How do you actually learn to dive? Peter did a small test dive on The Wilderness Fair a few weeks ago and was immediately hooked. He wanted to try this again! He booked a course at the fair and took the course books and films home with him. The course started last Friday, and this weekend has been two intense days centred around diving. "Join" Peter on a diving course!
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ShareWhat to do if you want to learn to dive?
Peter booked the diving course with Fantasea Diving, which organises both diving courses and diving trips and also has a shop with diving equipment at St Eriksplan in Stockholm. If anyone is wondering about the price, we had to pay 2400 SEK at the Wilderness Fair, but I do not know if there are other prices in normal cases. This included course material and the first two days of the course.
To obtain a diving licence, you must also add two days of outdoor diving, which is not included in the price. In addition, you need to acquire 'personal equipment', i.e. a snorkel, cyclops and flippers.
First day of the diving course
The course started last Friday at 16:00 in the afternoon and the group gathered at Fantasea's shop at St Eriksplan. There were nine eager participants who wanted to learn to dive - ranging from a boy in the fifth grade and young people in high school to gentlemen of Peter's age.
It was an intense start! They started with theory in the room (the first chapters of the book) before going out to Tibblebadet in Täby and doing the first dive. Lots of different exercises! You have to learn to go down and up at the right pace, to signal to the supervisor with signs if you are doing well or if you have to go up, to be able to put on and take off the equipment underwater and so on and so forth ...
How did it go? It went well except that Peter had a problem with pressurisation. His ears were popping and crackling and when he got home (at half past one in the morning!) he still had his ears covered...
Second day of the diving course
Yesterday was day two of the course. The participants gathered in the middle of the day and then studied theory (and took tests) until 18:00, when it was time to go to the pool in Tibble. And now I got to come along as a photographer. Exciting!
Even more theory in the pool on how to sink at the right pace, how to signal, what to do when you have no air and God knows what else. Then it was time for the "humiliating frogman parade" or whatever they called it - when the participants on land would practice slow ascent on an exhalation...
Finally, time to put on the equipment! In pairs, everyone would help to check that the equipment was working properly. And then a frog jump into the water! After that, it became a bit boring as a photographer without an underwater camera, so to speak. Probably the participants had more fun underwater ...!
It was a late night again, but now Peter has passed the first major step towards a diving licence. Now it is "only" to complete with the outdoor dive!
Do you have a diving licence or have you ever tried diving? Would you like to try?
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Alexandra says:
Is it Padi Open Water he takes?
I have a diving licence, took it in Egypt... I have only dived in the red sea and the great barrier reaf haha. But unfortunately I haven't dived for so many years so I would have to take a refresher course before I could dive again. It is a hobby you have to maintain regularly to maintain the knowledge and many dive centres require that it was not too long ago you made your last dive to be allowed to dive with them without doing a refresher. But diving is fantastic and one day I will take up this hobby again!!!
26 March 2017 - 7:45
Helena says:
Yes, it is PADI Open Water. How nice that you also have a diving licence! Diving in Egypt must be awesome! Of course, I can understand that you have to keep up the knowledge. We'll see how it turns out for Peter, but it's exciting to try anyway! Now we are planning for a dive in Malta for him in April 🙂 .
26 March 2017 - 10:16
Kenneth Risberg says:
I have a PADI diving licence, Master Scuba Diver, but stopped diving several years ago and sold all my equipment. Have done over 220 dives both here in Sweden and abroad, mainly in Thailand.
There are wonderful experiences and memories I have had over the years of diving and many of them saved as pictures.
26 March 2017 - 8:09
Helena says:
Now I do not know why you stopped diving, but regardless, it sounds like you have good memories! Diving abroad in Asia, for example, sounds like the most appealing thing!
26 March 2017 - 10:59
Ruth in Virginia says:
It was a really intense course.
No, I have absolutely no desire to dive with all of them.
those things you have to wear. No way! But it is
fun to watch films, where others swim around among the fish.
I am a true landlubber from Dalarna. 🙂
26 March 2017 - 9:02
Helena says:
I don't want to dive either, so I'll settle for photographing Peter 😉 But I can understand that diving can be fascinating, especially in certain parts of the world!
26 March 2017 - 15:57
Ama de casa says:
So. Diving in a pool would probably be okay (even if there is not much to see there...) but in the sea there are sharks and other strange things that you do not really know if you should be afraid of or not.
I usually go snorkelling with fearful delight. But if I was far down and encountered something scary, I'd probably forget all that stuff about decompression sickness and going up slowly.
No, I'll probably continue to be content with splashing around on the surface. With fearful delight 😀.
Good luck with the continuation Peter! 🙂
26 March 2017 - 9:03
Helena says:
I understand what you mean!!! It feels like you have to be able to be a little "cold" and think correctly in certain situations. I'm not very good at that haha, so I think it's best that it's just Peter who does the diving ... 😉 😉
26 March 2017 - 17:05
Henny says:
What could be better for a houseboat owner than being able to dive. It's a new way of travelling, a chance to check out the boat underwater and an opportunity for new adventures on your trips. Will it be the Great Barrier Reef now?
26 March 2017 - 9:17
Helena says:
Right? But Peter doesn't seem to be at all keen on diving in the cold and dark waters of Sweden ... 😉 .
26 March 2017 - 17:06
Matts Torebring says:
For you, it is certainly an advantage to be able to inspect the underside of your fine houseboat yourself. I myself stay in the water, at best with a snorkel and glasses. And it will probably only be if we get to Croatia and the clear turquoise-coloured water.
26 March 2017 - 9:33
Helena says:
I think it would be great to be able to check the hull! 😉 Though Peter seems more attracted to diving in some tropical warm water than in the cold dark water around our boat... 😉.
26 March 2017 - 17:07
Husis blog says:
During the owners' travels in Thailand, the male owner has thought about getting a diving licence but never got around to it.
So now the owners have to make do with cyclops and look enviously at those who dive in...?
26 March 2017 - 9:56
Helena says:
Snorkelling is not so bad either! But certainly cool to be able to dive in such places!
26 March 2017 - 17:08
Mr Steve says:
I have never thought of "getting in over my head" in this way. But, I can very well understand if you get stuck when you start diving because it's a fascinating world down there.
26 March 2017 - 11:07
Helena says:
Diving doesn't appeal to me either ... although, like you, I can understand that there can be a fascinating world down there!
26 March 2017 - 17:08
Goatfish says:
Probably a lot of fun. I've learned to float dead man and dive a metre into a pool, with a bit of a horror mix 😀 here you have a bathing pot, so, scared in childhood.
But very fun to watch others and to see photos and films from below 😀.
26 March 2017 - 13:31
Helena says:
I'm a swimmer too actually, at least when it comes to being underwater... 😉 But I can understand that it must be fascinating!
26 March 2017 - 17:17
Ditte says:
It will go very well. I took PADI many years ago after diving in my youth with my father, who was an attack diver and teacher in the military. He taught me most things. Then I took PADI and an advantage of taking it in Sweden, if you intend to dive even here, is that the waters are quite dark and often poor visibility and if you have passed the dives here, it is easy to dive in warmer and clearer waters. Now I have not renewed my licence so diving in Sweden does not work. But I have dived abroad where the rules are more flexible.
Wishing Peter good luck. This will be good.
26 March 2017 - 13:56
Helena says:
You've tried most things, Ditte! Diving here in the dark waters of Sweden isn't exactly appealing. But I can understand that it's good to learn here, and that it only gets easier abroad.
26 March 2017 - 17:18
Across the board says:
Is this the time to say "Peter - you really get to the bottom of what you do" hihi?
26 March 2017 - 17:55
Helena says:
Haha, yes it fits well! 😉
27 March 2017 - 5:48
BP says:
Great that Peter is learning to dive in the swimming pool on my home ground:-)
Swimming and diving have never been my thing. Of course I can swim, but it has never appealed to me. Diving seems a bit scary, not in a swimming pool of course, but "out" at sea. Here I am a real coward, I must admit.
26 March 2017 - 19:39
Helena says:
I'm probably like you. I like being on and around water, but not under... I can swim, of course, but I'm not a "fish in water"... But it's still been interesting to learn a bit about diving on the side! 😉
27 March 2017 - 5:50
Marina says:
I have done a "test dive" on Koh Lanta in Thailand, that is, I was allowed to follow when a friend was going to dive up (or down, depending on how you see it 😉 It all ended with me having to follow the instructor and it was 2×60 minutes at 12-14 metres depth, so I really got to test dive for real if you say so... Then I have not done it any more, however, I took a freediving certificate on Gili Travangan a few years ago. I admit that I'm really proud of myself for making it, and that variant suits me better.
27 March 2017 - 2:15
Helena says:
Wow, what experiences! Here in Sweden there is a lot of theory and many exercises before going down. Most of the exercises are about what to do if something goes wrong, what to do if you run out of air etc, things that are important from a safety point of view. Free diving sounds exciting (although it is not something for me who likes to be above the surface).
27 March 2017 - 5:58
Jacob - Everyday Explorers says:
Glad you started diving Peter! You will do the outdoor dives too, right? There is an option called referral so if you don't want to do the dives in freezing cold Sweden, you can supplement with just the outdoor dives anywhere in the world. Helena, aren't you going diving?
Must say I'm a bit surprised at how big a group you have, must have meant a lot of waiting for you as each person does each exercise. And when I do courses I don't do that humiliating parade I can promise.
27 March 2017 - 7:43
Christine - 29°. says:
Exciting with a diving licence. As much as I love water, both in, on and under, it went completely to hell when I dived. So no more tubes for me unfortunately.
http://www.29grader.se/2016/12/nar-olyckan-intraffar-vikten-av-ratt.html
29 March 2017 - 3:20