Maxwell

Is there really a need to get a cert? Because all we need is to strap a oxygen tank on us and we are on the way right?
Not really talking about hardcore underwater stuff, maybe just very near the coast regions.

lagoon

Well you do need one, diving underwater needs real technic, and to be able to breath underwater too. The same for security reasons, times "flies" when you are underwater and if you have no or poor experience it can lead you into deep trouble. Their are many reasons why you need an instructor to learn everything which needs to be and get a cerf before you can take off....alone!

Urtune

Its like driving a car! Sure you can drive without an instructor but I think you would land yourself up in deep trouble after that.

csaba

Now, if you strap an "oxygen" tank on your back, you'd be surely dead in a very short period of time. The gas we dive with is not oxygen. But you would need and instructor to teach you that .... There is a lot to know about diving if you want to be safe. Take the course if you want to be safe.

__________________
Csaba Lorinczy

Scuba Mama

CSABA is right on, you never dive with 100% o2.
Maxwell if you managed to get a bottle and decide to dive with it, make your funeral arrangements first, same the people who will claim to know you the trouble.

If you want to learn to have fun and stay alive get training.

Scubamama

h2odragon1

If you want to dive, without having learned from an Instructor, plan your funeral first.
Oxygen? Yes you can dive with pure oxygen, just don't go below 16 feet, since your partial pressure of oxygen will become toxic below that depth, YOU WILL DIE!!!
Instructors teach you how to dive safely. In sports, and many other endeavors, they use an expression ' We do things on the shoulders of giants'. This means that we have learned of many things from the geniuses who have come before us. In scuba diving we have learned on the graves of those who have tied before us. What we will learn from your grave, is not to dive without proper instruction.

simplelife

This is a classic thread!
I've been working in scuba diving for a long time, and heard some good ones over the years.
The bottom line is you must get proper training for scuba diving, and start out diving with someone who is experienced with local diving conditions.
Basically, that's why you pay a scuba diving instructor to teach you - they follow a set of standards to make sure you get all the information you need.
Without proper dive training and an orientation to the local environment, you can't even begin to imagine the many ways which you could get yourself in trouble whilst scuba diving.
Just imagine, current and tides, equipment failures, low visibility, boat traffic, underwater hazards, decompression sickness and lung over-expansion injuries.....
Simple intuition isn't going to prepare you to be able to deal with many of these issues. It would be foolish to expose yourself to so much risk.
I've had many none certified divers asking to rent scuba cylinders, equipment and even boats over the years but the answer will always be the same.
Regards
Gary
Simple Life Scuba Internships Thailand