Afraid Of Diving

Many people are afraid of diving and are not willing to try this wonderful pastime due to their different personal reasons and even phobias. A phobia is an intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, or people. The main symptom of phobia is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject.

Lets make this clear, not everybody who is afraid of diving has a phobia of diving. However, often when I meet new people and I mention that I am a diving instructor, the first thing some of them ask: Can you help me with my phobia? Many of them used the following common reasons that have prevented them from experiencing diving: deep water, afraid of the uninspected, afraid of drowning and the majority afraid of sharks.

Afraid of the deep water: almost all diving areas around the world have diving spots for beginners and advanced divers. We consider a beginner spots were divers can see clearly the bottom, with good visibility. For the more knowledgeable divers, descending to 15m/ 49f or 20m/66f is not difficult even if the visibility is not ideal. For those who are afraid of diving in deep water, you must know that your fear will disappear with more dives and experience.

Afraid of the uninspected: yes even me, the first time I dove. I grew up pretty much in the sea, swimming, snorkeling and surfing. A friend took me diving for the first time, gave me equipment and expected me to know how to dive. He helped me put on the gear and disappeared under the water. I followed him closely making sure not to be left alone.

My second experience was not much different, even though this time I had a crash course. I was looking at the infinite blue under the water and I was expecting anything at any moment. I had that same experience on my first night dive. But all these feelings of being afraid of the uninspected disappeared after a few dives. I was not afraid of diving any more. I understood the environment, where I was, and I started to enjoy diving since then on.

Afraid of Drowning: this is a very common reason for most people. Some of them are not strong swimmers and the idea of going into deep waters is actually a phobia. "I had never gone deeper that my waist"- one of them quoted. You don't have to be a strong swimmer to dive. Diving instructors also could test your ability for snorkeling as a second option.

The good part about diving is that you must try the equipment in a pool first, where you will see if by using the gear you can breathe easily underwater. After that during the scuba diving courses, you will learn all the safety rules and exercises that have been implemented to make diving more safe.

Afraid of Sharks: Someone once wrote: "The simplest way to avoid shark encounters is by simply not going into the habitat of sharks. I have never seen one on dry land". Very true, but I have over 500 dives logged in my logbooks, before I got tired to write them down, and I only saw a nurse shark once. I also remember a friend that told me about this cave that housed four or more sharks. We decided to check it out once, but the cave was empty when we dove there.

You have to remember that not all sharks are aggressive and majority of the attacks happen when sharks, a curious creature which uses bite to find out if you are on his menu, confused us with his meal.

"To dive with sharks you have to overcome yourself and your fear" - a friend that I used to work for told me once. He also helped my diving career come truth. This amazing guy has or had a passion for diving with sharks. He used to go around the world to experience diving with sharks, film them and take pictures. He also met a lot of amazing people with the same passion.

Conclusion: for our conclusion on "afraid of diving" we will use what one of our visitors, Carlos Estrada Mellado, once quoted: "Diving, an activity dreaded by some, but those who dare don't stop to enjoy it". I will add to it to please keep it within the limits, know the risks involving diving to keep it "safe" and always enjoy it.

If you would like to help new divers with some tips regarding Afraid of diving. Please send us a line by pressing here.