Certifications We Offer:

Open Water Certification and Advanced Certifications

Open Water Diver Certification:

What It Teaches You:

• Fundamental scuba diving skills, including equipment setup, underwater breathing, and buoyancy control
• Safety procedures such as buddy checks, hand signals, and emergency ascent techniques
• Basic underwater navigation using a compass and natural landmarks

What It Allows You to Do:

• Dive up to 60 feet (18 meters) independently with a certified buddy
• Rent dive equipment and participate in dive trips at dive shops worldwide
• Begin specialty courses like Night Diving, Digital Underwater Photography, or Peak Performance Buoyancy

Advanced Open Water Diver Certification:

What It Teaches You:

• Builds on basic skills with five adventure dives, including Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation (required), plus your choice of three others such as Wreck Diving, Night Diving, or Peak Performance Buoyancy
• Deep Diving techniques
• Advanced underwater navigation

What It Allows You to Do:

• Dive deeper than the Open Water limit, up to 100 feet (30 meters)
• Access more advanced and thrilling dive sites, such as wrecks, caves, and walls
• Gain confidence and skills to pursue more challenging specialties and certifications

Rescue Diver Certification:

What It Teaches You:

• Techniques for preventing and managing dive emergencies like assisting a panicked or unresponsive diver
• Problem-solving skills to handle issues like equipment failure or out-of-air scenarios
• Self-rescue techniques to increase personal safety during dives
• First aid for diving-related injuries (often paired with Emergency First Response training)

What It Allows You to Do:

• Act as a more capable dive buddy, able to assist others in distress
• Build confidence in managing challenging or unexpected situations underwater
• Prepare for professional certifications like Dive Master or Instructor

At this time, Scuba Club is partnering with local PADI Courses, and course availability varies by semester, so check out our events calendar to see what we are offering!

The Science Behind Scuba Diving:

Diving isn’t just an adventure—it’s a journey into physics, biology, and physiology

The Physics of Diving: Diving explores pressure and Boyle’s Law because as you descend, water pressure increases, compressing the air in your tank and lungs. This is why divers must equalize their ears and adjust their buoyancy. Mastering buoyancy is key to comfortable diving, and principles of light and sound impact how water makes objects appear closer and larger, or distorts sound by making it harder to locate its source.

The Biology of Diving: Diving offers a unique chance to observe aquatic ecosystems up close, and certified divers are taught to help protect fragile environments like coral reefs by following responsible practices while you are underwater and impeding on someone else's home. Specialized gear, such as wetsuits or drysuits, also helps divers maintain body heat and avoid hypothermia in cooler environments.

The Physiology of Diving: As you dive, your body absorbs nitrogen from your breathing gas, and ascending too quickly can cause nitrogen to form bubbles in your tissues, leading to decompression sickness (the "bends"). Dive training teaches proper ascent rates to avoid this. Also, at greater depths, oxygen can become toxic. Advanced training prepares divers to manage this risk during deeper dives, and controlled, steady breathing underwater is critical to conserving air and managing stress.