Since I'll be moving to the Bahamas next year, I've been thinking of getting SCUBA certified while there. I've always been interested, but one thing has often held me back. How good of a swimmer do you need to be?

I can swim, but I'm not a great swimmer. It would seem to me that underwater things would be so much different it wouldn't matter, but maybe there are certain requirements to be certified?

You just need to be able to float.

Well, actually, I guess you won't be wearing a wetsuit with in that warm Caribbean water, so you'll have to kick around a bit. But keep in mind you'll be wearing giant fins. You'll be fine.

BTW, is this an admission that you can't swim?

I can get in the water and propel myself about a bit. I think it is something like swimming. Fortunately, I'll have two years in Nassau to perfect my form.

So, you can't swim and you're afraid of raccoons. Don't tell the raccoons, they may launch a nautical attack while you're scuba diving!

I think you're fine with the propelling yourself around bit. It seems the hardest part for non swimmers is that they frequently freak out about putting their head under water- kind of a necessity for scuba. So the question is: is it that you can't swim or are you afraid of the water? Its rhetorical, we don't need to know more of your phobias, but think about it.

Either way Nassau should be a great place to perfect swimming and scuba. I just don't understand how people make it to adulthood without really being able to swim. Swimming is the bestest!

It is true that having a pair of fin hanging off your feet means it is easier to propel yourself. I see a few issues here.

From my experience dive instructors require that their students are able to swim a certain distance before they will teach them about scuba. It sort of makes sense because if you happen to have been in a situation where you have to swim on the surface to get back to your boat and / or had to shed all you gear then it is nice to be able to swim. Even if you have no intention of doing anything like wreck or cave diving (where gear shedding is more common), once you have that first certificate - instructors tend not to ask if you can actually swim.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that your first scuba course is the platform from which you can go on to do other courses. If something as basic as the ability to swim is missing here then it is probably not a good idea to go into deep water - with or without devices.

In my humble opinion it is worth spending a few weeks improving yur swimminf before you go for the scuba course. More than once I have gotten myself lost underwater, only to surface and just be able to make out the boat on the horizon. In that situation there is buckleys that anyone on the boat will be able to see you so you gotta ba able to pedal hard!

Wait...you have to go under water for scuba? What's that thing where the half naked women box each other? That's what I wanted to do...

I can swim. I'm just not a great swimmer. I guess I'll have plenty of time to practice.

Mim -- thanks for the advice. By the way, I have no idea what "buckleys" means. Crazy Australians...

quote:

Originally posted by skobb:
Wait...you have to go under water for scuba? What's that thing where the half naked women box each other? That's what I wanted to do...

You're thinking of Tennis


Instructors are supposed to make sure you can swim before letting you go through the certification course. That's probably not going to be an issue for you. The only problem you might have is not being completely comfortable in the water like Callilucy said. Doggy paddling around a pool on vacation is a lot different then taking your mask off 20 feet under water and having to put it back on and clear it without freaking out and bolting for the surface. Just make sure you find an instructor that will let you take some extra time in the pool to practice the basic skills.

When I got certified you had to be able to swim 200 meters without stopping. There was no time limit, but you had to keep going. It is really just a test to see that you are relatively comfortable in the open water.

When you're diving and something goes wrong, it won't be because you can't swim, and being able to swim won't save you. You'll have a BCD on, so you can just float until the boat comes to get you. Unless of course the boat doesn't come. Then you're like a floating lunch box for all the big fishies with sharp teeth.

In theory, I think PADI requires you to swim 500 meters in open water. In practice, this is the requirement that tends to be overlooked most often. Dive shops don't have much incentive to fail someone on the first day of the class, and 500 meters is notoriously hard to figure in open water. It often looks more like 100-200.

I think you might really want to take swimming lessons.

I'm sure you would be fine diving without being able to swim very well, but I've been diving lots of times where I've been miles away from the boat.

If you came up with very little air, so not much to fill your jacket you'd be on the surface having to rely on your limited swimming ability.

Or if you had to dump your gear for whatever reason, you'd be on the surface again without any help floating and the sea can get very rough.

Swimming lessons would be a good idea I would have thought

quote:

Originally posted by skobb:
By the way, I have no idea what "buckleys" means. Crazy Australians...

Buckleys = no chance



BTW - Enjoy the Bahamas - lucky bugger!!

From your Crazy Australian

Maybe you "dove in" by now, but here's my two cents:

The better swimmmer you are, the better off you are, but just bein okay is, well, okay. I think as someone else said, the bigger issue is comfort in the water. There is this moment you'll have during your first open water dive (not in a pool) when you'll suddenly realize that you're underwater and totally dependent on your equipment.

It's the moment of truth.

Either you panic and surface and you're done, or you hang onto the guide rope, breathe, and, eventually relax. If you're leery of putting your face underwater to start with, you'll never get past this moment.

Also, although you may think those big old fins make it easier to propel yourself, you use some different muscles with 'em than barefoot kicking. If you can, practice swimming in fins to build up the right muscle tone.

This thread caught my eye because I just booked a tour in Orlando for tomorrow to dive in the Epoct aquarium. All the reviews I've seen of it are raves. I think it's sort of the ultimate Disney artificial experience.

And I'll be sailing an the Bahamas (Marsh Harbour) in November -- will you be anywhere near there?

I agree - its all about comfort in the water - the more comfortable you are the better and if this means being a good swimmer/water baby then all the better.
My Padi instructor made me swim several 100meters as a pre-requisite to the course - 2 chinese girls couldnt make the distance and they were refunded their money and werent allowed to complete the course - in my opinion this is how it should be - safety first!

I am a total water baby and very comfortable in the water.
However on my first open water dive I could feel the panic rising within me - especially when I looked up and all I could see was the hull of the boat! However I managed to control it ok - (just!), because I am so comfortable in the water.

Its a good idea to practise going under in the pool first - try and make sure they have a 4 meter deep pool to practise in so you can master equalising and buoyancy skills. Also another good way to start is just to wade in off the beach with the gear on and go under - that way if you dont like it you can just stand up. It feels veery unnatural to be breathing underwater at first. And you can also practise this with snorkelling and use the fins to get used to the leg action going.

But if you master all these things then its bloody marvellous!! Goodluck - its a whole new exciting wonderful world under there!!!