Scuba Discovery/Discover Scuba Diving… What is it?

What is the “Scuba Discovery” class?  Well, let’s say you’re on vacation.  You’ve always wanted to go scuba diving, but you’re not sure it’s something you want to invest the time or the money for a full certification course.  You want to “try before you buy”.  So you sign up for the Scuba Discovery  (also known as Discover Scuba Diving, Try Scuba Diving, Tandem Diving, etc.) class.

During this program, you get a taste of what diving is like.  You should always have a theory session, during which your instructor will go over the basics of the SCUBA equipment, important rules of diving, what to do, what not to do, communication and signals, as well as a briefing on what skills you will be working on when you go into the pool.

Then you go into the pool.  Different instructors have different ways of teaching, but there are standards that every instructor must follow in terms of what skills are to be taught.  Personally, I like to make sure my students are comfortable with breathing underwater before we even start with any of the skills.  We repeat the skills over and over again until both the students and I are confident that the skill has not only been mastered, but will be remembered and applied should the need arise.

We then practice swimming underwater with the equipment, maintaining neutral buoyancy and learning how to do proper kicks and maintain a proper body position in the water (trim).

Then we move on to the pièce de résistance. The open water dives!  In our case, we always offer 2 dives with our Scuba Discovery program.  Why 2 dives? Well, simple..  On the 1st dive, a lot of people tend to be very apprehensive, nervous,  don’t really know what to expect,  and so once that dive is done, you know what to expect, you can relax more on the the 2nd dive, and enjoy it a whole lot more (not to say that the 1st dive is not enjoyable… it is. Very much so).  You’ll get to experience and discover a whole new world. One that you only had seen in movies and TV is now not only directly in front of you, but you are a part of it.  You are weightless, breathing beneath the sea, swimming with the fish, eels, and all the other critters that live in, on and around the coral reefs.  Do me a favor. Close your eyes, and try to picture yourself there… Pretty cool, right?

Everything is done under the direct supervision of one of our highly qualified, extremely experienced instructors.

Now you’ve tried it, you’ve loved it, and you want to keep doing it. Well, if you have time, you can sign up and complete your Open Water Scuba Diver Certification Course with us, or, when you go home, you can sign up with your local dive center and do it with them. Then, when you come back to Playa del Carmen (or anywhere else) on your next vacation,  you are ready to go diving!

So there you have it! If you’ve never been diving before and want to try it, get in touch with us before your next vacation in Playa del Carmen and set up you Scuba Discovery adventure, and get ready for the first day of the rest of your life!