What should a scuba diving course teach you?
If you love water and life underwater, you should consider a scubadiving course. It could open up new horizons. Furthermore, you would be able toenjoy the above in any part of the world featuring a scuba diving centre.
You'll get your swimming skills tested beforehand. Also, you should feelprepared to step out of your comfort zone for certain exercises.
To give some honest and personal answers to the question featured in thetitle, I will have to start thinking back on my two days spent training.
It should give you a sense of safety underwater. Scuba diving is not the most dangerous of sports, but it can still beconsidered extreme [for the simplest of all reasons: as far as we know, humans can’tbreathe underwater]. There are, of course, risks. Being able to tackle them andfeel secure and relaxed underwater comes with time. Two or three days are notnearly enough to instil the safety procedures in your diving behaviour, butthey’re a solid start.
It should give you a sense of respect for water andlife underwater. From the perspective of a person who loves water sports,water is not an environment to be treated lightly. At the end of the day,nature is still nature. Part of its beauty resides in its unpredictability, beit currents, surf, visibility, poisonous animals and plants. Water is also avery vulnerable environment, so we should protect it. We would be able to enjoyit longer this way and also allow others to do that.
It should convince you that scubadiving is FUN and should only be practised if it feels this way. In the beginning, when simply doing a test dive, you are probably notaware of the dangers and risks and can relax and enjoy your experience. As thetalk of risks and dangers reaches your ears, your mind starts to wander. It’s more difficult to train correctly when you know what could happenshould you fail. Laughter should be an important partof a diving course; tears and frowns are out ofplace.
When scuba diving starts being anything else than fun, you shoulddiscontinue its practice. In the end, some people learn faster, others areslower. The most important thing is keeping your passion for water alive andnot trading it for anything else. Even if you seem to lose it, you will regainit if it’s strong.
P.S. For the record, I did cry during the course(several times) and I did fight with my instructor (several times), but ithelped me explore so many wonderful places after.
