Let’s be honest, we LOVE scuba diving! It’s ingrained into our soul and has changed our lives in a way that is hard to explain. Like many people, before we ever dove we had some fear, trepidation and even doubts about if scuba diving was right for us. We talk with non-divers regularly and listen to their fears. Sharks, drowning, the bends and essentially, fear of the unknown.  So let’s talk about what scuba diving really is all about.

Many people view scuba diving is an extreme sport. Honestly, NOTHING could be further from the truth. While there will always be people who take things to the extreme (think of eating competitions, but NO ONE views eating as an extreme sport), the pinnacle of recreational diving is to relax as much as possible and take in a brand new world. We refer to this as “underwater yoga” as, once certified, you are focused on your body position and breathing. We teach our students good buoyancy from the beginning.. and good buoyancy is largely attributed to body position and breathing. So in most examples of scuba diving, it is not extreme in the slightest. It’s a chance to get away from everything (literally) and focus on yourself.

One of the usual comments we get is “I can’t swim well”. In scuba diving, you must be able to swim but swimming “well” isn’t a prerequisite. More importantly, it’s about your comfort level in the water. During your open water certification course, the FIRST thing we have every student do is a short swim AND a float. The swim is not timed and the float is for 10 minutes. These skills lets teh instructor gauge your comfort level in the water. While being a good swimmer is not mandatory, being comfortable in the water is very important. 

Another popular comment we hear is about sharks. I’m going to be real here. We swim with sharks ALL OF THE TIME. Honestly, we trust sharks more than we trust dogs. The movie Jaws put so much fear into the human psyche about how sharks are man eaters; and that is just not the case. Simply put, we are not their food. Sharks rarely bother divers and, when they do, it’s because we have food on us (spear fishing), we’re acting like their food (thrashing about) OR, you’ve decided to poke a shark. At depth, sharks recognize we are not a food source for them much like we, as humans, don’t view grass as our food source (although we can eat grass, it’s not very tasty). Sharks are Apex predators so there is no rason for them to “slum it” with a food source.

Now that we’ve talked about a couple of the reasons why people “won’t” scuba dive, let’s talk about what it really is all about. While the gear seems heavy and obtrusive, once you are in the water you will barely notice. In the water, you are essentially weightless. Your goal as a diver is to achieve that neutral buoyancy and, literally, fly. I often equate the feeling to a scene from Avatar, when they are flying around the floating mountains… it’s an almost effortless endeavor that takes place in an entirely new world. Being able to come face to face with a fish, see a WWII submarine, enjoy coral reefs with life forms you never knew existed are all things we as divers get to experience. It is truly a different world… one you’ll have to learn about to even describe what you’ve seen. If that excites you, than diving is definitely for you.

So, let’s go ahead and answer the actual question: Is scuba diving right for me?

Simply put, it depends on you. If you are curious about our planet, than yes! If you love exploring places that less than 1% of the US population will EVER see, than yes! If you’re looking for a way to completely get away from it all for a couple of hours, than yes! 

Learning to scuba dive is fun. Our experienced instructors have years of teaching brand new divers the skills and techniques to not only dive safely, but how to enjoy their dives as much as possible. Click to learn more about our Raleigh Scuba Lessons. The process is easy and you’ll have your educational materials emailed to you almost immediately, even if you sign up at midnight. If you’re unsure about getting a full certification but would love to “try” it, we offer Discover Scuba Classes which lets you try scuba in a controlled environment under the direct supervision of an instructor. Discover scuba is a great way to experience scuba diving without making the time/financial commitment for a full certification.