Dive Training Blogs
Diving Diaries (Part 2)
In this new series Scubaverse blogger, Isobel Fairbairn, keeps a diary as she learns to dive with her university BSAC club (Salford University Diving Society or SUDS for short). Follow her progress as she heads underwater for the very first time.
Week 2 (8th March 2022)
Never hold your breath.
This is the first line I have written at the top of my notebook for this week’s theory session, as I continue to drill it into my head alongside the intrusive fear that one day I will simply get into the ocean in my scuba gear and just decide to hold my breath (for what reason I’m unsure).
Alongside this came the body checks associated with diving, whether one is fit to dive or not well enough, air checks, effects of nitrogen, decompression procedures and how to plan out a dive safely and correctly.
Once the writing was out of the way (sorry theory lessons you just aren’t quite the same as practical ones)… we went down to start our practical. This time me and my buddy had to put our equipment on out of the water, as last time we were lucky enough to put it on in the shallow end. I say ‘lucky enough’ as it was today that I realised how actually horrifically heavy the whole kit is OUT of water. I thought last week was a little difficult! This week, I thought I was going to topple over; I guess I have even less upper body strength than I first imagined. We did our first equipment checks, buddy checks and some more signals were learnt. We learnt the signals for when you’re out of air (the chopping off of the head imitation) and what to do with your buddy if this situation happens including how to use someone’s extra air when needed.
Now to me, of course, the idea of losing my air supply when underwater is one of the most horrifying thoughts ever but it turns out, there’s something worse you have to learn how to do: clearing your mask. Why? How? Whose idea was this? This took me a few goes, to slowly let water in halfway, hmm okay that’s fine. To fully fill my mask and then clear it out through my nose? Even longer. Worst thing ever. Spluttering everywhere to begin with. Absolutely never want to do that again, although I will have to.
Although after we did manage to get all of those skills ticked off and cleared, we worked on perfecting our buoyancy, which was a lot more fun now we’d sort of figured it out, then we got to swim up and down the pool freely following our diving instructor a couple of times and it was great! Feeling a bit like a fish on my Tuesday evenings is now definitely one of my top five favourite things. It is so freeing and calming at the same time, a complete alien experience but in the most wonderful way.
PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®) has recently launched their new Professional Development Excellence Award in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), celebrating PADI Five Star Instructor Development Centers (IDC) that are championing creating more PADI Professionals, at all levels, during the previous calendar year.
“While becoming a PADI Five Star IDC Center is a prized accreditation amongst members, this exclusive rating comes with the responsibility of training the next generation of divers to become PADI Instructors,” explains Dave Murray, Managing Director for PADI EMEA.
“PADI’s commitment to a continuing education philosophy encourages divers to realise their dreams of a career as a PADI Pro, teaching others to do what they love – to scuba dive. This new recognition award distinguishes productive PADI Five Star IDC stores for the time and effort they dedicate to marketing and conducting the professional training needed to grow the scuba diving industry.”
PADI’s EMEA Professional Development Excellence Award recognises members for reaching specific milestones based on the number of PADI Pro certifications they issue annually. It also provides an extra layer of credentials in their “Pro Development Status” to potential Divemaster and IDC candidates, along with any other prospective Pro-level customers and prospective employees.
The first awards were distributed earlier this year, with 12 PADI Five Star IDC Centers receiving the Platinum Award. This means that they have issued a minimum of 100 PADI Professional certifications from Divemaster to IDC Staff Instructor, which include 30 Core Professional certifications and 70 Continuing Education Instructor level certifications.
The 2025 PADI EMEA Professional Development Excellence Award is already underway and renewed PADI EMEA Five Star IDC Dive Centers and Resorts are automatically eligible. Stores that reach the recognition levels during 2024 will receive their award in the first quarter of 2025.
For more information about the award and to see the full list of award recipients visit here.
About PADI
PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®) is the largest purpose-driven diving organization with a global network of 6,600 dive centers and resorts, 128,000 professional members, and more than 30 million certified divers to date. Committed to our blue planet, PADI makes the wonder of the underwater world accessible to all, empowering people around the world to experience, explore and take meaningful action, as Ocean TorchbearersTM, to protect the world beneath the surface. For over 50 years, PADI is undeniably The Way the World Learns to Dive®, setting the standard for the highest quality dive training, underwater safety and conservation initiatives while evolving the sport of diving into a passionate lifestyle. For divers by divers, PADI is obsessed with transforming lives and, with its global foundation, PADI AWARETM, creating positive ocean change. Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean.SM www.padi.com
RAID’s Performance Diver program is part of the training agency’s unique ‘tune-up’ options for divers at all levels, from basic to technical. Its appeal to newer divers who did not get all they wanted from their open water course (perhaps with a non-RAID dive centre) has always been strong. But it’s a winning option for someone who has been inactive for a while as well.
The skills taught in this course have been designed by some of the most respected dive professionals in the industry. They have condensed years of in-water experience into a great program that’s fuelled by great ideas and solid knowledge. Something useful in all sorts of conditions and all sorts of gear configurations. In short, a range of skills you will use on every dive: buoyancy, trim, situational awareness, gear selection and management, contingency planning… having fun and staying safe.
You can find out more about RAID’s Performance Diver program here.
And with the agency’s renewed focus in 2024 on breath-hold programs, July is a good time to read about the benefits of RAID’s range of Freediving courses.
Freediving is such an exhilarating and beautiful sport that allows you to connect with the underwater world in a unique way.
The thrill of diving deep down, holding your breath, and exploring the depths with just a single breath is truly an unforgettable experience.
It requires focus, control, and a deep respect for the ocean. The sense of freedom and tranquility you can find while freediving is unlike any other.
Have you ever tried freediving or are you interested in learning more about it? You do not have to be a scuba diver to start… not at all!
And if you are already a diver, RAID can help you discover a whole new way to look at a familiar world.
You can find out more about RAID’s Freediving courses here.
To find out more about RAID and the agency’s diver training programs, visit diveraid.com.
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