What is scuba diving? What to know before you start

The strangest thing about scuba diving isn’t actually the depth. The first time you go under, your brain spends a few minutes trying to make sense of one thing: you’re underwater, but you can breathe normally.

Breathing from a regulator can feel a bit odd at first. The kit can feel heavy, and being inside a mask is a sensation you’re just not used to. After a few minutes, though, most of that fades into the background. Then you start looking around. That’s a big part of what makes scuba diving so interesting.

But there are a few important things you should know before you start. Scuba diving is a little more than strapping a tank to your back and getting in the sea.

What is scuba diving?

Scuba diving is a type of diving where you carry the breathing system you’ll use underwater with you. That’s where the word SCUBA comes from: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

The tank on your back holds compressed air. The regulator brings that air down to a level you can breathe. The buoyancy jacket, known as a BCD, lets you sink, rise and stay as balanced as possible underwater. Add a mask, fins, a weight system and a dive computer, and you’ve got the full set-up.

It all looks a bit complicated the first time you see it. But during training you’re not trying to learn everything at once. As you get to know each piece of kit, the whole system becomes pretty easy to understand.

Is scuba diving the same as freediving?

No.

In freediving, you go down on a single breath taken at the surface and then come back up. In scuba diving, you keep breathing from the air supply you carry with you. That’s why you can stay underwater for much longer.

But don’t assume that having a tank means you can stay down as long as you like. Your air consumption changes as you go deeper. And it isn’t only the air left in your tank that decides how long a dive lasts; your dive profile does too. In short, the two sports happen in the same place, but they work in very different ways.

Do you need a certification for your first dive?

If you only want to give scuba diving a try, usually not. Many dive centres run beginner programmes known as a try dive or discovery dive. You do a short dive with an instructor in a controlled area.

If you want to dive regularly, though, you’ll need training. PADI’s Open Water Diver course is one of these entry-level programmes. There are other training systems too, such as SSI and CMAS.

For me, what matters more than the agency is the dive centre and the instructor. On your first experience, having someone next to you who stays calm, doesn’t rush you and actually explains what they’re doing can make far more difference than the logo on your certification card.

What’s your first dive like?

Your first dive probably won’t involve jumping off the side of a boat and dropping straight to 15 metres.

First, you get to know the equipment.

You learn how to breathe from the regulator and how to use the mask, fins and BCD. Then you get used to the water in a shallow or controlled area.

For me, the most interesting feeling in those first minutes is breathing. Your head is underwater, yet you keep on breathing. It can take your body a little while to get used to that.

At some point you stop fiddling with the kit and start looking at the fish and everything around you, and that’s when it all changes. Besides, the point of a first dive isn’t to set a depth record.

Can you feel comfortable underwater? That’s the real question.

Do you need to be able to swim?

You don’t have to be a strong swimmer. But you do need to be at ease in the water. Some beginner certification courses ask you to swim a set distance and stay afloat for a while. That’s not about getting you ready for a swimming race.

If you panic in the sea when your feet can’t touch the bottom, scuba diving isn’t going to feel very relaxed at first either. It makes much more sense to get comfortable in the water first and then move on to diving.

You’ll learn about ear pressure on your first dive

Within the first few metres you’ll probably feel pressure in your ears. It’s like your ears blocking when a plane comes in to land, but the change can feel quicker. That’s why equalising is one of the skills you learn in diving.

There’s a simple rule here:

If it hurts, you don’t keep going down.

You stop, you try to equalise, and you don’t go any deeper until the problem is sorted. Rushing doesn’t get you very far in diving anyway.

Do you hold your breath when scuba diving?

No.

In fact, one of the most basic rules you learn in scuba diving is to breathe continuously and normally. Because the pressure around you changes as your depth changes, holding your breath can be risky.

So the “hold my breath and head down” approach you might know from freediving goes completely out of the window here. You need to breathe calmly and without pausing. It’s also perfectly normal to breathe a bit fast on your first few dives because of the excitement.

How long does a tank last?

It isn’t really right to give a neat answer like “a tank lasts 45 minutes”. Air consumption varies from person to person. Depth, current, physical effort, nerves and the way you breathe all affect how long it lasts.

Someone on their first dive will usually get through their air faster than an experienced diver. They’re a bit tense, they move less efficiently and they’re trying to keep an eye on everything around them.

As you learn to move more calmly over time, your air consumption usually drops too. And during a dive, the air left in the tank is checked constantly anyway.

Going deeper doesn’t mean a better dive

Beginners sometimes get this idea into their heads:

If 10 metres is good, 20 metres must be better.

It isn’t.

Sometimes a dive at 6–7 metres can be lovelier than another dive much deeper down. If the visibility is good, there’s plenty of marine life and you feel comfortable, depth hardly matters.

When you’re starting out, the most useful thing is to work on your buoyancy control and breathing rather than focusing on depth. The maximum training depth at PADI Open Water Diver level is around 18 metres. But that doesn’t mean you need to reach that figure on your first few dives.

So how deep are the dive sites in Turkey? Of the 289 sites on the Advenway dive map, 186 have a recorded maximum depth, and this is how they break down:

Of these, 47 have a maximum depth of 18 metres or less, which keeps them within the limit of an entry-level certification. That doesn’t mean the rest are closed to beginners: a dive is planned around your limit, not the deepest point of the site. You can check depths site by site on the dive map and in the list of dive sites, and for regional guides, have a look at our articles on Kaş, Bodrum and Fethiye.

You don’t need to buy a full set of scuba gear

There’s no need to go shopping for kit when you’re starting out. Most equipment can be hired at dive centres or comes included in the training package.

The basic equipment you’ll be using:

If you decide you really love diving, you can start buying your own gear. Kit that has to fit your face properly, like a mask, is usually a good place to start. Buying a full set before your first try dive, on the other hand, doesn’t make much sense.

Is scuba diving very tiring?

Most recreational diving isn’t an activity that demands constant high effort. Once you learn to move properly underwater, you actually glide along quite calmly.

But getting in and out of the water can be as tiring as the dive itself. Walking in from the shore with kit on your back, dealing with a current or climbing out onto a rocking boat can change the physical side of things.

So don’t think of diving as “just swimming”. When conditions get worse, it can become seriously hard work.

Scuba diving and your health

One of the things that sets scuba diving apart from so many other sports is pressure. From your ears to your lungs, your body is working in a very different environment.

That’s why you may be asked to fill in a medical questionnaire before dive training. Some heart, lung, ear or sinus problems may need to be assessed by a doctor.

The “I’m only going down a few metres anyway” attitude doesn’t really hold up here. If you have any doubts about your health before you start diving, the safest thing to do is to talk to a doctor who knows about diving medicine.

Where you do your first dive really matters

Where you do your first dive can change the whole experience. A dive in a calm bay with good visibility is not the same as one in an area with strong currents and poor visibility.

If it’s your first time, look for a site that is, as far as possible:

• calm,
• easy to get in and out of,
• clear, with good visibility,
• suitable for beginners.

You’ll enjoy it far more. That’s why the “best dive site” in Turkey and the “best site for a first dive” don’t have to be the same place.

What if I panic underwater?

It can happen.

Some people feel comfortable from the very first second. Others tense up far more than they expected when they put the mask on and dip their face in the water. That doesn’t mean you can’t dive.

Sometimes just breathing from the regulator in shallow water for a few minutes makes a huge difference. This is where a good instructor really shows. Rather than pushing you to go down, they should give you time to get used to it. You’re not proving anything to anyone on your first dive. If you feel uncomfortable, you can stop.

Is it expensive to start scuba diving?

If you only want to try it, you don’t need to spend much on equipment. On try dives, the kit is usually provided by the dive centre.

The real cost shows up once you start diving regularly. Your own mask, fins, dive computer, wetsuit, BCD and regulator: it all adds up, and the budget can grow quickly.

Then there’s the travel. Once you start diving in Kaş, Bodrum or other countries, the travel side of the sport can end up costing even more than the kit. So dive a few times first. If you really want to carry on, it makes more sense to build up your kit later.

Keep this in mind before you start

If you’re going scuba diving for the first time, you don’t need to memorise loads of technical detail. For now, it’s enough to know a few things:

• You don’t have to be a strong swimmer, but you should be comfortable in the water.
• The aim of your first dive isn’t to go as deep as possible.
• If your ears hurt, you don’t keep descending.
• You don’t hold your breath when scuba diving.
• You don’t have to buy your own kit on day one.
• If you have any doubts about your health, get checked beforehand.
• A good instructor makes a big difference to how your first experience goes.

You’ll pick up the rest during training anyway.

Is scuba diving worth trying?

If you get on well with the sea, I think it’s one of those sports worth trying at least once. It’s not the same experience as swimming. A few metres below a spot you’ve passed over in a boat or looked at from the shore, you can find a completely different environment.

For the first few minutes, you’re thinking about the kit.

Then your breathing.

After a while you stop thinking about all that and start looking around. That’s probably exactly where scuba diving really begins.

Sources

• PADI — Scuba Certification FAQ: entry-level training, the diver medical questionnaire and the depth range for new divers.
• PADI — Open Water Diver: how the course is structured, with theory, pool and open-water dives.
• Divers Alert Network — Health Status: pre-dive medical assessment and the diver medical questionnaire.
• Divers Alert Network — Fitness to Dive: how physical fitness and conditions affect dive safety.

Note: This article is not a substitute for dive training. Scuba diving techniques and safety procedures must be learned with a qualified instructor.