Things You'll Need:
- Oxygen tank
- Diving mask
- Flippers
- Diving gauges
- Wetsuit (optional)
-
Step 1
Pick the place where you'd like to go for your dive. Popular dive vacation spots include the Great Barrier Reef near Australia's coast, the Caribbean islands and Cozumel, Mexico. Ask your travel agent about scuba diving resorts. These hotels offer diving tour packages you can book when you reserve a room. It's a lot easier to plan your trip this way instead of organizing a dive separately and it could even save you some money.
-
Step 2
Take a scuba certification class so that you can dive legally and safely. Find an open water diving course to attend through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) or a similar organization. PADI has dive centers nationwide. If you're pressed for time, you can study the written materials online at your leisure and finish your certification at a dive shop or resort instead of taking the entire class in person (which can take anywhere from two days to two weeks). Note that you cannot get certified without diving under an instructor's observation in a secure, closed environment. Heading to the ocean without instructor-guided practical training can be very dangerous.
-
Step 3
Buy or rent the equipment you'll need for diving. This includes a diving mask, fins, a tank and gauges. You'll also need a wetsuit to keep your body warm and dry if you plan on diving in a colder ocean climate. If you're not going to go diving at least once every couple months, it makes little sense to buy your equipment. Instead, call diving shops in the area where you're traveling and reserve your rentals before you get there. If you already have equipment and plan on bringing it with you, depressurize your tank and take the regulators off of it. Always put it in your checked luggage.
-
Step 4
Make alternative plans for children. In most cases, you must be at least 10 years of age, if not older, to go on a deep diving excursion. If you're bringing young children on your scuba diving trip, find a hotel that offers babysitting services. If they are not available, choose a snorkeling or shallow dive program instead so that the whole family can participate.
