Scuba Diving - one time most interesting and fascinating hobby or at the most water sport has slowly but surely taken up the shape of a full-fledged international career option in recent times, thanks to the man’s interest to explore deep waters. It was such an exciting sport that over 1 million people become certified scuba divers worldwide every year.
Scuba Diver Eligibility Conditions
So those who are interested to join scuba diving as a profession need to get through some of the course as mentioned here below:
Age:
- 15 years for Open Water Diver Certification,
- 10 to14 (10-14 for PADI and 12 to 14 for NAUI) for Junior Open Water Diver Certification.
Course available to become a certified scuba diver:
- Open Water Diver Certification
- Junior open water Diver Certification
Duration of the course:
The duration of courses depends on the individual who is joining this course it can as short as two weeks for the diligent and determined individual and can be stretched to two-three months for those who work and leisure time is an opportunity they have to seize. However, the average time for this course is two months.
How to become a Scuba Diver?
Step 1
The first step towards making scuba diving as a career is to get yourself registered at a reputable program. Certification courses are offered by associations such as PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors), the YMCA, and a few other groups. Courses are offered through SCUBA shops, resorts, dive operators, YMCAs, colleges, and community centres.
Step 2
In these certification centres, one takes classroom training where the classroom training explains the basic physics of diving (which helps divers understand the skills they will be learning and the function of each piece of gear). It also covers the all-important rules of calculating how long it is safe to stay underwater at different depths, the science of diving illnesses such as the bends and nitrogen narcosis, first aid, and concepts that will be practised in the pool and open water parts of the course. After the completion of the classroom training the in pool training starts and in the pool (The "pool" can be taught offshore in tropical waters, in a shallow place with good visibility)., students learn to use the SCUBA gear in a safe controlled environment. Here students practice assembling, putting on, and taking off gear, learn what all the controls are for, then practice descending underwater, breathing through the regulator, clearing masks, and performing emergency operations such as sharing air with a partner. The course is taught in steps so that even the people who feel terrified could start to feel very natural underwater. These drills are repeated until students feel absolutely comfortable with their gear and their ability to use it.
Step 3
The main and real part of the course started with the open water section. Students practice assembling SCUBA equipment, doing a preliminary pre-dive safety check, donning gear, then entering the water using techniques such as the backward roll and the giant stride. Students then check their buoyancy and descend under the supervision of a diving instructor. Skills such as sharing air, clearing masks, clearing a regulator, controlling buoyancy, and using a compass are practised during the dive, and the rest of the time is spent diving - getting used to the experience of being and breathing underwater. After the completion of this basic course, the Divers are given a diving certification card, known as a "C- Card." This is the license to dive without the supervision of a dive master. Although this license is enough to get scuba diving jobs( subject to other terms and condition set by the respective organization) on marine ships and other multinational organization engaging in the sea jobs yet Divers can continue their education with more advanced classes, speciality classes, and even dive master, rescue, and instructor classes. As time progressed, one can learn other scuba skills such as underwater photography, wreck diving, deep diving and spearfishing.
Fees and other expenditures:
The Fees and other costs that may be incurred in getting scuba diving certification depends on a number of factors with beginners to have relatively larger and experienced divers comparatively lower expenses as they have already equipped themselves with the diving gears.
- An introductory diving certification course first requires the completion of a medical test costing near about $ 40 (refunded if medical clearance is not granted)
- Open Water diving certification course cost anywhere from $300 to $500 however largely depending on the venue where the course will be taken, with that being taught in an island resort naturally being more expensive.
- Course certifications given on live-aboard travels, meanwhile, can range between $100 to $200, excluding travel cost.
- Scuba mask ($20), a snorkel ($20), diving suits ($125), and fins ($50), the collective cost of which should be around $200.
- The purchase of an entire diving gear set, including a regulator with SPG, an Octo, and a BCD costs about $600.
Scuba Diver Job Description
Scuba diving involves putting a heavy tank full of compressed air on your back and diving into deep water with a tiny rubber tube being the only thing that keeps you alive. Thus it's fairly obvious that this is a career with a healthy amount of risk. Before joining scuba diving as a career one must first determine whether he is physically able to scuba dive as it can be tiring and require fairly strong swimming skills. There are also mental considerations. One must not panic while scuba diving-not necessarily in case he himself gets in trouble, but in case his buddy has a problem. Irrespective of these SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) Diving is a fun, exciting, and relaxing sport as well career option today as there is a lot of scope for the professional scuba diver. They can find jobs with world organization working in the field of sea explorations as well as Media channels like Discovery and Planet Earth besides getting good opportunities in shipping companies as professional scuba divers. One thing that one should keep in mind before joining scuba diving as a profession is that It can be quite dangerous only if one is not having the proper training, proper training and foolproof up to date apparatus can make it a completely safe and exciting career option.
Scuba Diver Career Prospects
There is a lot of scope for professional Scuba Diver. They can find jobs with world organization working in the field of sea explorations as well as Media channels like Discovery and Planet Earth besides getting good opportunities in shipping companies as professional scuba divers.
Scuba Diver Salary
Besides the base salary that varies from country to country, company to company the perks are one of the main reasons people stay in this relatively initially low-paying dive industry: free diving, nice accommodations, discounts at local restaurants and bars, and free meals all are common. Work in remote locations with few spending opportunities can make it easy to save large parts of your salary thereby adding to the real value of the otherwise low monetary value of the hard cash.
