Obtaining scuba diving certification is always a good idea. You not only learn how to dive safely, but you also can instruct others how to dive. While you can obtain your certification anywhere where there is a natural body of water, it is actually highly recommended to obtain certification near the ocean. Here is why:
People Who Scuba Dive Try It for the First Time on Vacation
People who try scuba diving for the first time ever often do it while on vacation on an island or someplace warm and tropical. They want to know what to expect. If you ever instruct others on how to dive, you should know firsthand how to dive in the ocean. It is a very different experience from diving in a lake or deep river, to be sure.
You Can Learn How to Deal with Dangerous Sea Creatures
When you learn to scuba dive in the ocean, you also learn how to deal with dangerous sea creatures. Part of your scuba diving certification process is testing what you know about sharks, jellyfish, stingrays, eels, and even seemingly harmless dolphins. (Wild dolphins are not nearly as friendly as people expect them to be!) This gives you a major advantage over someone that has obtained his/her certification by doing deep freshwater lake dives.
Ocean Scuba Diving Certification Has You Covered for Other Dives
Since certification for ocean diving covers all of the potentially dangerous stuff that can happen during a dive, your inland water dives are also covered. You do not need to get separate certifications for lake/river dives and ocean dives, as your ocean dive certification covers all of the above. If you do go the other route and get lake/river certification, you will have to sit through this part of the course and process all over again when you work toward your ocean diving certification.
Ocean Diving Is Much More Fun and Exciting
Ocean diving is much more fun and exciting. You will see a lot of marine life in the course of obtaining your scuba certification. Lake diving is not nearly as fun, or interesting. You may see a lot of pollution, lake fish, catfish skimming the bottoms of the lakes, and a lot of murky water, versus the exotic life forms, coral, and sea creatures of ocean diving. Of course, it is a matter of opinion. You may decide you like the safety net of lake diving and scrap ocean diving certification altogether.
Share15 October 2017
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