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Make it a vacation to remember
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2007
Make it a vacation to remember
Be a scuba-diver by the time you go home
Even if you have never scuba-dived before, you can learn while you?re on vacation in The Bahamas.
If you take the entire training programme here, it takes four days to complete the course, says Stuart Cove of Stuart Cove?s Aqua Adventures. But there?s a way to speed it up.
?We suggest students complete their pool and classroom work at a dive shop back home before they arrive in The Bahamas,? says Cove.
?Then, when you arrive you?ll complete four open-water dives, which are taken on two separate
half days.? After that, you?ll be certified as a diver accredited by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, or PADI.
Some would-be divers get in touch with the dive company of their choice long before they arrive here. When that happens, ?we send them a start-at-home kit,? says Cove. The kit includes all the written materials and quizzes on the self-study reading list. ?All of this must be completed before taking any in-water training,? he adds.
If classes aren?t available back home, however, or if you simply prefer doing everything in The Bahamas, that can be easily arranged too.
Student divers get a lot of personal attention. At Bahama Divers, instructor Samuel (Sam) McDonald says there?s one instructor for every four students during the in-pool training session. Out in the open water, each instructor has no more than six students.
With your PADI accreditation, you may dive anywhere in the world. ?This is an international certification good for life,? says Cove.
A way of life
Diving becomes more than just swimming underwater. It?s a way of life, say professional divers. ?It opens up another world,? says Cove. ?It is a weightless environment as close to being in space as most of us will ever get.?
McDonald agrees. He originally started working with Bahama Divers as a high school student, cleaning the boat and handing out gear on dives. ?It was a summer job to earn spending money. I planned to be a stockbroker,? says McDonald with a smile. But by the end of that first summer he had become a dedicated diver. Since 1995 he?s been a PADI-certified instructor and has yet to trade a single stock. He?s delighted with his decision and would do the same thing again if he was just starting out.
Great for families
Scuba is a sport that combines underwater exploring with a healthy physical workout. ?It?s a great family activity,? says Cove, ?and you can get certified at the age of 10.?
Families can take the entire course together, which is something Cove encourages. ?We find most youngsters do as well as, or better than, the adults.?
One family group that McDonald taught included the 12- and 15-year-old sons and both parents. ?Like all divers, they wanted to see the fish,? McDonald remembers. ?The younger boy really wanted to see a turtle. He kept asking, ?are we going to see turtles?? Where we were going I really didn?t expect to see one, but I said, ?you never know what you?ll see.??
?Underwater, I had them lined up in front of me but no one was paying attention. They were looking behind me. As I turned to see what they were looking at, the biggest turtle swam by and went right over that boy?s head.?
McDonald said that the entire family became PADI certified and later took additional qualification training.
Young divers between 10 and 14 are awarded the PADI Jr Open Water Diver certificate, according to the PADI website. Ten and 11-year-old divers are restricted to diving with PADI professionals, guardians or parents and are not allowed to dive deeper than 12 metres or 40 feet.
Before starting the programme, potential divers must also complete a medical questionnaire. It?s available through Bahama Divers and Stuart Cove?s Aqua Adventures or visit the PADI site (www.padi.com).
For some conditions, such as high blood pressure, a doctor?s release may be required. Cove and McDonald advise divers with health problems to talk to their personal physicians before signing up.
In fact, you must be cleared by a physician if you have medical conditions such as asthma or high blood pressure, or if you are taking any medications.?
Student divers must also pass a preliminary skill test, which gives instructors an understanding of the student?s swimming abilities, general physical condition and his or her comfort level in water.
Great exercise
You don?t have to be super fit, or a great swimmer to scuba, just confident in the water. Any swimming activity is a great way to keep in shape or even lose a couple of pounds, say the instructors.
Being weightless underwater takes a lot of strain from joints and muscles. It?s also a lot of fun. Underwater, in a seemingly gravity-free environment, divers discover something totally new and for some it becomes a lifelong interest.
Divers don?t have to watch the Nature Channel to learn about the ocean, they experience it watching fish and other marine life, visiting plane and ship wrecks and seeing reef life.
?Being underwater is a unique way of looking at the world,? McDonald says. ?The Bahamas is one of the finest diving experiences in the world. You can visit wrecks, reefs and ocean sink holes all in one.?
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