PADI Open Water Diver Swimming Test

Open Water Swimming Test

One part of mastering your diving skills requires passing an open water swimming test. Some might be intimidated with the idea of taking the open water swimming test but the good news is, it is actually very easy to do so. Not all divers are actually very good swimmers but it always helps to be one as this may prove to be beneficial in the long run.

Open Water Swimming Test Details

With a couple of techniques and some research at hand, one will come to realize that passing the open water swimming test is a fairly easy task. The test consists of two parts and is an important part in obtaining your open water certification. It does not matter which agency you certify with, the open water swimming test is a requirement for every diver.

Open Water Swimming Test Part 1

The first part of the open water swimming test is the 10 minute float or tread in deep water. This may be fairly easy for some especially for those who naturally float in water. For these people, this part of the test is like a walk in the park. When floating in deep water, the most important thing to do is to relax your whole body and let the water guide you through the process. Never panic during this activity as it will only waste your much needed energy. Gently treading in the water will help you relax and feel more comfortable during the test.

Open Water Swimming Test Part 2

For the next part, the trainee will have to choose between the 200 meter/yard continuous surface swim or the 300 meter/yard swim with mask, fins, and snorkel. The not-so-good swimmer might find this part of the test somewhat difficult. It is a continuous, no time limit swim but the distance can be very deceiving. The best way to complete this task it to take your time in accomplishing the required distance. Spending too much energy will give the average swimmer a hard time passing the test. Once again, find the right flow or speed to maintain. Choosing the 300 meter/yard swim with mask, fins, and snorkel is also a good alternative for weak swimmers. It is rarely mentioned by trainers but you can definitely choose that option when taking the open water swimming test.

Some divers breeze through the open water swimming test during certification and some also struggle. But with the proper mindset, determination and concentration, this is a task anyone will be able to complete.

Scuba Pickup Lines

World’s Best Pickup Lines for Scuba Divers

If you’re a scuba diver looking for love, then try out these pickup lines on that delicious diver that caught your eye (behind the scuba mask)!

1. Do you believe in love at first sight or shall I swim back and forth a few more times?

2. I’m a Bar Jack and I want to make a Damsel Grunt with my Blue Tang — can you Rock, Beauty?

3. I’m looking for a French Angel with large gills, and I think I’ve found her — are you French?

4. Do you have change for the phone? My mother told me to call home when I met the girl of my dreams.

5. I can’t find my pet crab – can you help me find him? I think he went down to the deserted end of the beach.

6. You must be Jamaican, because Jamaica me crazy.

7. I like to maintain my own equipment — you look like someone I’d like to “tinker” around with.

8. I’m new at the resort — could you give me directions to your room?

9. I think there’s something wrong with my regulator. Could you hold the first stage while I check out the second stage?

10. Please excuse my panting – I am out of air, because you take my breath away.

11. Excuse me, I’m lost. May I go home with you?

12. Is the sun in your eyes, or did you just smile at me?

Rules of Scuba Diving

The “Unofficial” Rules of Scuba Diving

* Don’t take up diving to get a suntan.

* People who look good with a mask on are usually ugly without one.

* Inverse Law of Patches: A diver’s ability is inversely proportional to the number of patches they wear.

* Diving unprotected with a stranger is like having unprotected sex with a stranger.

* Never clear a snorkel on a Mexican Federale.

* Anyone who says they have never been afraid while diving hasn’t been diving or is a bad liar.

* Never use a sun intensifier lotion within 30 miles of the Equator.

* People say the funniest things when you shut their air off.

* Never have sex underwater above a coral reef.  Read here about how to have sex underwater!

* Dry suits and beer do not mix.

* Buddies are never where you need them to be.

* You WILL run out of film before the Whale Shark swims by.

* 60 minute camcorder batteries aren’t.

10 Signs You Have Been Scuba Diving Too Much

10 Signs You Have Been Scuba Diving Too Much

1. You clear your ears prior to going down in an elevator.
2. You have so many dives, you have to put them in scientific notation.
3. You look back at your logbooks and realize you’ve spent more time at decompression than at college.
4. Your skin is permanently wrinkled.
5. Your dive log is available on Amazon.com.
6. You have a name for the moray eel at your favourite dive site and you know which rock he hides behind.
7. The office elevator goes up really quickly, and you worry about getting the bends.
8. Logging your surface intervals is easier than logging your dives, so you stop logging dives.
9. You measure your “time to fly” in months.
10. Your picture appears on fish identification charts.

You Know You’re Addicted to Scuba Diving When…

You Know You’re Addicted to Scuba Diving When…

• Every morning the sound of shaving foam (psshhhht) makes you want to go diving.
• You actually like wearing a full-length wetsuit, hood, gloves, boots, fins, mask, snorkel, buoyancy compensator, compressed air tank, scuba regulator, dive computer, a knife strapped to your inside calf, and 7 kg of lead around your waist.
• The local dive shop people recognise you – on the telephone.
• You automatically breathe out when you walk up a flight of stairs.
• You suddenly discover a fervent interest in attending scientific conferences in the Maldives, Vanuatu, the Red Sea, the Caribbean, Thailand and the Great Barrier Reef.
• The value of money is measured by how much dive gear you could buy with it.
• No-one asks for your certification card any more.
• Fresh air is starting to taste funny.
• The most comon word on your credit card bill is DIVE.
• Your house always smells of wet neoprene.
• You worry that your office elevator is ascending too quickly.
• Your dive log is available on Amazon.com.
• You’ve stopped logging your dives because it’s easier to just log your surface intervals.
• Your “time to fly” is measured in months.
• Your picture appears on fish identification tables.
• You clear your ears prior to stepping on a down escalator.
• You put your left shoe on by dropping it on the ground, standing on the toe of the shoe with your right heel, and forcing your left foot into the shoe.
• You take the Tank Visual Inspection course because you own so many tanks it’s cheaper to inspect them yourself than to give $10 per tank to the local shop.
• When your kids ask to use your snorkel in the tub.
• When your kids say, “Daddy! You haven’t gone diving for a LONG TIME!”
• You have more than one triggerfish war wounds.

Solo Diving – The Forbidden Fruit?

Forbidden Fruit? – Solo Diving

The ‘never dive alone’ ultimate rule in scuba diving has been seemingly apparent all these years. Over and over again, our diving instructors have been warning us about solo diving. Experienced divers everywhere have become so used to the buddy system that most of them never even dared to dive by themselves. Suddenly, during your open water course, you spot a diver going solo. You then ask your instructor about this and he shrugs you off acting like he didn’t hear a damn thing.

Solo Diving is no longer Taboo

What used to be a taboo in scuba diving is now a recognized practice in the sport. Solo diving is now done by many professional and experienced divers. This activity is very dangerous and must be executed with extra precision and safety. Those who venture into solo diving do so because of specific needs in their purpose the activity. A great number of solo divers are underwater photographers and videographers. Capturing the perfect underwater moment takes tremendous amounts of time and effort, thus creating the need of diving solo. Others are mostly professional instructors that have their own work-related reasons for doing the activity.

Solo Diving Considerations

Before attempting a solo dive, there are a ton of factors to be considered. The risk and demands of this activity are extreme, so it is of great importance to make sure that your reasons are valid. Diving solo for the purpose of showing off is a definite no-no. Such an extreme undertaking requires the diver to do everything by himself as there are highly specialized skill sets to be mastered if you want to survive alone in the deep waters.

Preparing for Solo Diving

The aspiring solo diver might also want to reconsider this if he/she has medical conditions that would be costly in doing the activity. Also, if you’re having second thoughts on your ability to do dive solo, completely dismiss the idea at least for the time being. Serious mental and physical preparations are very important for solo diving as well as the credibility of your confidence in your training and experience. Diving experience alone does not necessarily translate to the ability of solo diving. A diver who has done about a thousand dives still might not be suited enough for the activity.

Solo Diving Training

A thorough rationalization and continuous preparation is only the first step for the attempting solo diver. Some scuba institutions provide extensive training for expert divers needing to venture in solo diving. It is still advisable to do scuba diving with a buddy. As for some extremists, I just hope that they are fully prepared for the activity and aware of its dangers.

20 Rules for Freediving – Part 1

20 Rules for Freediving – Part 1

Freediving Rule # 1

The number one rule in freediving is to never dive alone. It is of great importance to be monitored by your partner at all times. Selecting an experienced partner is equally important as he/she must be fully capable of rescuing the diver from the required depth of at least 15 meters. A good partner also has to be trained in rescue situations needing CPR and administration of oxygen. For dives greater than 30 meters, a stand-by scuba set is a definite requirement.

Freediving Rule # 2 Read more

Maldives Recreational Diving Regulations

Maldives Scuba Diving Regulations

Before descending into the underwater world of the Maldives, it’s important to know the rules and regulations.  The following is a document emitted by the Maldivian government detailing all the regulations about scuba diving.  You can also download the unofficial translation of the document here:

Download the PDF of Maldives Recreational Diving Regulation by clicking on this link

Introduction to Maldives Scuba Diving Regulations

Almost two-third of the earth is covered by the sea. Yet, unlike the aquatic organisms that have either the capacity to obtain oxygen from the aquatic environment or the natural means to live in an aquatic world, humans do not have a natural faculty of traversing and surviving in the underwater marine environment. Hence, humans require an artificial breathing apparatus in order to venture into the underwater world. Obviously, any such system requires regulating and guidance for the convenience and safety of the user. Read more

Learn to Scuba Dive

Learn to Scuba Dive

If you’re reading this right now, then you’re probably one of the many people who are thinking of exploring the wonderful life of the underwater. Although, you are also most likely one of the many who are having second thoughts because of other factors such as hindrance with work, family and the likes. Learning how to scuba dive is actually very simple as there are a great number of institutions offering flexible packages for everyone. Whether you’re a busy executive or a laid-back university student, the diving experience is just one step away.

Scuba diving lessons

Scuba diving lessons can be classified into three types. The aspiring diver must first consider his/her options based on the amount of time and effort he/she is willing to allocate in learning the activity. Just like any other past-time or hobby, one’s ability to dive will depend on determination and eagerness to master the skill.

Introductory Scuba Course

One type of diving lesson is the introductory scuba course. It is usually a half-day diving session closely facilitated by a professional and can be done on a swimming pool or on a shallow part of the ocean often close to the beach shore. The introductory course aims to educate the student on the basics in diving such as proper usage of equipment as well as the do’s and don’ts of the exercise. Once the disciple comes to grasp these much needed information and practice, then he/she is probably ready for the intermediate open water course. As its name suggests, this particular drill deals more on exploring the deeper waters. This diving course is usually a shortened version of the full open water course, and is specifically designed for people who are lacking time for the full course because of other priorities.

PADI Open Water Diver

The most common and complete scuba diving course is the full open water course. Its name may differ in various institutions but what makes it distinct is that only with this specific course can one obtain a diving certification. Lasting for three days or more, the full open water course is made for those who are serious in pursuing scuba diving regularly whether as a sport or a recreational activity. Once a student graduates from this program, he/she becomes a certified diver and can now pursue further training and practice.

Learning to scuba dive is as easy as 123. There are countless options out there when it comes to time and budget. Many institutions are offering weekend packages for the busy diver so there is no excuse in not giving scuba diving a try.

Viktor Troicki and Girlfriend Suncica Travica on Holiday in the Maldives

Popular Serbian tennis player Viktor Troicki and girlfriend Suncica Travica are enjoying their holidays in the Maldives…

Viktor Troicki, the popular Serbian tennis player, is currently relaxing on the paradaisical beaches of the Maldives with his girlfriend Suncica Travica, a beautiful, equally successful model from the Fox fashion agency.

Victor Troicki and Suncica Travica

Victor Troicki and Suncica Travica, who have been going out for over a year and a half, traveled to the Maldives on holiday last week, where they met up with Janko Tipsarevic and his fiancée Biljana Sesevic, a TV host.

“The two couples met accidentally in the Maldives before Janko and Biljana’s departure. They were all very happy and surprised because they met. They spent a day together and in the evening went for dinner. They had a good reason to celebrate since Biljana and Janko informed Suncica and Viktor about the forthcoming wedding and engagement which took place in Maldives several days before,” says a source close to the couple.

Victor Troicki and Suncica Travica in the Maldives

Several months ago, Suncica told Blic, a Serbian entertainment daily, that she and Viktor will spend November holidaying in an exotic locale, which has turned out to be the Maldives!

“Due to Viktor’s numerous obligations, Viktor and I will not go on vacation in summer. We plan to go to some exotic place in November. Last year we were in Egypt and this year we plan to go to some romantic place,” said Suncica.

By the end of the season, Viktor will play an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic in Banjaluka.

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