You're looking for a new hobby. You're not artistic enough to make canvas paintings, you don't like cooking, and you can sit still long enough to read novels. What sort of hobby should you try? A more active one, of course. There's the old faithfuls of running and golfing and camping, but if you're fond of swimming and like being out on the water, why not try something different, like scuba diving? The article will give you an overview of this activity and help you figure out how to get into it.

What is scuba, anyway? Scuba, which was originally an acronym, stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, and is a type of undersea diving where you can extend your time underwater by bringing your oxygen with you in a tank. It is a step up from the old diving methods, which were in use long before your Markham home was built, where the diver breathed air piped down through a hose from the surface (an activity which is more akin to snorkeling than diving these days). Scuba divers don't have to hold their breath, so they can stay down much longer.

Scuba diving requires a lot more gear than free diving (holding your breath) or snorkeling (which can be done with only a short snorkel and mask). With scuba diving, you need your oxygen tank, harness, regulator, face mask, swim fins, weight belt, dive computer (with your oxygen gauges and timer on it) and wet suit at the very least. Many scuba divers also keep an underwater propulsion device like a propeller powered sled near their Toronto Beaches real estate to use while scuba diving as well.

To buy all of this gear can cost thousands of dollars, so many amateur divers prefer to rent it from the shop near their Puerto Vallarta beachfront rentals. Before you take up scuba diving, however, you need to take lessons. There are a number of dangers inherent in scuba diving, such as decompression sickness (called The Bends), nitrogen narcosis, hypothermia, crush injuries from excessive water pressure, running out of air, and the risk of underwater animal attacks or rock slides.

You can visit any dive shop (identifiable by their red flag with a white diagonal stripe) for recommendations on where to take lessons. Lessons generally start in the local Leslieville swimming pool and focus on in-water confidence and underwater signals and then build up to more complex techniques such as choosing equipment, planning dives, and working underwater. Once you are certified, you can engage in your own expeditions to explore underwater wrecks, check out what's going on under ice, explore underwater caves, fish, study sea life, or take underwater photographs.