Getting started: the certification process

So, you want to learn to scuba dive, but aren't sure where to start. Here's a description of your first few steps.

Scuba diving, like most sports, has some inherent risks. To dive safely, you need training. For scuba diving, the required training is an "open water" scuba diving certification class. This is taught by an instructor certified with one of several different dive agencies (PADI, NAUI, SDI/TDI, SSI, etc). Which agency your instructor is affiliated with is not very important, since all of the courses are very similar. It's better to choose by meeting with several instructors and choosing one you're comfortable with.

The scuba diving certification course involves three main components:

  • Learning about diving through bookwork, videos, and/or lectures
  • Practicing diving in a "confined water" environment (in a pool)
  • Doing several evaluation dives in an "open water" environment like the ocean, a local lake, etc.

The course is usually taught over several weeks, although some instructors offer accelerated classes when needed. The course fee varies based on instructor and location, but is often around $250-$400. This fee usually includes the cost of gear rental for use during the course, as well as the training materials, payment for the instructor, and the licensing cost for the certification card itself. Some instructors require that you have your own mask, fins, and snorkel (and sometimes boots and gloves), while others provide these for your use during the course. There may be additional costs, check with the dive shop or instructor to be sure.

Once you are certified, you are qualified to dive without an instructor (though you still need a buddy) in conditions similar to those in which you were trained (you should get a local site orientation anytime you dive under different conditions). Going diving, however, requires scuba diving equipment. Once you are certified you can either buy your own, or rent from a dive shop/local instructor. Most people take a hybrid of these two approaches, first buying their own "personal gear" (mask, fins, snorkel, boots, gloves, and wetsuit), and then adding the more expensive pieces of scuba diving equipment (buoyancy compensator, regulator set, dive computer, etc.) as they can afford them.

In Logan, there are two dive instructors: Hans Parkin and Lowell Huber. Their contact information can be found here. Neither of them require that you buy your own personal gear for use during the course (they can provide all needed gear, including mask, fins, and snorkel). You can contact them for their rates and other information. Occasionally they will offer discounts to members of the USU Scuba Club, so be sure to ask.