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Recreational Scuba Diving – Issues [click here to return to previous page]

There are several recreational diving issues that are currently topics of discussion within the diving community. They include:

Training Levels

There is a certain amount of disquiet over the level of training and experience necessary to qualify as a diver. Under most entry-level programs (PADI, NAUI, PDIC and CMAS) divers can complete a certification with as few as five 'open-water' dives. Such a qualification allows a diver to rent equipment, request air fills, and dive without any higher supervision, provided they do so with a buddy.  Critics claim that five dives is too few to prepare new divers for such a level of responsibility, and that either the total should be raised or the certification qualified. Certification agencies normally answer that they advise their students to dive within the envelope of their experience and training, and to seek to extend both through properly supervised programs.

Regular vs. Leisure

Some divers see a split beginning to emerge in recreational diving between regular recreational divers, who often dive in their home communities, and leisure divers, characterized as those who dive occasionally, normally when abroad on holiday. It is sometimes observed that there is a tension between the two, and that leisure divers are often inexperienced, either under-trained or over-qualified, and sustain only a minimal empathy with the underwater world. The call is usually not that these divers be restrained from diving, but that they be encouraged to dive more regularly in their home communities so as to gain experience and support their local diving scene. However, as recreational diving has a very low accident and death rate; it is a commonly held view that current training requirements are adequate.

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Reference material for this scuba diving related informational article: wikipedia – the free online encyclopedia, scuba diving category

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