How to Prepare For Your Scuba Diving Vacation

Have you had the itch to explore the underwater world, to see the magnificent sea life in person and not just observe it from afar? Have you considered scuba diving on your next vacation to take in this beautiful world? An overview of the steps in scuba diving training, your first equipment and destination opportunities are provided below. This is only the beginning of your journey to explore a world that not many people take the opportunity to experience and enjoy. So let's begin with your first steps.

Getting Started

Scuba Diving requires specialized training to enjoy this sport safely. In addition, a training certification is required to get tank air refills.

This training involves three phases: academic study that includes the physics and physiology of diving; pool training to learn and practice basic skills; and open-water checkout dives to prove mastery of basic dive skills. While there is no shortcut to this training process, there are flexible training programs.

Long-established diving courses meet at a neighborhood dive shop one to two nights a week, or weekends, over a period of three to six weeks. Each workout usually includes a lecture session followed by a few hours in the pool water to build skills. Depending on the location, these classes can also be a weekend dive trip to a suitable ocean, lake or spring for the completion of the final checkout dives.

Home-study kits feature the same training materials used in traditional courses, including academic presentations on DVD or VHS tape. Students can study the core academics at their own pace before scheduling an academic review, pool training and checkout dives with an instructor at a local dive store or at a dive resort.

Some students opt to do both, using a local shop for the review sessions and pool training, then completing checkout dives with a resort. Depending on the aptitude and physical stamina of the student, the in-water portion can be compressed into as little as three days, but most dive professionals recommend scheduling at least four (two for pool training and academic reviews and two for open-water dives) to ensure successful completion. Now that you have an overview of the training, it is time to consider your Scuba equipment.

You're Scuba Equipment

Scuba is a gear-intensive sport because you are not made to swim, look, keep warm or breathing underwater. You'll at least need a mask, snorkel and fins. If you want to explore what is beneath the surface you have to adapt, and diving equipment can do just that.

Your mask creates an air pocket in front of your eyes and nose, so you can see clearly underwater and equalize the pressure on your ears and sinuses when you go deeper. Snorkels are breathing tubes that allow you to breathe as you swim face down on the surface of the water.

Scuba fins translate your kicks in the smooth and efficient movement through the water. Full-foot fins go on your bare feet or open-heel adjustable fins require that you wear neoprene boots for a good fit. Now that you have your C-card, your diving equipment and a curiosity to see the underwater world, it's time to choose a destination.

You're Dive Destination

One of the great things about being a diver is the chance to travel. Whether it's the close-to-home reefs of the Florida Keys or the far-flung Fiji islands, there are hundreds of destinations just waiting for you to explore them.

Florida Keys paradise without passports is what this coral island chain is to American divers who flock to this unique destination, which has also beckoned pirates, poets and performing artists. Key Largo, Islamorada and Tavernier, Marathon, the Lower Keys and Key West - are five distinct regions that constitute what locals affectionately call the "Conch Republic," and all offer a great blend of wrecks and reefs.

Heart of Fiji diving is found in Lomaiviti islands of Koro Sea and Bligh Water (named after the captain of the infamous HMS Bounty). This zone - found roughly in a triangle between Taveuni Island, the town of Rakiraki on the north side of Viti Levu and the island of Beqa - offers an incredible wealth of diving on a network of coral reefs, pinnacles and deep ocean cuts. With the power that provides a steady stream of water over the reefs, you can expect to see unprecedented field of filter-feeding Dendronephthya soft corals in bright yellow, white, red and purple. Others provided on almost every dive Fiji's rich and diverse marine life ranging from colorful schools to find Anthi pelagic sharks and rays hunters. The dive possibilities are endless, whether local or a half a world away.

Now that you have an overview of scuba diving vacation planning, you may start your own plans for a wonderful experience. This article has laid out the training, equipment and vacation destinations for a memorable time. Research more information about the topics discussed and make the plunge into a new world.