There are many wonderful things about scuba diving such as the oceans, the marine life, the exploration, the weightlessness, and the education. However, there is an incredible part of scuba diving and being a diver that is often overlooked; the amazing, hilarious, experienced and openhearted diving community. Scuba is an activity and experience that brings people together from all over the world, from all walks of life, for one love of the underwater world.
Throughout the Open Water course and upon passing, new divers are welcomed into the diving community as a member of a likeminded secret society that have the passion and ability to breath underwater. Diving as an incredible experience to share with friends, but it is also a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Once the boat leaves for the dive site, everyone is quite literally ‘on the same boat’! There’s always a community atmosphere on board where everyone is happy to get to know each other and lend a helping hand. By the time you’ve shared a cup of tea and gone through your equipment and buddy checks, there will be a bond of familiarity and trust within the group whereby everyone is comfortable together and excited to get in the water! This is also beneficial to overall safety as all divers rely on their buddies and diving group should anything go wrong.
It’s true that there are no better experiences than shared experiences. Seeing a turtle is great, but what’s better is being able to see the mutual wonder in other dives eyes, to relive that experience by talking about it after the dive, and to remember not only the dive site and the marine life, but also the friends you met and spent the day with underwater. Besides, diving is an indescribable experience that can only truly be understood by other divers. As much as we try to explain a dive to non-divers, they will never understand it in the same way as someone who was there or has similar diving experiences. You may also experience this when describing an incredibly cool fish to a non-diver who thinks it’s ‘just a fish’… IT’S A TRIGGER FISH, AND IT’S INCREDIBLY COOL AND EXCITING!
Collectively, divers tend to be exceptionally relaxed and open minded individuals. It aids to be relaxed and calm when diving to avoid potential anxiety, but also to increase buoyancy control and reduce air consumption. Breathing should be deep, slow, and controlled, which helps calm both the mind and body and allows you to better relax and enjoy the dive. Experiencing the underwater world is undeniably eye opening, and will often change many first time divers’ perspectives on our world and their place in it. Seeing the ocean environment first hand and discovering its beauty also leads divers to think more critically towards their environment at large and their impact towards it. Overall, this means the majority of divers you’ll meet both on land and at sea will be pleasant, welcoming, warm hearted people who care about the environment and its inhabitants, and who are happy to share their stories and dives with likeminded people.
So welcome to the scuba society! We hope you’re ready to make some memories with lots of new buddies!
