• Introduction
• What do I need to learn, and how do I learn it?
• What's with all that gear?
• What are the risks?

Scuba diving involves some inherent risks, and because of these risks it requires special training. In fact, ethical dive shops will not sell or rent equipment to someone who does not hold a certification from a recognized acency. When you arrive at a dive operator's shop to go on a dive, they will require you to show your certification card and, occasionally, a log showing how many dives you have completed.

So, how do you get this certification? Most dive operations also provide instruction, using a curriculum developed by one of three major certification agencies: The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), The National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI), or Scuba Schools International. For a fee of around $200 US to $350 US, depending on location and whether or not your certification dives are included, you will get class room and pool training resulting in your certification. The certification can be used anywhere in the world, and never expires, although it's recommended that you take a short "refresher" course if it's been more than six months since your last dive.

A typical certification course consists of several classroom session in which you learn the basic physics and physiology of diving. You will learn how the changing water pressure as your depth changes affects the air spaces in your body and the air you breath through the regulator. You will also learn how the increased pressure and the breathing of compressed air affects your body. It sounds difficult, but it's not so bad. You'll need basic math skills and the ability to read tables.

After the classroom knowledge, you'll move into the pool, where you will practice basic skills. These include setting up and breaking down the gear, breathing through a regulator, clearing your mask underwater, and basic buoyancy skills. There are a lot of skills to practice and learn, so you will probably have multiple pool sessions to try them out.

Once you've demonstrated to your instructor that you have a grasp of the basics in the pool, you will schedule your certification dives. Usually, this is four or five dives; PADI requires four dives plus and optional freediving experience (snorkeling). If you live in a temperate climate, you may want to consider training with a dive operator that will let you do your certification dives as "referral dives". This allows you to do all your classroom and pool time in your home area, but do your certification dives in a more exotic (and comfortable) location, such as the Caribbean. Many dive operators participate in this "Universal Referral" program.

DivingObsession.com offers an extensive directory of dive operators, so you can find a dive operator in your area.