Alternatives to Scuba

[pmac2382]

Hello all - This is a very informative forum. Lots of great reading. Any suggestions from those of you who are experienced divers as to alternatives to scuba for non-certified? Obviously snorkeling is an alternative, but makes it very dificult to get below the surface...

I have seen lots of reading on Snuba, as an alternative (both pro and con feedback, for various reasons). The setback here is that you have to actually go out with an instructor. There is no equipment you can rent and take out on your own.

We are chartering a boat after the first of the year, and I was hoping to come up with some type of alternative which I could do... where I could bring the necessary equipment on board and use without an instructor. Are there any recommendations from you folks? I have heard people talk of extra long tubes on snorkels. That sounds like that would be a great alternative if this is indeed something that is still done. Safety is obviously my first priority, so don't want to do anything which would not be completely safe. I am an advanced swimmer, but I have only been on one dive (with a master diver) in Hawaii. It was a great rush, but I have not had an opportunity to get certified. (Not to mention, I don't live in an area with clear waters, and have no interest in diving in dark/cold rock quarries!!)

Thanks for any feedback -
PMac

 

[Damselfish]

Snorkeling it's not overly hard to get below the surface, it's called freediving, and like most other things it just takes practice. Of course it's a completely different thing from just being able to cruise around underwater and stay there with no effort.

Extra long tubes on snorkels don't work. Breathing air which is at surface pressure, when your lungs are under greater pressure, you just can't get very deep before it's too hard to breathe. A long snorkel or hose would also be a dead air space - if the tube is too long it will just be filled with exhaled air that within a few breaths won't contain enough oxygen. SNUBA uses a regulator just like SCUBA, when you exhale it goes out through the exhaust of the regulator and not back through the hose it came in.

So you need pressurized air, whether it is SCUBA, SNUBA, or whatever. When breathing presurized air underwater there are a variety of ways to badly injure or kill yourself that may not be obvious at first, hence the need for training of some sort. In the case of SNUBA (or Discover Scuba courses) it's only a little bit of instruction but then you dive with an instructor to help minimize the chances of stuff going wrong.

 

[Meng_Tze]

Hmm,

a bell (I have seen those bells on scooter things), submersible, loooong hose (some pearl divers in the far east do it). Beyond that without going into true scuba.... not really other alternatives...

 

[Matteo]

Hello all - This is a very informative forum. Lots of great reading. Any suggestions from those of you who are experienced divers as to alternatives to scuba for non-certified? Obviously snorkeling is an alternative, but makes it very dificult to get below the surface...

weights

 

[ChrisA]

Why not take the OW clas and get certifed for SCUBA? It can be done in as little as two weekends.
OK asumming you don't want to do that. and you don't want to be supervised by an instructor then you can't breath compressed air. To breath compressed air you need either to get a certification or be under the supervision of an instructor. What's left is what they call either "snorkling" or "freediving" the difference between the two is only a matter of sophistication and skill. "snorkling" typically is done at or near the surface while free divers can get down to 60 or 90 feet. Beginning free divers can learn to get down to 30 feet fairly quickly. They use just a little bit of weight and some really big fins. I would call myself a beginning freediver. I've been able toget down to 30 feet and see some scuba divers but of course they get to stay down there and I had to go back up. The trick is to use just enough weights so that you can still float at the surface. The exposure suit compresses at depth so you have not trouble staying down. Bring a float to use at the surface.

 

[ChrisA]

I have seen lots of reading on Snuba, as an alternative (both pro and con feedback, for various reasons). The setback here is that you have to actually go out with an instructor. There is no equipment you can rent and take out on your own.

I've seen groups of tourists on SNUBA. Gosh it looks silly. First off they are for valid safety reasons limited to a 6 foot hose. This means they are depth limited to 6 feet max but almostr all of then swimm on the surface. It's silly because they could just as well use a snorkle at the surface and if they were not tethered by the hose they could easly make dives below 6 feet. Any decent swimmer cn swim to the bottom of a 10 foot swimming pool with no more equipment than a swim suit. Add fins and it becomes dead easy so why bother with a 6 foot hose? I think it is just a way for the resorts to make money off tourests.

Worse, there is a danger that someone could be at 6 feet and have the regulator ripped out and forget about the part where they told you to NEVER hold your breath. He would have to remember to slowly blow bubbles and swimm upward not faster than his bubbles

Where SNUBA is great is for small children. They give thenm a float vest so they can'r get underwater and then they get to breath through a regulator. It's fun for 6 to 8 year old kids

 

[pmac2382]

This really is great information. I appreciate all of your feedback... I especially am interested in what ChrisA mentioned: Freediving. I have never heard of that. I'd like to do some more research there... that sounds ideal. I wish I could just get an open water certification. Problem is I can't find a place near where I live to offer certification where you don't have to dive in dark/cold rock quarries. I would only have an interest in diving in clear water...

 

[freediver]

This really is great information. I appreciate all of your feedback... I especially am interested in what ChrisA mentioned: Freediving. I have never heard of that. I'd like to do some more research there... that sounds ideal. I wish I could just get an open water certification. Problem is I can't find a place near where I live to offer certification where you don't have to dive in dark/cold rock quarries. I would only have an interest in diving in clear water...

Come on over to the freediving forum and post questions there. If you are around the Cozumel area in October, I will be doing a 2 day freedive clinic there!

 

[neophyte]

I don't know if it'll work in your particular situation, but you can split your certification up so that you do the classroom and pool work at home, then do your open water checkout dives in another location.

As far as I know, the checkout portion generally consists of at least four dives over the course of two days.

It's most often called a referral. Talk to a local instructor, arrange a long weekend somewhere warm enough for you, and you'll be all set for your trip in January.

 

[Fordan]

I wish I could just get an open water certification. Problem is I can't find a place near where I live to offer certification where you don't have to dive in dark/cold rock quarries. I would only have an interest in diving in clear water...

You do have options to get your OW cert. You can typically complete your class and pool work locally, and get a referral to a facility in warmer climes to do your required OW dives.

You can also do the 4-5 dives needed for certification in the quarry over 2 days, and use that to confirm you have no interest in diving in that kind of water. Better would be a quarry dive/Ocean dive combo, but that could be impractical for where you live.