Scuba diving equipment has evolved to become sophisticated, incredibly safe, reliable and high performance. There’s a massive range of options and features available, to allow scuba diving in any environment.

To familiarize you with how a set of scuba diving gear works, we’ll run you through a basic set, and discuss what options and features would be suitable for warm water Koh Tao diving.

Firstly we need somewhere to store the air which we’ll be breathing whilst underwater. Scuba cylinders or tanks) come in a range of sizes and materials. Scuba diving Koh Tao we opt for aluminum cylinders, which are resistant to the corrosive salty ocean conditions, compressing air into 12 litre cylinders at two hundred time normal atmospheric pressure (200 bar). That volume of air allows an average diver to dive for about 45 minutes at normal recreational depths, (factoring in a safety margin).

This is the bit which attaches to the valve of the scuba cylinder. Since the air inside the cylinder is at two hundred times normal pressure, we need to reduce that pressure down to make it breathable. This is the job of the regulator first stage. Most first stages reduce down the pressure to about ten bar above ambient water pressure (called the intermediate pressure), which is then fed down to the ….

This is the bit that you put in your mouth and breathe from. The second stage contains a large diaphragm which the surrounding water pressure pushes on. What that does is adjust the intermediate pressure (delivered from the first stage) to exactly the same pressure as the surrounding water. The result is that when you breathe in, a valve opens and allows air to flow freely. When you stop breathing in or exhale, the valve remains closed allowing you to conserve your air supply.

In case your buddy has an equipment problem, you also have a alternate second stage attached to your first stage, which means in the event of an emergency your buddy can also breathe from your cylinder. This is one of the reasons why it’s always a good idea to stick with a buddy when scuba diving.

Obviously we need a way of keeping the cumbersome cylinder attached to us, so the BCD is a robust jacket which allows you to strap the cylinder to your back. The BCD also has a second important function. You can adjust the amount of air inside the jacket so that you hover motionlessly in mid water and control your position underwater. Whilst at the surface you can inflate the BCD to avoid swimming to stay afloat, and save energy.

Your body looses heat about twenty times faster in water than air, so you’ll need to wear some kind of exposure protection to keep warm. The good news is, Koh Tao diving has very warm water – usually about 30C. That means during the Padi open water course we usually wear a 2.5mm neoprene ‘shorty’ wetsuit , which keeps us comfortable during the dives.

The bad news is that neoprene is buoyant (as is body fat),  so to be able to descend underwater we have to carry some lead weights. The easiest way to do this (adopted by most Koh Tao dive schools) is to attach the lead to a weight belt which you secure around your waist prior to each dive.

Your eyes can’t focus in water, so you need to wear a mask to be able to see when diving. If you have a little spare cash and plan to invest in piece of scuba diving gear of your own, make sure you buy a mask. A good diving mask makes all the difference to your Koh Tao diving experience – if you can see properly you’ll have a much better time!

With all this gear, it becomes a bit tricky getting around underwater. To make life easier we wear large, rigid diving fins which take all the effort out of swimming, allowing us to maintain our air supply and explore the Koh Tao dive sites with ease.

For more info, visit the Simple Life website [http://www.simplelifedivers.com], and don’t miss part two of our series of lessons from the Koh Tao Padi open water course, where we examine some realities and myths of dangerous aquatic life!

Scuba diving is a great sport among water sport enthusiasts. In fact, it is among the growing sport community enthusiast around the world. This is no surprise since the earth, is in fact two-thirds water than land.Scuba diving, as opposed to some people may think, is quite easy to learn. Once you know the right diving equipment to use, the rules, and the basic lessons, you’re off to scuba diving! Of course for beginners, it is important that you have an expert scuba diving guide to help you out in your first lessons.Unfortunately, there are still a significant number of the world’s populations who frown upon scuba diving, chiefly because of water fright. As there are reasons to be apprehensive in diving into the unfamiliar world of the ocean, there are more reasons why you should try scuba diving. Here are some of them:The ocean is a diversified land of wondrous creatures.The underworld will definitely take your breath away as there are a hundred and more unique, never-been-seen creature species in the ocean. You will be in awe of the perfect color combinations of fishes, and the brightly hued water plants. It’s going to be a great out of this world experience for anyone up for adventure.Scuba diving builds lung endurance.This sport will enable you to develop lungs endurance as this teaches proper breathing while under the sea. Aside from that, your legs and arm muscles will be honed for swimming and staying under the water. All in all, scuba diving, just like most sports activities, is good for your health.It helps the local tourism.Participating in scuba diving meets, and joining scuba diving clubs in your local community is good publicity for your locality. It helps in promoting local tourism. These days, the tourism agencies are tapping scuba diving as a key asset in spreading the beauty of their beaches and under water sceneries.

If you live in or near Boulder, Colorado and have never been scuba diving before, you will need to get some instructions in how scuba diving is done before you head out.  For this purpose you will want some swim lessons.  Boulder potential divers have many options for swim lessons starting out with beginners classes and possibly working up to become a professional diving instructor.You will first want to start out with some introductory scuba swimming lessons.  Boulder residents can enjoy a short intro course where the equipment is provided for you and you can give it a try in a safe swimming pool under an instructor’s supervision during the swim lessons.  Boulder, CO children as young as five years old may take introductory classes to give a little safe exposure to being in water.  Children that are eight or nine years old can sign up for more introductory swim lessons.  Boulder parents can give their kids lessons that allow them to go pool diving with an instructor.  Boy scout and girl scout troups can also participate in swim lessons.  Boulder troups can take part in classes that enhance their knowledge about diving and then provide them with introductory water skills training during the swimming lessons.  Boulder children can also enjoy other activities during swim lessons.  Boulder swimmers can, for example, also take introductory snorkeling classes as long as they have basic swimming skills already.There are also classes available for adult swim lessons.  Boulder beginning scuba divers may want to take open water swimming lessons.  Boulder students will want to take a class with a low student to teacher ratio during the swim lessons.  Boulder dive instructors will give you training in proper diving techniques, so that you will be ready for further education.  If it has been a while since your last dive, you can also take refresher course swimming lessons.  Boulder divers will find classes that will review dive skills and emergency procedures so that you will be ready for your next diving trip.More advanced divers will enjoy continuing education swim lessons.  Boulder, CO instructors are ready to train you in a variety of areas during swim lessons.  Boulder, CO divers can learn about advanced open water technique, emergency first response, rescue diving, equipment specialization, and several areas of specialty diving during their swimming lessons.  Boulder, CO enthusiasts can train to become digital underwater photographers or videographers, or can learn about dry suit diving while taking swimming lessons.  Boulder, CO instructors can also take you pro, so that you can become a divemaster, an assistant instructor or a master scuba diver trainer, among other areas covered during swimming lessons.  Boulder, CO dive instructors can offer all this, so contact a diving school today for more information.