Your First Scuba Dive: How It Works and What to Know Before You Go
You're heading to the sea and want to try scuba diving at least once. You have no certification and no experience, and you're not sure where to start. Do you need a long course first? Will you be OK underwater? Below is how a first dive goes, plus a few first time scuba diving tips to know before you go.
You don't need a certification or any training at home for your first scuba dive. It's called a try dive, and PADI's name for it is Discover Scuba Diving. Your instructor gives you a short briefing on how the scuba gear works, you learn to breathe underwater in a pool, and then you dive in the sea together. The whole thing takes two to three hours, and on a try dive you go no deeper than 12 meters 2.
What happens on a Discover Scuba Diving try dive?
Step by step: a medical form, a briefing on land, the pool, and only then the sea.
First you fill in a short medical questionnaire. More on that below. Then your instructor shows you the gear. Your air comes from the tank on your back, and you breathe through a mouthpiece on a hose. Divers call it a regulator. The tank is attached to a vest: you add a little air to the vest to go up and let some out to go down. Your instructor also shows you the hand signals for "I'm OK" and "something's wrong".
In the pool you breathe underwater for the first time, in calm, clear water with nothing to distract you. There are two things you have to get the hang of: breathing through the regulator and using the vest 1. Before the sea, your instructor shows you a couple more easy skills. One is clearing water out of your mask if some gets in. The other is finding your regulator if it falls out of your mouth.
Once it all works in the pool, you head out to the coral reef. Usually you walk in right from the shore, and sometimes you go out by boat. Your instructor stays right next to you for the whole dive.
What does a beginner need to know before the first dive?
Almost nothing. You don't have to study any theory in advance: it's all explained on the day. You don't have to be a strong swimmer either. Under the rules of PADI, the most widely used dive training system in the world, you just need to be comfortable in the water and able to stay afloat 1.
If you're not much of a swimmer or the water makes you a bit nervous, tell your instructor before you start. Then they won't rush you through the parts that take getting used to.
How old do you have to be to scuba dive?
At least 10, and there's no upper age limit for Discover Scuba Diving 1. For kids it all goes in the same order: the form, the pool, then the sea with an instructor. A parent signs the medical form for their child 4.
Can you scuba dive with a health condition?
It's your doctor's call. Before the dive, everyone fills in the standard PADI medical questionnaire. It asks about your heart, your lungs and breathing, your ears and sinuses, recent surgery, fainting and migraines. It also asks if you're over 45. If you answer no to everything, you can dive. If you answer yes to anything, the form shows if you need a note from a doctor saying you're fit to dive 4. Pregnant? The form says not to dive 4.
It's easier to sort this out at home. You can download the questionnaire from the PADI website and, if any of it applies to you, show it to your doctor before the trip 4. If you need a doctor's note and don't have one, you won't be able to dive that day. And if you have a cold or feel unwell on the day, move the dive to another day. The questionnaire itself says so 4.
Is scuba diving for the first time dangerous?
Discover Scuba Diving is made for people who have never dived. You stay shallow, your instructor is right there, and you try everything you'll need in the sea in the pool first. Our gear at Deluna is inspected and serviced regularly to PADI standards.
There are two rules to remember, and your instructor will repeat them more than once. Rule one: keep breathing and never hold your breath. PADI calls it the number one rule of scuba diving 3. As you come up toward the surface, the air in your lungs expands, and it needs to flow out easily.
Rule two is about your ears. As you go down, the water presses on your ears, and you need to equalize: pinch your nose and blow gently against it, mouth closed. PADI's rule is to do it often, before it starts to hurt 3. If they won't clear, signal your instructor. You'll go up a little and try again.
Can you dive right before your flight?
The main thing: don't book your dive for the day you fly home or to another island. After a single dive, wait at least 12 hours before you fly 5. That's the advice from DAN, an international organization that works on divers' health and safety. The best time to dive is early in your trip. If you love it, you'll still have time to keep learning. For the best months to go, see our article When to Dive the Philippines: Weather and Water by Month.
Liked it? How to get your dive certification
You can get certified. Discover Scuba Diving is part of the Open Water Diver course. That's the first course that lets you dive without an instructor, with a buddy, down to 18 meters 2. We explain how it works in How to Get Your Dive Certification and Where It's Valid. Without that course you can't dive on your own, even if your try dive went perfectly 2.
Your try dive document shows you've already done the first part of the course. If you then do your Open Water Diver course with us, we count the try dive toward it. At Deluna the Open Water Diver course takes three to five days and costs $460.
How to get ready for your first scuba dive
If you're heading to Puerto Galera and want to try scuba diving, getting ready takes one evening at home. Download the medical questionnaire and answer the questions. If it says you need a doctor's note, go see your doctor. Plan the dive for the first days of your trip, and not for the day you fly out. Then message us with the day that works for you. The gear briefing, the pool and the reef all happen here, with your instructor.
