I really want to take up scuba diving. Any hints or advice?

Do PADI, and the nitrox cert is worth it.

>>884874
Make sure the center you go to gives you good gear. A well fitting wet suit makes diving much more pleasurable. What part of the world are you in? I have been diving in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK (with seals!), where it is usually cold as fuck. And everyone from SSI will say PADI is shit and vice versa. They will both take a lot of money and give you little, but still worth it. Remember that experience is much more important than certificates.

And single most valuable thing I learned was balance, how to make sure you are horizontally in the water without effort. It saves you a shitton of air.

>>884882
Please for the love of god dont do what this guy says. The last thing the diving community needs is more PADI divers. Im not saying that all PADI divers are bad or anything its just that a basic open water PADI cert takes no time and produces very unaware and ill equiped divers. PADI isnt bad if you follow through with the program and take more courses but for a basic cert SDI/TDI certs are the way to go. They are a more technically inspired certification and the courses are much longer and more in depth for a basic open water cert compared to PADI. Dont be a Pay and dive instantly cuck.

>>884874
Have you done any scuba at all or do you just think you want to learn?

My best starter advice is to pay some money for a basic open water dive and actually see if you enjoy it.

My first time was in a massive aquarium full of sand tiger sharks and massive rays plus tons of other species of fish.

I wanted to experience the fish close up as my primary motive for diving but ended up loving the whole experience and going on to learn about diving itself.

Several other people who were with me on that first dive totally shit themselves - it was genuinely too much for them.

I'm not ripping on those people - far from it - but just deciding 'I wanna do scuba' with no experience at all seems daft to me.

You may love it, you may hate it.

My advice (BSAC instructor).

Most of the world will use/recognise PADI so its not always a horrible place to start (its how I started).

Do PADI open water - gives you basic training and some simple dives. Do NOT at this point think you're even close to being a 'diver'.

Do PADI Adv open water - builds on OW - do some interesting 'adventure dives' as part of it. Try and do deep and nitrox specialities here as well.

At this point - either go diving - especially if you're happy (and many are) with just doing 20-30m max in nice warm waters with fish to see.

If you want to progress then look to TDI/SDI for more technical courses or stick with PADI and go on to rescue.

PADI isnt necessarily bad - its just expensive and easy to go from 0 to hero with enough cash and time. All the divers I see that have all the gear and no idea are PADI, but I've also met some excellent PADI trained divers. The advice of picking the instructor/training school over the agency is a good one.

Im around lurking if anyone has any scuba related questions.

My advice would be to take it slowly, get as many specialties as possible and experience diving in different conditions so when you have all the equipment and go aboard you'll be confident and able to handle almost anything that comes your way. Also PADI open water is not nearly enough i'd say either train up to rescue diver level or stick by someone that is

>>884882
PADI is overpriced as fuk 90% of the places you will go
try SSI, find a solid instructor/shop
don't invest too much until you know you really enjoy it

ONE negative you can always count on with PADI - they act like if it's not PADI, it's crap.

Look, I have PADI Open Water and Advanced ratings. I have a NAUI Master Diver rating and have done training and/or certification via NAUI for deep dives, wreck dives, low visibility, navigation, and nitrox diving with some fine instructors, and worked at a University Dive Program, which gave me ratings via SSI and CMAS. I don't have a dog in this hunt, as I've been through them all and they're mostly fine but not interchangeable - there are trends.

90% of diver certification is learning how not to kill yourself being utterly stupid and forgetting when to breathe. If I only had ten minutes to teach you, I would slap you and say "pay attention. Never hold your breath, breathe normally (part of the never hold your breath rule), don't go under or inside shit (cave, wreck, or anything else), exhale as you go up (another part of the never hold your breath rule), don't panic, understand the dive tables and use them, and read the fucking book." For advanced training, I'd slap you again and say "don't pull obnoxious stunts, do ten or so more dives without being a douche, and read the fucking book again."

Do that, and you're better than most divers I've seen. Get an instructor who isn't an egomaniac trying to impress the female students or constantly trying to sell you on the latest hyperexpensive equipment and you've got the potential for some very good instruction.

Of all my time with instructors, the PADI instructors were OK, a little (but only a little) too much like used car salesmen (they gotta make a living, I know) and a little hotshot. PADI materials are good, as are NAUI. The NAUI instructors were a little more sharp on theory and knowledgeable, and I trusted a NAUI instructor to teach my daughters, if that tells you anything. PADI and NAUI are both great for technical training. The SSI and CMAS guys were by far the most into diving as a lifelong sport, Cousteau-style.

There's an old joke:
A mixed group of PADI, NAUI, and SSI instructors are on a boat with their students offshore. The boat begins to sink.
The SSI instructor says "OK, everyone, now's as good a time as any to get in our deep dive training, then we'll surface and await rescue."
The NAUI instructor says "OK, everyone, let's practice our navigation skills. Orient your compasses to the lighthouse to the NNW and stay together on the way."
The PADI instructor starts handing out forms and says "OK, everyone, sign this. For only $200, you're going to get to add a Wreck Diving Certification today!"

Kind of true in my experience, though - speaking in broad generalities, not to piss anyone off - SSI guys want to have fun with diving. They'll often be the guys you see with old, beat up gear but they're in the water a lot - lobstering, reef diving, anything for a cool experience and often on a budget. NAUI guys want the technical side and want to know everything about how things work and why. PADI guys want to collect the cards and color-coordinated, latest brand name gear.
In terms of nationality, SSI divers are a lot like the French or the Russians - cost effective. NAUI are a lot like Germans and Japanese - efficient and technical. PADI are a lot like Americans - very proud and very capitalist.

As long as you're safe and having fun, it doesn't much matter.

One thing, though - nearly all of the smug assholes happen to be PADI, though not all PADI divers are assholes.

>>886423
Not OP but thanks for the info. Joke cracked me up too.
Hey OP say hey to Cthulhu for me!

SSI best desu