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From Away.com

A Diving Primer


By Bill Belleville

Assess Your Ability
First, be honest with yourself about your skills and experience. Many sites can be evaluated by levels: novice, intermediate, or advanced. (A few adventure travel sites might even fall in the range of extreme--that is, life-risking. For now, you likely don't want to go there.)

Brainstorm on where you always wanted to go—Australia, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Thailand? Then, determine what sites and destinations fit your skill level.

Questions to Ask
From here, figure out which places also fit your budget.

Browse dive magazines for ideas, but take ads and even articles with a grain of salt--not as gospel but as suggestions that require perspective. The best things often to be had here are contact numbers and other related information.

Snorkeling Potential
If you are traveling with a non-diving Significant Other—or with kids too young to dive—you might also want to factor in the potential for snorkeling. Most dive destinations also offer snorkeling, although often not in exactly same place. (Snorkelers are frequently taken to one site, divers to another.) The key question here is: Does the destination have water that is shallow and clear enough for snorkeling?



Equipment
If you are a diver, I strongly recommend buying a good set of fins, mask, and snorkel. Then get a dive bag to carry them. Next, buy a regulator (with air pressure and depth gauge), and if you can afford it, an octopus. At the same time, purchase a BC. You'll see many models and brands, and likely will become confused. Don't be. If you buy a nationally advertised name brand, with liability standards the way they are, you can't go wrong. Some regulators, of course, will "breathe" better than others; some will even breathe "wet." Certainly, some are high maintenance; others are not. (My personal rule of thumb is to go with the regs and BC you most often see in rental shops—they have to please a lot of people, and must be very durable.)

Next buy a weight belt—but not the heavy lead weights, which create a sort of black hole in your luggage.

Wait until you are sure that you will stay "active" as a diver before buying a dive computer. By then, you'll have enough experience to make a better decision on a purchase. If you insist on having another gizmo at this stage, buy an underwater compass—you'd be surprised at how often this will come in handy. If you buy a compass, get one in a three-gauge console, with the other gauges cited here.

Pack your bag and go. When you arrive, you'll rent tanks (and be able to get multiple air fills) and have access to lead weights.

Packaged Tours or Solo?
The first few times out of the chute, I strongly recommend buying a dive travel package—a discount deal that includes air fare and lodging, maybe even a limited food plan. Generally, you are given several dives per day, including ferrying by boat, divemaster support, tanks, and weights. Often, there is a night dive option several times a week.

If you are at the intermediate level, consider a live-aboard. Once very Spartan and almost obsessive in their quest to make multiple dives per day, live-aboards are now more luxurious and appeal to divers who are less than hard-core.

Most important, if you are unsure about any printed information you receive, contact the dive shop or resort directly to have your questions answered. Many now have e-mail and Web sites.



Bill Belleville, an Away.com contributing editor, is a Florida-based writer specializing in nature and marine issues. He contributes widely to national magazines and has scripted and co-produced two PBS documentaries. River of Lakes: A Journey on Florida's St. Johns River has recently been published by University of Georgia Press.