New to Diving ...

[diverrex]

"Never hold your breath and go up slowy" ... are you talking about nitrogen offgassing?

By asking that question the way you did you just proved you don't know enough about diving to go diving.. As others said get certified before you try diving. In the mean while you can skin dive, swim and read Scubaboard, all of which will be helpful for getting certified later.

 

[danpass]

Ive been looking at a few classes: PADI, NAUI, SDI: Since i dont have the money to take the classes yet, is there anything i can do to help me get prepared for the classes?

put your nose covering mask on, fill it halfway with water, sit on the couch and practice breathing only thru your mouth.

 

[Token]

"Never hold your breath and go up slowy" ... are you talking about nitrogen offgassing?

Nope. If you have a lungfull of _compressed_ air [ie. from a tank] and you hold your breath while surfacing, the air will expand in your lungs and possibly rupture them. This is extremely uncomfortable, although with luck you'll just die and not suffer for more than a minute or so. (I'm stating this facetiously, but it's a serious matter). Surfacing too fast can cause other pressure problems in your sinuses and ear canals and etc. These are VERY BASIC MATTERS that you _must_ learn about in dive training.

To prepare for this however, is pretty easy. Get yourself snorkeling gear and do some skin diving in your local area. Being a good, confident swimmer underwater is half the battle in learning scuba, IMO. If a local dive facility does an Introduction To Scuba session, take it. They are usually quite cheap [maybe free through the YMCA] and will give you a good idea of what it's like to breathe under water.

Ummm....maybe you shouldn't introduce yourself as 'Jakeypoo' at the Y. Just saying...

 

[Fatterboy]

My first experience was sitting in a 4 ft pool breathing compressed air with a friend of mine. There is no way he would let me go into open water until I attended open water training. We have been diving together multiple times since then and now I understand why he wouldn't take me out in open water. Diving can be a dangerous sport when you understand the risks, it is dangerous and deadly if you don't.

 

[RonFrank]

Ascending too quickly can result in bubbles in you blood, or DCS. A nasty and life threatening problem that can kill.

Holding your breath if you are on scuba and ascending can result in your lungs expanding and rupturing. Not painful as lungs have no feeling but it will cause severe problems including death. Never hold you breath when scuba diving.... never.

The PADI OW book is about 300 pages and you need to understand most of it to dive safely. Diving also requires practice and having a good instructor and experienced dive buddies helps a lot. Diving is not a poor mans activity. You can find equipment on the cheap used, but instruction costs between $250-$600. The $250 price would be in Florida as they are the biggest scuba state both in coral Reefs and number of divers. $400-600 is more average for certification. Save your pennies!

 

[4dawgma]

1. Get certified

2. Rent-a-rig til you find stuff you like.

3. Save up for the next trip.

 

[tplyons]

I just finished my certification up here in New Jersey and the whole deal cost me a hair under $850. Possibly the best money I had spent.

That price included:
Open Water Class (Pool) - ~$350
PADI Open Water Crew Pack - $75
Personal Gear - ~$175-200
Open Water Training Dives - ~$250

I was able to dive SAFELY under the instruction of someone who knew what they were doing. If I had attempted this with what I THOUGHT I knew before the class, I wouldn't have functioning lungs right now.

Do yourself a favor and save up before attempting diving in open water.

 

[TSandM]

I can certainly understand having a serious itch to do something you just can't quite afford yet. And there ARE things you can do to prepare for diving, and to some degree to find out if you'll like it. Becoming a proficient swimmer and snorkeler really helps; practicing swimming and breathing through a snorkel without a mask on will get you through one of the skills that causes issues for a lot of scuba students. Practicing some shallow free diving will teach you about streamlining and becoming efficient at moving yourself through the water, which is a great thing for divers to know.

And depending on how fit and strong you are, doing some weight lifting and stairmaster stuff will prepare you for moving around while wearing heavy gear. That's another thing that stresses diving students.

 

[ScottnGA]

Thanks! i dont have any money to spare right now, but ill check them out..

And btw Jakeypoo is my nickname since i was a baby hahaha :cool2:

my sons too, but he's 5 lol

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Others have said it all jakeypoo: Diving is serious fun. By that I mean it is a lot of fun, but the activity requires proper training and a serious and focused attitude to do it safely. That is why everyone responding has focused you on taking a certification class. For very little money you can try diving by doing a discover scuba experience at a dive shop, in their pool. But when you do that ( and I expect you will soon) understand that does NOT qualify you to dive. I love your enthusiasm and eagerness. Just do it the right way!
DivemasterDennis