september | water story...

A Beginners Guide to Scuba Diving...

with Helen Gardner & Scott Hill

Today we have the pleasure of talking to Scott Hill who is pursuing his PADI Open Water Certification with Triangle Diving at the Grotto Bay Hotel. Triangle Diving is a PADI 5 Star Gold Palm Dive Shop.

Helen: Scott can you tell our readers what it was that first attracted you to scuba diving.

Scott: Well, I have been a professional photographer for 15 years. Photography is my passion and I wanted to be able to take my photography underwater, but in order to do that I needed to learn how to dive. For the last four years I have been working with Graham Maddocks of Triangle Diving on promoting Bermuda and diving in Bermuda. So last summer I signed up to do the Discover Scuba Course. This is an introductory course to the sport of scuba diving. The entire process last about 5 hours, it involves some basic instruction on the dock, some basic water skills at the Grotto Bay beach and then we went out on the boat and did two dives. One dive was on a reef and the other was on a wreck. I quickly learnt that diving is not as frightening or difficult as I had thought. Dane Robinson, the head instructor at Triangle Diving, has a very calm, reassuring personality, and I felt completely comfortable and safe with him as my instructor. The Discover Scuba was such a positive experience for me that this summer I made the commitment to study for and complete the PADI Open Water Certification.

Helen: Can you explain to us what that certification process entails?

Scott: The course is comprised of classroom work, confined water skills and 4 open water dives. PADI provides an instructional video and textbook. The course is broken into segments and there is a test at the end of each segment, and there is a comprehensive multiple-choice exam at the end of the course. There are inherent dangers to scuba diving and those dangers are thoroughly discussed in the videos, textbook and classroom work. Each test is reviewed with the instructor and if you have missed any answers you receive an immediate explanation. I have a very busy work schedule and one aspect of Triangle Diving that I especially appreciated is that Dane offers one on one instruction and is extremely flexible in scheduling the classroom work. For me the one on one instruction was wonderful. It enabled me to work at my own pace, and it allowed me to build a close and trusting relationship with my instructor.

Helen: How has the diving experience differed from what you thought it might be like?

Scott: It is definitely much easier than I thought it would be. I had anticipated being very nervous but I quickly discovered that many of my fears were unfounded. The beauty of the underwater world is absolutely beyond anything I had expected. Diving is not an inexpensive sport, but Triangle Diving has a dive club that provides unlimited diving for $900/year. Their dive club is very active and they have organized social events about every 6 weeks during the summer months. The dive club is a wonderful way for people who are new to our island to meet other people and the club is also very popular with locals.