Scuba Diving in Goa

Just like it is with all divers, the individual health of the person must be taken into account before determining whether scuba diving is a safe option for that individual or not.

 An asthma patient may be at a higher risk of injuries but that can also be the case with any other individual who has a relatively poor physical shape. In case your health is good overall and stress is not a major trigger for you, diving can be an activity that you can enjoy without any fear.

Here’s a list of injuries or sickness that you may incur after a scuba diving experience. These temporary sickness feelings are very normal and will gradually stop.

However, if you face trouble for long, it is best advisable to consult a doctor.

• High pressure
• Impaired thinking or drowsiness
• Unconsciousness
• Panic
• Loss of balance and disorientation
• Bites and stings from various marine life
• Sunburn and heat disorders
• Cuts and bruises
• Motion sickness
• Pain in the ears

The pain in the ears is a normal sickness associated with diving. This happens because in normal situations, the air inside your ear is at the same pressure as the air outside your ear. But when you dive, the water outside causes excess pressure inside your ears that causes the eardrum to expand like a spring.

This is exactly why your ears hurt! So when your ears hurt after diving in a pool or the sea, don’t panic. It gets back to normal after the pressure inside and outside the ears is equal.

While we all understand certain rules of scuba diving, it is also important to know what shouldn't be done during and after a scuba diving experience.

Here is a list of no-to do- things you can make a note of:

Scuba Diving Don’ts

• Never drink and dive
• Never eat a big meal before diving
• Never dive immediately after eating. Wait for at least two hours after eating before you start scuba diving
• Never dive outside of your comfort level or your limits
• Never dive with broken equipment and gear
• Never dive alone
• Never hold your breath

There are a number of scuba diving institutes that train you in scuba diving and offer a wide variety of SSI and PADI certification courses. Right from beginners level to expert level, these institutes have courses for everyone.

Here few types of courses:

• PADI Open Water Diving Course - 4 days
• PADI Advanced Diver - 2 days
• PADI Rescue Diver - 4 days
• PADI Divemaster - 7 days

Yes, there are several certifications available for scuba diving enthusiasts. Anybody and everybody who wishes to be a certified diver can apply, get trained and achieve this certificate.

PADI is one renowned certification that allows you to dive as a certified diver throughout India. It offers many certifications in Goa.

Snorkeling is a swimming activity with a snorkel. Here, a mask and a tube is required that helps you to breath through your mouth when floating underwater yet near the surface of the water. In this activity, the swimmer’s entire body is under water.

The diver's nose and eyes are covered by a diving mask and the diver cannot breathe in through the nose, except when wearing a full face diving mask. The diver adapts to inhaling from a regulator's mouthpiece.

Scuba diving activity lets you go deep inside the water to examine the bed of the sea or a lake. Here, you have to wear a tight fitted diving suit and breathe through an oxygen tank. Head & nose of the diver are underwater.

Following are a few reputable scuba diving centres in Goa. They train and provide you with a scuba diving certificate that make you a certified diver.

• Dive Goa
• Atlantis Watersports
• Goa Aquatics
• Barracuda Diving

There is no fixed duration required to learn scuba diving in Goa. The duration depends on how well your body adapts to the underwater situations and implements the learned technique. There are institutes that provide 2 days as well as 2 month courses.

It depends on whether you’re learning this activity just for a hobby or to pursue this field as a professional. In the second case, you have to go through different levels of training to eventually be called an expert diver.