Become a scuba diver and escape to a peaceful place to renew your energy and excite your senses.
Beginning your journey on the way to SCUBA certification is one of the most exciting adventures you’ll ever undertake. Your initiation into this very close community is the day you get sized for your wetsuit and purchase your equipment.
You’ll squeeze yourself into a form fitting wetsuit. The goal is to have it be snug but not totally constricting. Your instructor will of course help you don the suit. Once your wetsuit is selected you’ll move on to choosing your mask, fins, snorkel, booties, gloves and a bag to hold your new toys. You’re now one step closer, committed to the adventure as you’ve purchased your first pieces SCUBA gear.
The following Saturday and Sunday you’ll arrive at the shop bright and early eager to learn the mysteries of the deep. You’ll have already read the chapters and completed the knowledge reviews. Your eager to get wet and you will after the morning class room exercises. Following the completion of the quizzes it’s time to head to the pool to put into practice some of those skills you read about.
After the short swim test at the pool you’ll practice skills such as mask clearing, buddy breathing, donning your BC on and off and back on, buddy swimming, tired diver tows and other safety exercises. All these skills will get you ready for your final open water dives the following weekend.
Your confidence has grown and you excitement has built over the past week. The pool skills were a breeze and you can’t wait to try your first giant stride into the ocean. All your classmates are all quiet and contemplative on a pleasant leisurely ride out to Catalina Island.
After arriving at the dive site you’ll have a short briefing of the skills you’ll practice on your first dive. You giant stride into the inviting ocean and descend down the anchor line. You kneel down on the bottom and watch with anticipation until its your turn to accomplish each skill.
After each skill your instructor claps and moves on to the next student.
On your final dive and after your final skill is complete your instructor hands you your Open Water Diver patch. You’ve done it! You’ve just joined an elite, fun, and gregarious community.
You may decide to continued your education and possibly go pro or you may decide that diving is a just a fun hobby to enjoy once in a while.
Either way, you’ll find yourself noticing dive shops that you never saw before as you travel the country. You’ll see people with their red and white dive flag decals or license plates on their cars and you’ll know that at some point they trained just like you. Where you were tempted before but never ventured you’ll strike up a conversation with that diver yearning to know where they dive... Written by Mike Wicks.
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For more information please call Ocean Adventures at 310-578-9391. Our instructors will be happy to clarify any queries you have. Thank you for choosing Ocean Adventures!