How deep can I go once I'm certified?

Short answer: 18 metres (60 feet) with an Open Water certification.

Open Water divers are trained to dive to 18 metres with a buddy. Junior divers aged 10 and 11 are limited to 12 metres (40 feet). An advanced course extends the recommended limit to about 30 metres (100 feet), and that is also the recreational limit most divers stay within. Deeper diving needs specialist training because of nitrogen narcosis, gas supply and decompression.

What comes after Open Water?

Most divers take an advanced course next, which adds a deep dive and a navigation dive plus three specialties of your choice, such as night diving, wreck diving or peak performance buoyancy. Rescue Diver training follows for many people and is often described as the course that makes you a better buddy. You do not have to take any of them: plenty of divers enjoy years of diving on an Open Water card.

Does a scuba certification expire?

No. The card is for life. Skills fade, though, and most dive centers ask for a refresher (sometimes called ReActivate or Scuba Skills Update) if you have not dived for about a year. It is a short session that repeats key skills in shallow water, and it is worth doing before a dive trip so you spend your holiday diving instead of remembering how to set up your gear. The dive travel planning answers cover what else to sort out before you go.

What gear do I need for the course?

Dive centers include the main scuba equipment (regulator, buoyancy control device, tank and weights) in the course. Many ask you to bring or buy your own mask, snorkel and fins because a comfortable fit makes learning much easier. The scuba gear guide for beginners explains what each piece does and what to look for.