General Dive Resources

Learning to dive and becoming a better diver is a lifelong endeavor. You can accelerate your learning by taking classes, buddying up with divers with more experience, and by reading! Here are some resources that you may find helpful in your journey. 

DIVE ORGANIZATIONS & TRAINING

• Divers Alert Network (DAN) dan.org DAN is the premiere dive safety organization and a non-profit. They provide free educational materials (check out their eLearnings) that help you learn about and avoid the most common causes of dive injuries and fatalities. They track and investigate safety incidents, develop and promote safe diving practices, and they sell dive insurance - which could help you pay for recompression treatment and evacuation (among other things) if you get bent while diving. I highly recommend that all active divers become DAN members, and buy their insurance if you plan on diving so you are protected if something happens. They also operate a dive emergency hotline which is staffed 24/7/365 and is free to anyone (member or not). If you think you might have gotten bent, or otherwise hurt on a dive you can call DAN for free and talk to their emergency (if urgent) or non-emergency (for more minor issues) line to get free medical advice from trained dive medicine professionals. 

• PADI padi.com PADI is the most popular dive training organization worldwide. Whether you take it from PADI or any of the other organizations, I recommend that all divers continue their education after the get certified by completing an Advanced Open Water and a Rescue classes . Your first class, usually called Open Water,  just gets you started diving. Going through an "Advanced" (really it is still a beginner course, just not for brand-new beginners) and Rescue course will give you skills, experience, and the mindset that will make you a safer diver. Completing the Advanced course also gives you the experience and certification required to dive a bit deeper - which opens up many more dive sites for your enjoyment. Regardless of whether you take your classes from PADI or another organization (most dive organizations offer similar advanced and rescue courses), don't stop after your open water certification. Get a bit more training when you can - it is money well spent on your safety and comfort. 

BOOKS & LECTURES

• Scuba Compendium by Simon Pridmore. This book is a compilation of 4 shorter books by the same author: Scuba Fundamental, Scuba Confidential, Scuba Exceptional, and Scuba Professional. You can buy the set as an eBook for a very reasonable price.  These books will educate you about all aspects of diving - starting from divers who are just getting their feet wet to individuals who are thinking about working in the dive industry. I found the books to be easy to read, occasionally entertaining, and packed with good tips that can help make your diving more fun, comfortable, and safe. This is not a great set of books for learning about cold water diving - as the bulk of the author's examples and experience are from Guam and other relatively warm locations. I found these books to be a really nice complement to professional scuba classes/certifications. One area where I disagree with the author is his assertion that a little bit of unplanned decompression (exceeding your no stop limits on your dive computer) is no big deal as a recreational diver. Completing dives with required decompression stops is the realm of technical diving, it can be done relatively safely but you should be planning for it (e.g. bringing appropriate additional amount of gas for deco) and getting appropriate (technical dive)  training first. 

• The Great Buoyancy Scam and How to Avoid It by John Kean. Despite the name, this book is not just about buoyancy. It is a general "how-to" scuba booked aimed squarely at new divers looking to learn how to dive properly and with competence.  Once you get past the meandering introduction (which is odd and long) it has good and practical advice perfect for a new diver. I found the sections on buoyancy particularly thorough and helpful and a nice complement to what you will get in a typical Open Water certification class. One area where the author could be stronger (particularly for our cold water diving) is in his discussion of decompression theory and prevention of decompression sickness (DCS, "the bends"). If you want to learn more about what gets divers bent and how to not get bent I recommend the following lecture from Dr. Neal Pollock. 

• Thoughtful Management of Decompression Stress, a lecture by Dr. Neal Pollock, follow the link to watch him on YouTube. This excellent talk summarizes recent research into decompression theory to help you understand the factors that can contribute to decompression sickness (DCS). He provides research-backed suggestions for how you can decrease your decompression risk that go beyond the standard "stay hydrated" - which is fine advice, but may not be the most impactful way to reduce your risk - depending on where, when, and how you are diving.  For example, diving up here in our cold Pacific Northwest waters we are potentially at significantly increased risk of DCS - because we may be quite cold during the off-gassing phase (ascent) phase of our dives compared to divers in warmer locations. Dr. Pollock has some excellent suggestions that may help you mitigate that and other DCS risk factors.