Here is a list of a few oddball games where you do little more than roam around a virtual ocean and check out the sights. In the past, I’m sure people thought that this is what the future would look like—we would no longer actually go deep sea diving, we would just experience it virtually in the comfort of our own homes.

Endless Ocean

With the subtitle, “Dive. Discover. Dream” you should know what you are in for when you play “Endless Ocean.” Less of a game than an underwater visualizer, or playable screen saver, there is little in the way of a plot but the emphasis is on exploration. As you search the ocean with your spear and hid light ocean lamp you can identify new species and bring them back to the surfaces to populate a virtual aquarium to show off your discoveries. There is lots of different diving scenarios, from cave diving to deep-water and wreck diving. Many critics and family-friendly groups praised the game for its relaxing and refreshing change from the violence that pervades gaming today.

Ecco the Dolphin

A strange and innovative title at the time for the Sega CD system, “Ecco the Dolphin” but your in control of a dolphin and his pod. The story revolves around your search to rescue some marine creatures and then there is something about raveling back in time to Atlantis to destroy a Vortext Queen. It doesn’t really matter, the fun of the game was how cool it felt to control a dolphin as he did flips in the air and cruised along in the ocean. It is still a fun and odd game to play today and was recently re-released for download on the Xbox 360 and Wii systems.

Everblue

A precursor to the open-ended scuba diving roaming of “Endless Ocean,” “Everblue” came out in 2002 for the Playstation 2 system and was probably more of game to show off the then powerful and wowing graphical powers of the Playstation 2 at the time. The difference between “Everblue” and “Endless Ocean” is that in “Everblue” you are in the first person view, instead of third person, giving the game a more realistic view of what it would be like to really be scuba diving in the deep.

If you have been considering learning to dive and you want to know more about what’s involved in the basic open water scuba diving course, below I will try to answer your questions.

What is the Open Water Course?

As mentioned above the basic scuba diving certification course will be taught by all certification agencies. They are basically the same across different agencies and will only differ slightly but they will all cover the same basic skills and knowledge you will need to be able to dive safely.

Who can enrol for the Course?

You can begin to learn to dive from as early as 10 years old but this will maybe be 12 years old depending on the country you are at and this will be classified as the Junior Open Water Course. You will need to be at least 15 years old to enrol in the Open Water Course directly, but if you learn as a junior open water course you will be automatically upgraded to Open Water Diver when you reach the age of 15 years old.

The other requirements are you will need to be physically fit and have a basic level of swimming skill.

How long does the Course take?

This will become an important question as we are typically busy and dont have much time to spare. Normally an average vacation course will take around 3 to 5 days and will depend on the time and effort put in each day. Courses can also be done over weeks or months which will generally fit into your hectic schedule after work or on the weekend.

What will be covered during the course?

Basic Knowledge Development When the course starts you will be given text books, videos or even learn online, you can study alone before starting the lectures. Areas to be covered in your course will be basics of diving techniques, how diving will affect your body, diving safety precautions, equipment selection and how to maintenance, planning your dives, and preview the skills you will learn in the water. A test will be conducted at the end of the course.

Confined Water Training This will be your first step into the water with your equipment, but as you have no skills it will be conducted in a safe environment such as a swimming pool. Your training will start at shallow water where you can stand and start the basic skills, as you progress in confidence you will lead to deeper water the skills will continue until you successfully complete all the skills and drills required to advance to the open water.

Open Water Training This will be your first dive in the open water, and you will take around 4 or more dives and you will go over all the skills and drills that you previously learnt in the swimming pool until you are completely confident and can perform them in real diving situations. By the end of the open water part of the course you will be happy diving with the fishes.

What does the course qualify you to do?

When you’re certified as an Open Water diver you will be able to dive to 18meters when you dive with a fellow diver with a minimum qualification the same as yours. You do not have to be accompanied by a dive master of instructor but this is recommended. Also you will be eligible to do your Advanced Open water where you can dive at night and dive to 40m.

Do I have to renew my certification in future?

The certification is a life long certificate and does not need to be renewed. However, it is recommended that if you have not dived for a while or feel you lack the confidence in your skills you should do a Scuba Review. This review is a short refresher course with a professional that can be integrated into your first dive.

The first thing that goes through someone’s head when you tell them that you have signed up for online dive classes is usually that you must have lost your mind. After all, how can dive lessons be taken online? It is of course possible to create a website with the illusion of water, that still does not teach the mechanics of diving. But this is only because most people do not realize what is involved in learning how to dive. It isn’t just the physical aspect; there’s some knowledge involved too.

While it is extremely important to be taught inside and around a pool, part of learning how to dive is knowing how the equipment works, how to use it, and other similar knowledge. Rather than waste time in attending classes for topics like these, most diving instructors actually prefer it when you take online dive classes and know these things before you start the actual diving. It makes the process easier when, once in the water, the instructor does not need to explain more than how to move. Not to mention that it saves the money usually spent on time sitting inside a classroom.

Those who like to compare two different methods before deciding on one should take this into consideration. Though some people might consider it more productive to actually attend classes and learn how to deal with the equipment and science involved first hand, you are far more likely to absorb the knowledge if it is absorbed at your own pace, taking into account your time and comfort rather than that of the person doing the teaching. Online classes have the advantage of a comfortable location, not as much time loss and preferably a cup of your favorite tea or coffee placed right next to you.

Once you start the actual diving however, online dive classes will do you more harm than good. Some websites (and even some books and audio tapes) do offer step by step guides with regards to the actual diving, but since it is impossible to take your laptop and your internet connection into an actual pool, this method is usually advised against. The same applies to visual demonstrations on video cassettes. Online learning is useful, but it has its limitations. Education underwater is one of them. Save your money; leave your hardware at home and learn the actual scuba diving in the sea.