Discovering Scuba

On Sunday, my son participated in a Discover SCUBA session at the local swimming pool. The session was held by Kanata Diving Supply and we learned about it through a contact at Scouts. Turns out one of the Scouters is a SCUBA diver and lifetime client of Kanata Diving Supply.

The idea behind the Discover SCUBA session is to introduce individuals to the sport, explain the certification process and allow participants to use the equipment in the safety of a pool -- to test the waters, so to speak.

My son has expressed an interest in SCUBA diving for quite some time. In fact, his goal is to become a marine biologist and, as I found out on Sunday, he needs to be a certified diver to meet the program's entrance requirements. One of the owners of Kanata Diving Supply explained that if the kids got interested early on, they could continue training and become certified dive instructors -- this, she suggested, would be a great way to earn money for college or university. Kanata Diving Supply helps their students find jobs locally or at tropical resorts if that happens to be of interest. Apparently, female dive instructors are in short supply and in high demand - particularly in the Caribbean. Female divers take note.


The session began with an orientation to the equipment -- tank, regulator, buoyancy compensator, pressure gauge, depth indicator, weight belt, fins and mask. The instructor explained the purpose of each piece of equipment and how it works. He explained some of the math and science behind SCUBA diving including dive tables, Archimedes' Principle and Boyle's Law. The most important rule of SCUBA diving? NEVER hold your breath! It's no surprise that children can't participate in the program until they are at least 12 years old. Can you imagine teaching a 10-year old the chemistry and physics associated with diving? Me neither.

After some poolside instruction, the kids put on their fins, masks and weight belts and shuffled over to the shallow end. Once in the pool, they put on the equipment and the instructor came around to review the use of the regulator, buoyancy compensator and pressure gauge. Before putting on their masks, they learned about nature's defogger (saliva) and how to break the seal on their mask without filling it with water. Before submerging, the kids knelt in the water and breathed through their regulator to become familiar with the sound. Once they got comfortable, each child was instructed to lie on his belly on the bottom of the pool. The instructors helped the children adjust their buoyancy compensator until they reached neutral buoyancy which the instructor claimed was the "coolest" part of SCUBA diving.

Once they were comfortable (if they reached that point), the kids paired up with one of the instructors and swam to the deep end of the pool. They stayed submerged there for about 3 minutes swimming the width of the pool before returning to the shallow end.

What an incredible opportunity! We weren't even in the car before he started asking to enroll in the Open Water Diver program. Thing is he's too young to be a buddy, so ideally he should register with two adults. Not that dive buddies are hard to find (Kanata Diving Supply will hook you up with another diver in your area) it's just more convenient to take the course with someone who shares your same level of commitment and interest. Once he turns 15, he's allowed to accompany another diver as a buddy.

We'll have to see. Since it's an entrance requirement for the program he is interested in, it provides a compelling reason for us to comply with his request. Even if he gets his certification and then changes his career path, I can't help but think that it would be a great opportunity to build confidence and acquire new skills and knowledge.