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CMAS Underwater World Federation

Nevin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 13:00:56 +0000

CMAS , Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques or known as the World Underwater Federation is a European Dive Certification and standards body formed in Monaco in 1959 with its head office established in Italy, Rome; CMAS forms one of the oldest scuba diving organisations in the world.

CMAS as an organization is divided into three main committees which deals with different areas of underwater activity. The Sports Committee which deals with underwater sports and sport diving, the Technical Committee which governs recreational diving and guidelines to scuba diving, and finally the Scientific Committee to bring into focus the important issues related to the marine environment.

Unlike most US Dive Organizations, CMAS is known to stress the quality of diver education over profit, offering a wider range of diving knowledge and not just focussing on just reef and tropical water holiday diving. This emphasis on diver education has made the CMAS certification levels more respected than many of its fellow agencies. CMAS offers courses geared towards Ice Diving, Dry Suits Diving, Cave, full-face rebreather and even free diving and snorkelling courses.

CMAS has developed a CMAS International Diver Training Certification System that consists of Diver, Speciality Diver, Technical Diver and Leadership Diver Training Standards and which allows divers that have been trained in accordance with the prescribed CMAS International Diver Training Standards, to have their certifications recognised throughout the world in countries that are members of the CMAS family of divers. The Certification map under the CMAS programme is as follows: Divers completing their open water training are termed as One Star Divers, and can progress to the next level becoming two star divers and finally CMAS Three and four Star divers. Following the three star diver level one can opt to become an instructor and follow the one, two and finally three star instructor certification programs. The CMAS levels while often are compared with PADI or SSI equivalents does not truly match. A CMAS two star diver is more of a combination of a PADI Advanced Open Water diver plus a Rescue Diver as the two star course teaches first aid, CPR and how to deal with underwater issues. The Three Star course covers a lot of knowledge areas and skills that are usually covered in a Dive Master course. The emphasis on a greater amount of theory or classroom training makes CMAS training more extensive and produces a better quality of diver.

The CMAS certification is recognized all over the world with diver training schools located on every continent offering its courses.

The CMAS Diver Certification Levels:

CMAS Scuba Diver – (Resort Course) limited depth, etc. No certification since only pool training done
1 Star – “A diver who is competent in the safe and correct use of all appropriate open water scuba diving equipment in a sheltered water training area and is ready to gain open water diving experience in the company of an experienced diver.”
2 Star – “A diver who has gained some open water diving experience and is considered ready to take part in dives partnered by a diver of at least the same or higher grade.”
3 Star – “A fully trained, experienced, and responsible diver who is considered competent to lead other divers of any grade in open water dives.”
4 Star – “A three star diver who has attained a higher than average level of knowledge and ability supported by broad experience. He will be competent to use divers and diving to achieve major tasks or project objectives.”

5 Tips To Becoming A Better Diver

Noreen — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:15:41 +0000

1. Be a Solo Diver: This rule doesn’t entail ditching your dive buddy and diving alone. By all means stay close to your buddy and be ready to help him. But as far as your own safety is concerned, pretend he’s not there or won’t be when you need him, in other words be self reliant. In any emergency your most dependable rescuer is yourself. Think solo, plan smarter and rehearse beforehand how you could deal with a situation so that if one arises you know how to react without wasting time looking for a rescuer.

Keep at hand all the dive gear and equipment you may need as if you were diving solo. For example: Have your own completely redundant air source, like a pony bottle, instead of relying on your buddy’s octopus. You may want several cutting tools instead of just one, mounted so you can reach at least one with either hand. Be prepared for yourself and carry your own backups.

2. Be Lazy: Mimic a sloth. Doing everything in slow motion will stretch your air supply. Move like you’re too exhausted to move. Every fin stroke, arm movement or even a head turn requires a lot more energy under water as it’s almost 800 times more dense than air. Energy in diving equals oxygen, so the faster you burn energy the faster you empty your dive tank. It’s that simple.

It takes a conscious effort to move at slow motion speeds, but practice will make it second nature. The payoff is bragging rights over your air-hog buddy at the end of the dive. Be lazy out of the water before and after a dive too. Sit down as much as possible and relax to conserve energy and you won’t feel fatigued. Most importantly stay lazy with your body in order to stay alert with your mind.

3. Breathe Efficiently: One of the first diving no-no’s you learn is to never hold your breath. And certainly don’t. To significantly improve your breathing efficiency, reverse your normal breathing pattern from inhale-exhale-pause to inhale-pause- exhale, the pattern many experienced divers adopt naturally over time. What you have to keep in mind is the pause you take when your lungs are filled is not held with your throat closed and most definitely not forced.

The few seconds pause while your lungs are full of air allows more time for gas exchange, so you take in more oxygen and dump more carbon dioxide with each breath. Therefore, your need to breathe will lessen and you will get more cycles out of your cylinder. This breathing technique is not taught because a pause can be confused as holding your breath with a closed-throat. So, if you aren’t sure of the difference or of not inadvertently closing your throat to pause, don’t try it.

4. Avoid Using Your BCD: Using the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) throughout a dive for control is a mistake made by many divers, especially rookies. Since water is denser, momentum gathered takes a little more time to slow or stop. While you’re squirting a little more air in you BCD thinking you’re a little negative, before you realize it you’re actually a little positive. But you won’t feel positive because you come to a stop and pause there for a moment or two before that little squirt of air in your BC begins gathering its strength before raising you slowly.

Naturally, you need to use some judgment and assess the need to use those buttons when you’re dropping like a rock or rising like a cork. But, as you zero in on neutral buoyancy you don’t want to mess it up by touching the buttons again. You can make depth changes of four or five feet by using your lungs alone, without messing with your buoyancy compensator and losing that hard-to-find neutral buoyancy.

5. Don’t Overdo the Gear: By don’t overdo the dive gear we don’t mean offload your weights, ditch spare regulators or don’t wear a dive computer, it simply means don’t let your equipment get the better of you. Diving with an all new kit of diving equipment with a fancy new dive computer on one hand, an underwater camera in another and a squeaky new BCD you’re unfamiliar can be overwhelming. The use of your dive gear should be intuitive and not take up your attention. Another reason to avoid carrying extra gear apart from unnecessary fidgeting is the temptation to seek security in equipment rather than in technique. As a general rule, get more experience before more gear.

That said, we like to encourage divers to own their own gear and not rent, because owners know their gear better and take care of it better. We also think divers should buy their gear new and of top quality. There’s no such thing as too much performance and you definitely can’t put a price on safety.

*Image credits: photos by aa7ae, riandreu and pjf@cpan on flickr

A Complete Scuba Guide to Night Diving (Part-2)

Noreen — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:31:51 +0000

A night dive is one of the best ways of seeing and experiencing your favorite dive sites in a whole new light. For those who have never tried it, the thought of descending into dark waters with only the beam of a dive flashlight for light may seem a little daunting and scary. But it need not be. That’s why we decided to put together all the information you would need the why, how, when and where, to prepare yourself and take that plunge into the darkness. If you missed Part 1 of this post- Click here

Night Diving Equipment
It obvious to say that the main piece of scuba diving gear specially required for diving after dark is a dive light or torch. In fact, it’s very important to carry a back-up scuba flashlight too incase your primary happens to fail. Some divers, as paranoid as it seems even carry 3 or four dive lights to ensure that neither they nor their dive buddy have to end a dive without one.

When deciding to buy a dive light nowadays there so many options to chose from. Read our post titled: A Closer Look at Dive Light Technology; to help you make an informed decision on your next scuba light purchase.

While the rest of your personal scuba equipment for night diving does not differ much from day diving, there are a few considerations you can make. For example- it would greatly help in an emergency if your alternate air source was a bright color so it could be easily identified and spotted if you or your dive buddy needed it. If your spare regulator (octopus) isn’t brightly colored, you should consider a bright colored hose protector to make it stand out better in the dark. Your scuba gauges and dive computers too should ideally be luminous or have illuminated markings for better visibility in the dark. A glow in the dark dive slate too might be a good idea of communication on a night dive.

It’s important to carry with you emergency signaling devices that could help you get noticed in the water should you surface away from the dive boat. A combination of both visual and audible safety gear is recommended, like a whistle and strobe light or an air horn and glow in the dark chemical light stick.

Wearing the right exposure protection/wetsuit is also a consideration to make when night diving. It’s easier to bump into things in the dark and get cuts, scrapes but wearing gloves, boots and protection for yourself doesn’t mean you should let your guard down. The reef isn’t protected from you so you still have to be very careful and cautious about blundering into fragile coral life.

Night Diving Tips

As hard as it might be you should really try to curb your active imagination of what lurks beyond your dive light beam. If you’ve dived a lot in the day you shouldn’t be too worried about bigger marine life and know that they’re probably more afraid of you than you of them.
Start heading to you dive site or even plan your dive such that you reach it at around twilight, so there is still enough light to help you prep all your scuba gear and equipment for the dive and your not blubbering about in the dark. You can then enter the water confident that you’ve got everything you need and your gear is in good shape, when you’ve seen the last of the sun for the day.
Keep your dive flashlight attached to your wrist at all times with a lanyard and turn it on before entering the water, this helps in case you accidentally drop it in the water you can locate it by it’s beam. Avoid turning your light on or using its switches underwater as this is when water can enter them.
Adhere to the golden rule of Never shining your light directly into another divers face. Keep your beam low to avoid bumping into any objects or kicking up any sand from being too close to the bottom.
Keep an eye on your gauges. Pay attention to your air consumption and depth. It’s easy to go deep considering you can’t see the bottom especially if diving wall or deeper dive site at night.
Always remember your bubbles go up. This is important if you get disoriented during the dive or experience so called ‘vertigo’. The best in this case is to signal your buddy to assist you to the surface in a safe ascent, as breaking the surface and the sight of either the dive boat lights or the stars will help the effects disappear.
And lastly, don’t forget to look for bio luminescent organisms that glow a brilliant blue and green in the dark just like stars do in the sky. You can see them by covering your dive torch beam with a hand or holding it against your body to stop all light, then by just waving a hand through the water you’ll see streams of tiny, bluish lights dance off your fingers.

Best Night Dive Site
Although you can dive almost any die site at night, there’s one particular dive renowned for night diving. It’s known as the Manta Ray Night dive in Kailua Kona, Hawaii and is rated among the Top 10 Dive Sites around the World by almost every dive publication and every Scuba website online. Read more about it here.

*Image Credits: photos by Marcelo Mariozi – www.uwphoto.ae, Saspotato and hankplank on flickr

A Complete Scuba Guide to Night Diving (Part 1)

Noreen — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:27:17 +0000

Why Dive at Night?
Scuba diving at night is a fascinating experience to say the least. Yes, the very limited visibility can keep you imagining what creatures lie outside your light beam, but the experience of weightlessly floating in complete darkness is the closest feeling you’ll get of being in space, right here on Earth. Talk about adventure! A whole new cast of characters comes alive after the sun goes down. From tiny Bioluminescent Plankton, to the fascinating phenomenon of coral fluorescence, these spectacles of nature can only be experience on a night dive. You are more focused as your vision is limited to that of your light beam. Brighter colors and nocturnal creature you wouldn’t otherwise see, makes even a ten meter square more interesting; with a more to see than if you had seen it in the day and passed over it in a jiffy. Night diving is a completely different experience than diving during the day. It’s both exhilarating yet surprisingly calm and relaxing at the same time.

(Read our post on: Creatures That Go Bump In The Night)

Planning a night dive

It’s mostly advised that you dive a site your are familiar with and have dived before in the day so you can plan your dive well. It helps when you are aware of the terrain of the dive site- eg, wall, pinnacle, gorge, wreck etc., the conditions -visibility, currents, positions of overhead hangs if any and so on. It’s also generally preferred to dive from a boat at night as it makes entries and exits easier than dealing with surfs or watching where you’re wading as you have to in shore diving.
Diving with a dive buddy you are very comfortable should be noted when you’re diving at night. It’s important to stick close to each other throughout the dive and understand each easily for better communication and to increase your comfort levels underwater. If you want you could use a short buddy line to reduce the risk of being separated, it’s not necessary but can be used especially if you’re very anxious about diving at night.

Learn all night hand and dive light signals before. For example: To attract a buddy’s attention, wave the scuba torch light back and forth in a horizontal line just in front of them. To signal “something wrong”, wave the torch up and down.Waving the light in a circle is to signal “ok” and so on.
You can even take the PADI Night Diver Specialty Course to better learn all about night diving. Learn more about it here.

For more including Night Diving Equipment, Night Diving Tips and The Best Night Diving site -Read:A Complete Scuba Guide to Night Diving (Part-2)

*Image credits: All photos by Saspotato on flickr

PADI Night Diver Specialty Course

Nevin — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:09:10 +0000

Why do a PADI Night Diver Course?
Night Dives are offered by almost every dive facility to allow divers to experience the same dive sites they explored during the day, the opportunity to witness the transformation once the sun sets. There are certain changes that occur underwater when night falls, as well as certain species of fish that only appear under the cover of darkness, giving scuba divers the unique opportunity to observe. Night is considered any time between sunset and sunrise for the purpose of Night Diving.

As the sun sets, and most of the reefs inhabitants make their way home for the night, there are groups of reef dwelling fish that are just beginning their day. Nocturnal fish make scuba diving at night a fascinating experience as these species of fish are mostly hidden during the day. These fish tend to have larger eyes, are more solitary, slow moving and are often reds or brown in color to make them indistinguishable as the light levels drop. Diving in darkness is also a completely different experience as you can only see what’s visible in the beam of your dive light. This can be a rather disorienting experience at first, but also a tremendously rewarding experience for scuba divers.

The primary reasons to do a Night Diver course are to familiarize you with the changes in safety and communication procedures when diving in darkness. Signaling your buddy with your hands is no longer possible, and communication using dive lights is key to getting your message across. Disorientation is easy as a diver has no visual cues as to which way is up, the Night Diver course helps you learn various tips to re-orient yourself and navigate in the darkness. The course also covers various techniques to ensure you don’t loose your dive buddy in the darkness, and what to do in case your dive light fails. Additionally the course familiarizes you with night diving scuba gear such as primary and secondary dive lights, strobes, glow sticks, reflectors etc.

What does the course cover?
This course is designed to be an introduction to night diving and to help the student divers develop the skills, knowledge and techniques necessary to safely participate in night-diving activities in a fun and enjoyable way. The primary focus of this course is to ensure safe diving practices at night.

The Night Diver Course covers three open water training dives as well as approximately 12 hours of instruction or preparation activities covering the below knowledge areas:.

the planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards of night diving
proper procedures for buoyancy control, navigation and communication
use of dive lights and buddy‑system techniques
disorientation and emergency procedures
orientation to nocturnal aquatic life

There is no written examination to successfully complete the PADI Night Diving course, however the student must complete the three open water night training dives to the satisfaction of the dive instructor.

Prerequisites to do the Course

To qualify for the PADI Night Diver course, an individual must:

Be certified as a PADI Scuba Diver, Junior Scuba Diver, Open Water Diver, Junior Open Water Diver or have qualifying certifications from another training organization.
Be 12 years of age or older.

photos from flickr by dans le grand bleu, hankplank,

PADI Ice Diver Specialty Course

Nevin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:28:57 +0000

What is Ice Diving?

Ice Diving is a form of penetration diving similar to wreck or cavern diving, where the dive takes place under ice. As the diver is under the ice for the dive, this is considered an overhead environment with usually a single entry/exit point on the surface and is considered an advanced type of recreational diving requiring special training and equipment. Most ice diving takes place in frozen lakes where the diver is required to wear special exposure suits or dry suits, in order to stay warm during the dive. Divers penetrate under ice through sawed rectangular holes and go down in buddy teams. A safety rope is tied to the waist of each diver, and the divers hold the rope. A person called the ‘tender’ on the surface holds the rope as a safety measure.

Why do a specialty course in Ice Diving?

The enchantment of Ice Diving lies in the unique aquascapes formed underwater by the ice. The air bubbles exhaled by divers seem to have a life of their own, getting trapped under the ice overhead and rolling around like silver blobs of mercury. The atmosphere under the ice is somewhat eerie yet calming and humbling. Learning to Ice Dive also gives you the opportunity to dive throughout the year, and explore some of the same water bodies you dived in during the summer . The thrill of ice diving is similar to that of cavern diving in an overhead environment except that it is much more challenging. Ice Diving is also considered one of the most extreme adventure specialties recreational diving offers. It combines the need for good technical skills with the use of specialized scuba diving equipment often creating the debate whether Ice Diving should be considered technical diving.

What does the Course cover?

The Ice Diver course includes three open water training dives, which are conducted over at least 2 days. Penetration training dives are limited to within the light zone and within 40 metres/130 feet from

the surface, vertical and horizontal distance included. No out-of-air drills are practiced in the overhead environment. Dives are typically done as a group working with support personnel, divers, tenders, and safety divers. Divers are required to learn to control buoyancy, navigate under the ice, and keep in contact with the lead diver and tenders via line pulls.

The course covers the following:

Reasons and opportunities for ice diving,
Scuba Equipment considerations

planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards of ice diving.
site selection, preparation and hole-cutting procedures
special dive equipment, safety lines, signals, communications, line tending and line-securing techniques
effects of cold, emergency procedures and safety-diver procedures

There is no written exam to successfully complete the PADI Ice Diver specialty course however the diver must successfully complete the knowledge sessions on all the key information areas and perform the three training Ice dives to the satisfaction of the instructor.

Prerequisites to do the Course

To qualify for the Altitude Diver course, an individual must:

Be certified as a PADI Open Water Diver, PADI Junior Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization.
Be 18 years of age or older.

photos from flickr by asbjorn.hansen, & habi

PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty Course

Nevin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:56:49 +0000

What is Enriched Air Diving?

Enriched Air diving or Nitrox diving is becoming increasingly popular in Scuba diving and refers to Diving with a special nitrogen and oxygen breathing gas mixture with an oxygen concentration higher than the 21 percent found in normal air. Ordinarily recreational scuba divers use regular compressed air in their tanks rather than blended gasses. Enriched Air Diving has a variety of benefits over using regular air for divers.

Why do a specialty course in Enriched Air Diving?

As water pressure causes the nitrogen from the air you breathe to dissolve in your bloodstream, the longer and deeper a diver is underwater, the more nitrogen is absorbed by his system. As the nitrogen builds up, a diver can only be underwater for a limited time depending on depth as the pressure is more deeper and then must ascend slowly, make decompression stops consequent surface interval times before diving again.

The diving time allowed when using enriched air nitrox changes as the “enriched” air used has more oxygen and less nitrogen. This means, when diving nitrox a divers body absorbs less nitrogen during the dive than a diver that uses regular air. It’s important to note however, that although enriched air nitrox allows a longer no-decompression limit, it does not eliminate the risk of decompression sickness or nitrogen narcosis but simply lowers it.

Overall the PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty is perhaps one of the most popular courses that PADI offers. Scuba diving with enriched air nitrox gives you more no decompression dive time. This means more time underwater, especially on repetitive scuba dives Nitrox allows you to stay down longer and get back the water sooner. Gas blends with 32 percent or 36 percent oxygen can sometimes nearly double the time a diver can spend at depth before reaching the safe limits of excess nitrogen. Once certified, you will be able to plan and execute dives using blends up to 40 percent oxygen.

What does the Course cover?

The PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty course is designed to qualify recreational divers to use enriched air (Nitrox) for no decompression stop recreational diving. The course addresses the use of

enriched air with 22 percent to 40 percent oxygen, with emphasis on enriched air with 32 and 36 percent oxygen. The course covers both a theoretical portion of roughly 12 hours of instruction as well as a practical portion comprising of at least two open water dives using enriched air to successfully complete the Specialty.

The course covers the following:

Planning, organization procedures, techniques, problems, and hazards of Enriched Air diving
How to avoid issues with oxygen toxicity
how to analyze enriched air with oxygen analyzers and flow restrictors
Understanding the different blends and mixtures of Enriched Air Diving
Dive Planning —divers learn to calculate, , the maximum depth, planned depth and no stop limits for the dive using Enriched Air Tables and the using enriched air computers.
Enriched air scuba diving equipment considerations
Going through the PADI Enriched Air Diver Manual – which is a comprehensive guide to Nitrox Diving

Featured above is the “Handi” Hand Held Oxygen Analyzer available at Leisurepro.com

There is no written exam to successfully complete the PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty however the diver must successfully complete the knowledge sessions on all the key information areas and perform the two training dives to the satisfaction of the instructor.

Prerequisites to do the Course

To qualify for the EAN Diver course, an individual must:

Be certified as a PADI Open Water Diver, PADI Junior Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization.
Be 15 years of age or older.

photos from flickr courtesy: Woolve.com, nsyll, Brian Meidell,

Scuba Basics: The Ins and Outs of Diving- Exit Methods

Noreen — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:45:37 +0000

After you exit the bubble that is your scuba training, you’re faced with a whole world of different types of diving. You’re next dive trip could have you diving from a liveaboard, a small RIB dive boat or shore diving from a sandy beach or even an inland lake. Since chances are, you’ve only learned the basic scuba entry and exit methods since your training, you’re sure to be faced with some unfamiliar ways to get in the water to start a dive and exit the water after one at some point or another. To anyone used to always doing the giant stride entry into the water, suddenly having to do a backward roll off a small shaky boat can be a little intimidating. But this is due to the unfamiliarity and lack of experience. Good news is, they’re all fairly simple once you’ve tried it.

Here’s a closer look at some Entry and Exit methods to brush up your scuba skills for diving both from the shore and boats-

CLICK HERE if you missed our post on the Entry Methods for both Boat and Shore Diving

BOAT DIVING EXIT METHODS
Hard/ High Boat Exit With a Ladder
It’s almost certain that if a dive boat has high sides or a raised platform, there will be a ladder to help climb out of the water and get back into the boat. Depending on the conditions and type of ladders provided, you can exit wearing your fins or you may have to take them off to climb it.

- Don’t make your way to the ladder if anyone is already on it or still climbing up, keep a safe distance as they may fall back.
- Always watch your fingers as you hold the ladder, you don’t want them getting caught between the ladder and boat.
- If there are swell and depending on the conditions keep your mask and regulator in.
- Get a good grip on the ladder and climb up a couple of rings and pass up your weight belt first or use whatever kit removal sequence you’ve been told to follow by the dive guide).
- After you take your weights off, you may take off your fins before proceeding to get in the boat.

RIB Exit with No Ladder
To get out of a RIB or small boat or even a lower platform where no ladder is needed, you first hand over your weight belt and take off your whole BC kit while in the water. After handing these to a boat hand and keeping your fins on, you need to get a good grip with both your palms on the side ridge of the boat or platform. Then timing your push with a swell (if any), kick up with your fins as you pull yourself up, then twist and plop your behind on the ridge or platform facing the water. It’s just like sitting up on a wall or getting out of a swimming pool.

SHORE DIVING EXIT METHODS

Beach Exit
- Make your way to shallow water until you are roughly hip-level with the water.
- Deflate your BC so that your feet are firmly on the ground
- Facing the beach, remove your fins using your buddy for support.
- Walk back to shore.

Surf Exit Method
- Determine the best route for entry and exit before the dive itself.
- Move as quickly as you can and stand up as soon as you are able.
- If you are not able to stand up comfortably, shuffle up the beach, allowing the breakers to push you forward. Keep your hands in front of you to fend off obstructions.
- Avoid the highest part of the wave.

*Photo Credits: photos by Steve & Jemma Copley, Explore The Bruce on flickr

Scuba Basics: The Ins and Outs of Diving- Entry Methods

Noreen — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:54:29 +0000

Here’s a closer look at some Entry and Exit methods to brush up your scuba skills for diving both from the shore and boats-

BOAT DIVING ENTRY METHODS
The Giant Stride Entry
Most commonly used while diving off a dive boat with a platform, but can also be used to step off a pier or jetty where the water is deep enough, this method can is best used only if the platform is steady.

- Kit up and don all your scuba gear on in the boat itself
- Put air in your BC to avoid making a negative descent
- Stand on the edge of the dive platform with the balls of your fins on the edge.
- Then holding your mask and regulator with the palm of your hand and fingers holding your mask in place,take a big step off the platform putting one leg forward.
- Once in the water bring your legs together to return to the surface, recheck your gear and signal the boat that you’re OK
TIP: Look up at the horizon when you step, to help maintain that upright position before you take that step and avoid jumping or hoping as the aim is to get as far away from the boat/platform as possible.

Backward Roll Entry
This is another common entry method and is preferred when diving from a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat)or small unsteady boat. The water needs to be deep for this method of entry just like in the giant stride entry.

- Put all your scuba equipment on in the boat itself
- Sit at the edge of the gunwale of the boat facing inwards with your tank facing the water
- Make sure no one or nothing is behind you in the water
- Then with your legs together bent at the knees, chin tucked in and one hand holding the mask and regulator in place, lean back and let gravity do the rest
- With the weight of the tank and gravity doing it’s thing you’ll be pulled into a full somersault and hit the water

Controlled Seated Entry
The controlled seated entry method is best used where the water is too shallow for a giant stride off the boat or where your boat/platform is low to the surface of the water or the platform is unsteady. A good entry method for disabled or older divers

- Start by kitting up on the boat itself
- Sit at the edge of the boat/platform and using your hands on each side of you, lift yourself up and outward with your hands and lower yourself into the water.
- Care should be taken while pushing yourself off the boat that you clear both yourself and your tank from hitting the side of the dive boat or platform.

SHORE DIVING ENTRY METHODS
Beach Entry/ Surf Entry
Walking into the water may sound like an easy method of entry, but wading through the surf backward while wearing heavy scuba diving equipment is no easy feat. Depending on the condition and your waddling skills, you may keep your fins on or in your hand. Another great option for shore divers is the Amphibian FlipFins from Omega Aquatics to eliminate the problem of walking in fins while entering the water.

- Hold your fins securely with one hand. (For surf entry keep them on, along with your regulator in your mouth and mask on).
- Walk slowly backwards into the water. Make sure that your tank is facing the water as you enter the water to prevent yourself from falling face-first.
- Inflate your BC.
- Use your buddy’s assistance and support to put your fins on in the water.
- As soon as you are deep enough, gently submerge and move off into deeper waters.

Rocky Surface Entry
This is on of the toughest entries and can be quite nerve wracking for some, however, its not very uncommon especially for those diving in and around the UK. It’s very important to note the conditions before such a dive as rough rocks with high swells are a recipe for disaster if not while entry then potentially during exit as well.

- Avoid carrying any extra scuba accessories such as cameras or torches, so that you can keep your hands free to steady yourself. If you require such gear make sure you can attach it securely to your BC or it can be stowed away in pockets.
- Wear hard sole boots rather than soft booties for a better grip on the rocks and protection for your feet.
- Find a stable rock closest to the water where it’s deep enough for entry and sit or lean against it while securing your fins and mask.
- Sit down and edge your body towards the entry point slowly, in a seated position, until your legs are in the water.
- Time your entry with a swell (if any) so that you hit the water at the top of the wave and allow it to carry you out.
- Once in, fin hard to move away from the rocks.

CLICK HERE to see the Continuation of Exit Methods for both Boat and Shore Diving

*Photo Credits: photos by spartanjoe, waveneyavenue on flickr

What A Scuba Rescue Diver Course Entails

Noreen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:06:28 +0000

As a certified diver, whether you are looking to take up diving professionally or just for recreation we’d always recommend you train atleast up to a Rescue Diver level. Rescue diving courses and training are not designed only for someone looking at rescue diving or scuba diving as a career, but for all those who want to know what to do in the event of problems underwater and to just expand your knowledge and experience for stress free diving.

We’ve always advocated that even though you always dive with a dive buddy, in any emergency your most dependable rescuer is you (Read:You’re Your Own Best Dive Buddy). A Rescue course by any of the scuba certification agencies is one of the best ways of being a better scuba diver for both yourself and your dive buddy. The rescue training, which teaches you to anticipate and manage risks as well as responding to any basic in-water problems and diving emergencies is a challenging and demanding course. However, ask anyone who is rescue diver certified and they’ll tell you it is the single most rewarding and useful certification they’ve taken since open water. It’s the ultimate boost in confidence in the water, a a must when diving.

So what do you need to be a Rescue diver?
It goes without saying that you need to be a certified diver to even consider the scuba rescue course however, more than just an open water diver certification you need to complete your advanced diver course with 20 or more logged dives. Some scuba certification agencies like PADI and NAUI have a pre-requisite of being trained and current with first aid and CPR while some others like CMAS offers the CMAS 2 star certification which is an advanced plus rescue diver level course without the need for separate first aid and CPR training.

Other than that, it’s important that you are very comfortable with all the scuba skills taught to you in previous training which may be needed in this course. It helps if you can remain calm, composed while being quick thinking and react efficiently in a controlled manner.

What you learn in Rescue Diver training-

Self-rescue techniques
Learn to spot potential problems and managing stress in other divers.
Emergency management
Scuba Equipment Function
Common Equipment Problems
Release Function and Problems
Panicked diver response
Rescuing the Responsive Diver Underwater
Rescue Exits with the Responsive Diver
Rescuing the Responsive Diver at the Surface
Rescuing the Unresponsive Diver Underwater
Rescuing the Unresponsive Diver at the Surface
Missing diver procedures
First aid procedures for pressure related accidents

Scuba Diving Equipment Requirements for Rescue Diver:
During the course of the training you use all your basic scuba gear – (Scuba mask, Fins, Buoyancy Control Device (BCD), Weight-belt and Regulator) including a dive computer, mostly provided by the dive shop conducting the course included in the price. Other than the normal gear, a Dive Knife and Signaling Device are needed during the training.

Rescue diver training usually takes 3 days and includes theoretical study from a manual provided as well as practical exercises in the form of dive accident scenarios performed in either confined waters (swimming pools) or sometimes shallow open water. Rescue diver is the last of the recreational course and the next level in diving is more for professional pursuits. We definitely feel that Rescue level is a must for all divers as it’s always better to Be Prepared but Hope for the Best!

*Photo Credits: photos by Daniel, Daniel Kwok, SWBatzer and Travis S. on flickr