Now that you are interested in Scuba Diving here are some important pointers that will serve to guide you as you embark on this thrilling underwater adventure. Scuba is an acronym which stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus which is a system that allows divers to breathe from an air tank/scuba cylinder on their back and exhale into the water. This affords you the amazing opportunity to explore the underwater life which simply put is an out of this world experience

You do not need to be a professional swimmer so as to enjoy the pleasures of Scuba Diving but you should be able to swim/snorkel comfortably in water. As you will discover with time once in the water it is advisable not to swim a lot so as to reduce the rate of using up of the air in the tank. You also need to be in good health with most courses requiring that you fill out a medical form to attest to your state of health.

It is advisable that you get certified. You can either take a certification course or a resort course. The certification course can be obtained from one of the sport's major organizations, PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) or NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors). The course is 20 hours and costs about $800, which includes the cost of renting the diving gear for the duration of the course as well as making the required dives, and bears the advantage that the certification is valid for life.

The course has a classroom component where the theory is taught like what to do when you are low on air or what to do when your mask is filled with water.
One does not move to diving directly but rather experiments with snorkeling which is also known as skin diving. This allows one to get used to the basic diving gear like the mask, snorkel and fins and gives one an idea of how it is underwater. This is usually done in a swimming pool setting under the guidance and strict surveillance of the instructors. One then tries out the diving and eventually gets to dive in the open water. One can choose to advance their training as they get more experienced and desire to be more adventurous.
The resort course is where you can get to dive to a maximum depth of 33 feet but only when accompanied by an instructor. This has the unique advantage of allowing you to try it out first and determine if you like it before investing the time and money required for the certification course.

Diving gear is generally divided into two categories; required and gadget. The required are things like the mask, fins, snorkel, buoyancy compensator, regulator, weights and a dive computer. These are necessary for any dive and if you are considering regular diving it is advisable to get your own mask and fins as a tight fit for these is important. The gadget gear comprises those things that are needed for a particular kind of diving for instance cameras and lighting for underwater photography.

All that said I must state that the most basic fact about Scuba Diving is that it is a phenomenal experience worth trying and, inevitably, worth engaging in with friends and other Scuba Diving lovers.