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Anyone can learn to dive
WELCOME BAHAMAS NASSAU - 2008
Anyone can learn to dive
An out-of-this-world experience
As a novice scuba diver, you have learned about regulators, respiration, depth gauges, underwater signals and how to adjust to the pressure of deep water on your body. Now you're read to don tanks and test your newfound skills in the warm, inviting ocean surrounding New Providence.
Before this exciting moment you have taken classroom instruction; gotten used to wearing tanks, masks and flippers in a pool; descended to a depth of 25 fet and-among other things-learned how to take off and put on your gear underwater.
By this time, you know that you should never hold your breath during a dive, and that you have to be a SAFE diver-meaning that you always dive with a buddy and know how to"slowly ascend from every dive."
In fact, after this dive to 100 feet, or 30 metres, and a short exam, you will be a fully certified PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) Open Water diver, able to dive anywhere in the world without being acompanied by a professional diver.
As you enter the water, you'll practice your levelling and hovering techniques, calming your breathing so that you can slip down into the incredible blue clarity of Bahamian waters.
World of wonder
For the beginner, t feels strange at first to wear bulky dive equipment. But as you slip into the water, you'll feel like an awkward duckling transformed into a graceful underwater swimmer. And looking around, you'll discover a brilliantly coloured new world.
Sunlight arc through the water, surrounding you in a blue glow. You'll be able to see objects up to 100 feet away.
Being underwater "really is an out-of-this-world experience," says Stuart Cove, owner of Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas, adding that new divers are alwaysastounded by their first dive.
"The clarity of the water and the colours ... that's what does the trick for the people you turn on to diving," agrees Leroy Lowe, co-owner of Bahama Divers.
Both firms offer learn-to-dive courses and Open Water certificatons as well advanced training and a wide range of diving and snorkelling packages. These include dives on colourful reefs and walls, especially on The Wall, a precipice that defines the eastern edge of the mile-deep Tongue of the Ocean.
One of Bahama Diers' most popular outings is a blue hole dive about 11 miles north of New Providence. It's a large circular opening in the sea floor under 30 feet of water. Divers descend into the hole to a depth of about 200 feet.
Cove's company also offers many intereting dives, including a visit to the Shipyard. Three ships were intentionally sunk at this location in the early 1990s to encourage the formation of a reef under 90 feet of water.
At the top of the list of thrill excursions is a shark dive,
offered by oth companies to divers who possess an Open Water certification.
There are several levels above this designation. For example, you can take courses and go on dives to achieve an Advanced Open Water certificate, or the Master Scuba Diver certification, wich is the highest level for recreational diving in the PADI_system.
But there is still a lot more. As a Master Scuba Diver, for example, you are qualified to begin training as a professional Divemaster.
Virtually anyone who is in good health, over th age of 14 and reasonably fit can earn an Open Water Diver certification. Children under 14 but older than 10 can take the Junior Open Water Diver programme.
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