DIVER TRAINING - INTRODUCTION

The sport of recreational scuba diving, like any other adventure sport, holds inherent dangers for the inexperienced and untrained participant. However, with the correct training from a recognised training agency, the risks can be reduced significantly. Hooch looks at the subject of diver training...

Scuba Popularity:
The explosion in the popularity of recreational diving has been phenomenal over recent years. In my view, this increase has been due to one or more of the following;

Increased free time & disposable income for the individual.

Increased availability of training facilities.

An increase in major tour operators who feature diving in their package holiday brochures.

More television programs featuring the sport and, the wonders of the underwater environment.

There is no doubt that the sport is booming however, with the increase in popularity there has also been a proportionate increase in diving accidents and fatalities. Arguably, the percentage of accidents has increased because there are more divers now than ever before however, some would say the increase has been due to the lowering of diver training standards and the personal fitness of those involved in the sport. This, in my opinion, is not the case. I would suggest it has much more to do with the society in which we live today, a throw away society that always seeks to blame someone else for personal shortcomings. After all, a large proportion of diving accidents are attributed to the actions (or lack of them) by the individuals concerned. In short, get trained, get good training, apply it and stick to the skills you learn!

The Risk Factor:
As already mentioned elsewhere, recreational scuba diving is an 'adventure sport' in the truest sense of the words. Participating in any 'adventure' type activity or sport has risks involved, the risk factor could even be considered as one of the sport's attractions to some people. The secret is in the minimisation of those risks and the only way to do that is, (1) obtain comprehensive training from a recognised training agency, (2) remember and apply the training you receive, (3) dive with people of equal or better qualifications and experience than yourself and finally, (4) always dive within your personal training, experience and physical limitations.

Training Availability:
There are several recognised training organisations, many different types and levels of courses and, a myriad of reputable clubs, dive operators and establishments throughout the world offering diver training. Unfortunately, due to the money making aspects and opportunity, there are also a few cowboy operations offering their services as diving schools.

Diving Club Training or Resort Course?
The two major routes into diving are either by joining a diving club, which was originally the most popular or, by taking a course with a dive school whilst on holiday, probably the method chosen by most people today. I personally took the second option however, many people who take a resort course never dive again and if they do, it is relatively infrequently i.e. only during their two week summer holiday. Conversely, many club divers participate in the hobby all year round and in a variety of conditions. There is an obvious advantage here in the fact, the more diving you do, the more experience you gain and hopefully, the better diver you become. Ultimately it's your choice but remember, the diving skills you learn in temperate and relatively shallow waters will need to be adjusted and built upon, if you want to dive in colder or deeper water.

Training Organisations:
There are several recognised training organisations however, I will stick with the 'big three' (at least in the UK), the ones which I have personal experience of and probably the most popular in the world today.

PADI: The Professional Association of Diving Instructors is the largest provider of training for recreational scuba diving in the world today. This is summed up in their motto... PADI - The Way The World Learns to Dive!™ (See The PADI pages)
BSAC: The British Sub-Aqua Club is, as it's title suggests, a club based organisation in the UK and purportedly, the largest Dive Cub in the world. The BSAC is also the sport's official governing body in Great Britain. (See The BSAC page)
SAA: The Sub-Aqua Association is another British club based organisation with a highly respected, comprehensive and intentionally recognised training syllabus, thanks in many ways to the Association's affiliation to the World Underwater Federation (Confederation Mondial Sportif Aquatique) or CMSA for short. (See The SAA page)
Other: There are other training agencies involved with recreational diver training however, the majority of these cater for the advanced and technical aspects of the sport like mixed gas and decompression dives. I will cover these at some later date.

Where Next?
Obviously I would prefer you to stay a little longer and see what else I have to offer on the subject so, the following pages relate a little more to the diver training options available. If you feel that you should get the information from the organisations direct, and without my editorial input, please use the links above or, visit the following pages.
PADI | PADI SEAL TEAM | PADI-PRO | PADI COURSES | THE SAA | THE BSAC | MEDICAL MATTERS | DIVER SAFETY | DIVERS ALERT NETWORK | DIVE SAFETY FROM THE RNLI | EQUIVALENT QUALIFICATIONS

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