I think I am “Certify-able” but what do I need to do? What is Scuba Certification? It has often been said that getting a Scuba Certification is harder than getting a library card, but easier than getting a driver''s license. SCUBAfy does not believe in “CYBER-DIVING”, we teach real classes, not 20 -30 minutes on-line and then jump into the water!  Scuba is safe and fun but you need to learn what can go wrong and how to avoid it ever happening to you.  SCUBAfy will teach you how to use the equipment, handle yourself underwater and know how to react in a wide range of underwater situations. Who certifies me? An Instructor is authorized by a training agency who recognizes your instructors’ experience and has been certified themselves as an Instructor by an Instructor Trainer Evaluator.   This requires many years of training and experience and quite frankly, some are good at it and some are not.  Some specialize in a more technical and physical way of training, and some are more geared toward a slower, more relaxed pace and are a better choice for those who are a little hesitant or might require more TLC. SCUBAfy’s classes are taught or directly supervised by Charlie Franks, an  Instructor Trainer Evaluator and Regional Training Director, the highest level you can obtain with a training agency.  Charlie has trained hundreds of divers and Instructors around the country.  He believes in “non-macho dive instruction and does not believe you have to be a “navy seal” to learn how to dive.  He does however, believe in “complete education”, requiring in-person classroom sessions during the class and not just on-line training. Other Frequently Asked Questions: I've always wanted to learn to scuba dive. How do I get started?  How old do I have to be to get scuba certified?  Why do I have to get Certified to dive?  How long is my Certification good for?  Is there anything down there that can eat me?  How expensive is SCUBA diving?  How long does the class take?  How deep may I go?  Is it hard to learn to scuba dive?  Do I have to be a great swimmer to be certified as an Open Water Diver?  How long does a tank of air Last?  My ears hurt when I dive to the bottom of the pool. Won't they hurt when I scuba dive?  Is scuba diving dangerous?  Do I have to buy scuba gear?  Why are some Instructors so much cheaper than others? What do I need to ask about the price?  I have heard of the “Bends”, what are they?  What exactly will I have to do to get certified?  How long is my Certification good for? Your SCUBA certification does not expire. It is highly recommended that you keep in practice. You should dive more than once a year. Unlike most shops, we encourage you to come dive with us any time we are going after you are certified!  The national average for divers is one dive per year, ours in our Florida and Phoenix shops was close to 40! You may take a Refresher Class with us any time you want feel you need to. SCUBAfy is an Instructor Training Facility and offers continuing education classes which are very informative. You may even want to consider going on to become a Divemaster or Instructor yourself. How old do you have to be to get certified? SCUBAfy requires you to be at least 10 years old to become Certified Junior Open Water Scuba Diver. 10 and 11 year olds must dive with a certified parent, guardian or Instructor to a maximum depth of 40 feet. 12 to 14 year olds must dive with a certified adult. At age 15, the Junior certification upgrades to a regular Open Water Diver certification. Why do I have to get certified to dive? Training and certification is essential for scuba divers. Carrying a Scuba Certification Card assures others you have been trained to dive safely and responsibly. A full-service dive shop will require you to show your Scuba Certification card before arranging or participating in any chartered diving excursion. Not only are they concerned for your safety, but also because on any dive in a group, large or small, an inexperienced or untrained diver can be extremely dangerous for both themselves and others. Dive shops also require a certification before they will rent you any equipment or fill any tanks.  In the scuba class, you will learn how to dive safely and correctly. Your SCUBA certification card is proof that you have taken and passed the SCUBA course. How deep may I go? Your Open Water Certification is for recreational use. The maximum depth for a recreational SCUBA diver is 130 feet. We do not recommend you ever dive the maximum depth. You should not dive deeper than 60 feet without proper training. In the SCUBAfy Advanced Open Water Course, divers are shown the correct and safe way to make a deep dive. Is there anything down there that can eat me? Most fish are afraid of you or will ignore you. It is very exciting to see fish. The larger the better. The prettiest and most abundant fish are in the ocean. The best place to see fish is near shipwrecks and reefs. Some fish will let you get close to them but will stay out of your reach, other fish are curious and will follow you around. The biggest question is always sharks.  I have known divers with hundreds of dives who have never seen any.  They are not attracted to diver, as we pretty much sound like vacuum cleaners down there.  When you do see one your reaction may surprise you! You will probably start to chase them as they swim majestically through and away.  As far as our local diving, you are more likely to run into Jimmy Hoffa than anything that can eat you! How expensive is SCUBA diving? SCUBA diving costs costs far less than you might expect.  The biggest expense is starting out with your Certification Course.  Our class runs $299.00 plus $49.95 for your student package.  This covers all over your Classroom Sessions, Pool Sessions, Books, Dive Tables, Log Book, Open Water Dives and use of Tanks, BC’s, Weightbelts, Weights, Wetsuits, Regulators and your Certification Card.  You will need to have your own basic personal gear for the class, which includes your Mask, Snorkel, Fins and Booties.  If you do not have these, we have a special student package you can by for $99.00 and they become yours to keep. If you fall in love with diving you can either buy your equipment when you go diving or you can rent it.  Most people don’t buy there tanks as you can rent a tank with air for about the same amount it will cost you to fill your own. You don't have to buy all your gear. ScubaFy rents gear and we don't charge students rental during class. A complete set of dive gear rents for under $40.  Should you desire to buy some equipment, we have a new student gear package which includes your BCD, Regulator with Gauges and Octopus for only $695.00 and you can put 50% down and pay us over 3 months with no interest!   We strongly recommend NOT buying used gear either offline or in the paper.  You will need to pay to have it serviced and never know what you are getting.  NEVER SKIMP ON LIFE-SUPPORT EQUIPMENT! I've always wanted to learn to scuba dive. How do I get started? The easiest way to get started is stop in to our shop at 1402-C Nevada Hwy in Boulder City, NV 89005 or call call ScubaFy at (702) 293-2021.  You can also contact us through e-mail at  ScubaFy@gmail.com, or on Facebook at “Scuba Fy”.  Our Classes are scheduled virtually every day of the week with both daytime and evening classes available.  You are not assigned to a specific class, you just need to take class 1-2-3 &4 in order.  Just give us a call and let us know which class you want to attend so we make sure we have room for you that day. After we complete the classroom sessions, we are off to the pool or confined water to start learning your skills.   Once you have mastered the pool skills we go diving.  Once you have completed the Open Water Dives, Classroom Sessions and the Final Exam, you are Certified.  We believe the best way to learn how to SCUBA dive is by actually diving and not so much sitting on the bottom doing skills. Is it hard to learn to scuba dive? No, in fact, it's probably easier than you imagine -- especially if you're already comfortable in the water. SCUBAfy specializes in instruction at a relaxed, enjoyable pace. SAFETY and FUN FIRST!  Not "Navy Seal" training! - We have taught hundreds of divers in Florida and Phoenix and we are now located in the Las Vegas area.  Classroom sessions are held at at our location in Boulder City, just outside of Las Vegas, near beautiful Lake Mead. We dive locally as well, in controlled settings, allowing you to gain experience & confidence prior to being subjected to more challenging dives. I am a very busy and important person, How long does this take!? Our courses are "performance based," which means that you only earn your scuba certification when you demonstrate that you have mastered the required skills and knowledge. Some people learn faster than others, so how long it takes you may vary. The Open Water Diver course (beginning scuba), requires that we have 4 Classroom Sessions, Pool Sessions and Several Open Water Dives.  The course usually takes about 3 weeks to complete, however we offer tremendous flexibility.   If you are in need of a certification faster, for example if you are going on a trip,  please let us know so that we may schedule you accordingly. Do I have to be a great swimmer to be certified as an Open Water Diver? No. All you need to be is a reasonably proficient swimmer who is comfortable and relaxed in the water. The swimming requirement for certification is an easy 200 yard non-stop swim (with no time or specific stroke requirement) and 10 minute tread/float. What's in a scuba tank? Oxygen? Recreational divers breathe air, not pure oxygen. It's clean, dry, pure compressed air, filtered to remove impurities, but otherwise, it's air like you're breathing now. How long does a tank of air last? This is a common question that, unfortunately, doesn't have a single answer. People breathe at different rates, and you breathe faster when you're swimming than when you're resting. Also, the deeper you go, the more you use your air, and, you can get different size tanks. So, the answer is "it depends;" this is why divers have a gauge that tell them how much air they have at all times. As an approximation, a diver sightseeing in calm, warm water at 20 to 30 feet deep can expect the average tank to last about an hour. My ears hurt when I dive to the bottom of a pool. Won't they hurt when I scuba dive? Your ears hurt because water pressure pushes in on your ear drum. In your scuba course, you'll learn a simple technique to equalize your ears to the surrounding pressure, much like you do when you land in an airplane, and they won't hurt at all.  Is scuba diving dangerous? Scuba diving is a sport with risks, like every other sport. What makes scuba diving seem riskier than other sports is the fear associated with drowning and the nervousness using a scuba system as "life support". Many people are afraid of water, and of relying on a strange contraption of hoses and tanks to provide air in an airless environment. In reality, scuba diving is not as dangerous as people seem to believe and in those rare instances of a scuba fatality it is almost always shown diver recklessness was the cause. About half of all reported scuba-related fatalities happen on tourists' "dive packages". The most dangerous dive packages are those in which the participants are not trained or certified, but are merely given a short training session before diving accompanied by a chaperone. With proper training a diver is confident. He is prepared, responsible, knows the risks and how to avoid them. Scuba diving, for the properly trained, is not dangerous compared to most other activities we do without hesitation. Scuba fatality estimates range around 5 fatalities per 100,000 divers. About a third of those are the result of heart or circulation problems which were present prior to diving. Here is a partial list of things that are more statistically more dangerous than scuba diving: Riding a bicycle on a city street - Riding as a passenger in an automobile - Riding a motorcycle - Smoking tobacco - Sailing a yacht - Fishing from a dock As for non-fatal injuries it is well known that most injuries happen to scuba divers while they are still on the boat, and not in the water. Do I have to buy SCUBA gear to Dive? No you don't have to buy SCUBA gear. I provide Scuba tanks, buoyancy compensator, regulator, and weight belt. You will have to have your PERSONAL GEAR, a mask, fins, Snorkel and Booties.  If you have these, great!.  If not, we have a special student package you can purchase will all of these for only $99.00. Why are some Scuba Classes so much cheaper or more than others? Most SCUBA Shops and Instructors charge about the same for complete certification, between $300 and $450. The difference is some instructors do not tell you about all the costs. Be careful, if the lessons price sounds very inexpensive it might not include everything. Dive Centers have to pay rent and labor. So they will typically charge more. -Does that price include the Open Water Dives? Where? (+ $180 to $380) -Does that price include the Student Kit? The book, log book and dive tables   retail for about (+$59). -Does that price include the SCUBA gear or free rental for the four Open Water Dives?(+$60) -How many students will be in your class? Some shops wait until they have a big crowd for class. -Does that price include your Scuba Certification card? (+$25) You might end up paying much more than you expected. Beginning SCUBA is taught in three parts Classroom, Confined Water or Pool training, and Diving. You must complete all three parts to be a certified scuba diver. Some dive shops break up the payments and advertise only the first payment. You end up paying 2 or 3 times more then what you expected. I suggest you ask how much for each part and what is included in the price. Add them ALL up, you might be surprised. Also make sure you know when and where you will make your four Open Water Checkout Dives. A out-of-town trip can add hundreds to your cost.  We also recommend you meet and talk to your instructor before you make a decision. I have heard of the “Bends”, what are they? A long time ago when the workers were breathing compressed air while working underwater, sometimes they would get decompression sickness or "the Bends". Their joints would hurt and make them bend over. This is caused by staying under water too long and coming up too fast. Tiny bubbles would form in their joints, something like the tiny bubbles form in a soda bottle when you open it. Just like the soda bottle, if you shake it and open it too soon or fast too many bubbles will form. With all the new technology "the bends" is easily avoided and very rare. SCUBAfy divers are recreational divers. We will teach you how to safely dive within the limits so you will learn how to safely avoid the bends. Diving is fun, easy and safe! We will teach you how to relax and enjoy your dive. What exactly will I have to do to get Certified? Scuba Certification is completed in 3 parts. 1. Class room (Academic book work), 2. Confined Water or Pool Training 3. Open Water Scuba Dives ScubaFy Certification is performance based. You must comfortably perform and show mastery of all the skills to earn your certification. 1. Classroom Sessions Class 1 - Introduction To Scuba Equipment Class 2 - Physics & Physiology of Diving Class 3 - The Diving Environment Class 4 - Dive Tables and Time Limits   For the Classrooms, you will be given handout study guides for each class and you will need to read the Open Water Diver manual in conjunction with the class.  At the beginning of the second class, you will be given a quiz based upon the information you learned during the prior class.  After we have made sure you understand everything that we discussed, we go on to the next class. Don't worry, We will go over any questions that you don't understand. After you complete all of the classroom sessions, Open Water Diver Final Exam. Just like the quizzes this is multiple choice and, again, just like the quizzes I'll go over anything you don't understand. Hopefully by then you'll pass with 100%. But all is not lost as long as you score 90% or better you passed! And I'll go over any questions you get wrong so you completely understand all of the correct answers. If you score less than 90%, we'll go over everything you missed and you may take the test again at a later date. 2. "Pool Training" Confined Water Pool Skills Confined Water 1 - Shallow Water Skill/Practice Confined Water 2 - Deeper water Skills/Practice 3. Open Water Dives Open Water Dives 1, 2&3 - Shallow Water Skills & Practice Open Water Dives 4, 5&6 Deeper Water Skills, Practice& Final Check-out Dives