Find Inspiration for your next dive trip
Search our stories and get inspired by our passionate team of writers, dive travel specialists, local experts and ambassadors.
Search our stories and get inspired by our passionate team of writers, dive travel specialists, local experts and ambassadors.
Ever wanted to explore the underwater world? To visit coral reefs, wreck sites and swim with the colourful creatures of the deep? Then learning to dive is definitely for you. Becoming a scuba diver is an incredible adventure that involves three distinct phases. First you need to develop your knowledge, learning the basic principles. These include how to plan dives, choose the right equipment, perform underwater signals and mastering diving procedures.
Next, you’ll move onto confined water dives where you can develop basic scuba skills in a safe environment, like a pool or calm beach. You’ll learn how to set up and check your scuba gear, how to remove water from your mask and how to enter and exit the water safely. Your instructor will show you how to navigate underwater and some basic safety procedures if you do get in trouble. Once you have mastered basic skills like buoyancy control, then you make the move to the third phase of the learning process.
This is open water diving. In order to get your PADI certification (which is the most common international diving accreditation), you will need to complete four dives over a two day
period. You’ll apply all the skills you have learned while enjoying the beautiful underwater world. Your instructor will be with you at all times, pointing out flaws in your technique and giving advice on what to do better.
In general, learning to scuba dive is comparable to other activities such as windsurfing or kitesurfing in terms of cost. All equipment will generally be provided while you learn, and you can get advice from your instructor about the right kit to buy if you’re planning on taking up the sport on a more serious basis. And once you have your PADI certificate you can dive in some of the most stunning locations around the world.
You can take your three-stage PADI course in numerous places across the UK, learning in a local pool over the course of weeks or months. Or it is also possible to combine a holiday with a PADI dive course. That way you get to learn in places with perfect conditions and warm, clear waters that are full of colourful life. Diving in the UK can be a little cold and murky, so why not choose a course in the Maldives, Oman or Mauritius? You won’t experience as many cancelled dives due to adverse conditions and you get to enjoy a holiday at the same time.
A full beginner course will take around four or five days, taking you from complete novice through to qualified recreational diver. So, on a one week break you can get your certificate and enjoy a couple of days of pure leisure time. Or you can complete your theory and pool work at home before transferring the final part of your course to a more glamorous location. So why not learn in style in some of the world’s most beautiful locations?