Steps to Obtaining a Scuba Diving Certification

There are certain steps that individuals have to take to get a scuba diving certification. Some parts of the certification require the people to learn things through classroom or book knowledge while other parts of the scuba diving certification requires that the people get into the water to learn the hands on part of the course. Children can participate in scuba diving certification if they are at least ten years old, but for international dives they need to be at least thirteen years old due to international laws regarding diving. If children are younger than this, the parents will need to be certified and the children can learn to dive as long as they do not go to certain depths and that they are always diving with their certified parents. If a person wants to become a scuba diving instructor, the certification process is more in depth and they need to have had experience in the water so that they can better teach others about scuba diving.

Courses for all People

The book learning part of the scuba diving certification can usually be done online and can also count for college credit in some cases, depending on the organization doing the teaching. However, the person will not have scuba diving certification until they have not only passed the written test part of the certification process but have also passed the water portion of the test with an instructor. The first part of the water training usually is held in a pool setting where the water is controlled. Once the person has mastered the skills in the controlled water setting, then they are able to move to their first open water dive in a lake or in the ocean. There are some dive courses that are designed for individuals who are on vacation so that they can learn to dive and get certified within a few days so that they can spend the rest of the vacation participating in dives in the area.

There are also scuba diving certification courses designed for those who want to teach diving to others or who want to be able to help with rescue diving. These courses are more in depth to teach the skills necessary for those situations. There are also some courses that are designed to teach people to go on specialty dives such as diving in underwater wreck situations or diving at night. Each of these courses is designed to give additional diving certification to the individual participating in it so that they have a wider range of diving activities that they can participate in.