5 Tips for New Divers
Learning how to dive is one of the most exhilarating feelings in the world. Once you’ve completed your Open Water Course, what’s next? Let’s take a look at some of the best tips for new divers.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Have you ever heard of the statement: “practice makes perfect?” When it comes to diving, this is very much the case. The more time you spend in the water, the more time you have to develop your skills. Working on your buoyancy, kicking technique and air consumption becomes easier the more time you spend in the water. Practicing the skills, you learn during your course will help keep them fresh in your mind. Find a buddy or dive club and take some time during a dive or between dives to work on your skills. Try not to leave it too long between doing the course and getting yourself in the water.
Buy a Mask and Fins 
A properly fitted mask and a set of fins that do not give you blisters are the difference between a good dive and a dive you would rather forget. A mask that does not leak or fog will help you be able to see the wonderful marine life while diving. Comfortable fins will help you keep up with the rest of the group and not let you get tired. As you progress, you can start buying all the other types of dive equipment. If you’re considering buying a mask and fins, get in contact with us at Aura Divers, we’ll be happy to provide you with guidance and advice about different diving equipment and where to purchase it in Muscat, Oman.
Drink Water
Staying hydrated while diving is incredibly important. It can decrease your chances of getting decompression sickness. Drinking electrolytes is a fast and easy way to replenish after a dive. Be sure to drink water, before and after the dive, even at the end of the day. Keep drinking water!
Learn how to control your buoyancy
So, you’ve done your Open Water Course but still tend to swim with your arms or rise up and down? Having good buoyancy is not about constantly inflating and deflating your BCD. Mastering your breath will automatically help you with your buoyancy. Being properly weighted and reacting to changes in depth are important. Using the dump valves on your BCD will help keep you horizontal while letting air out of your BCD. Learn from other divers and your future dive guides. In addition, observe how they position themselves in the water and swim, find a role model and try to copy what they do.
Develop your Buddy Skills 
Becoming a good dive buddy takes time. Learning how and when to interact with your buddy is important. Staying close during the dive and communicating with your buddy is vital. Be aware of your surroundings and watch out for your dive buddy in case they do need your house. If your buddy needs assistance or you can see something that may turn into a problem, you have the ability to help them and reduce the risks. Check on their air consumption and make sure you’re diving within your limits. Understanding your buddy’s limits can help you adjust the dive plan.
Becoming a good diver takes time and practice. Actively trying to become a better diver is important. With more time in the water, things that were once daunting become much easier. Remember to keep learning and developing your skills as a diver. Consider taking further courses like the PADI Advanced Open Water course or a specialty like Peak Control Buoyancy or the Deep Diver course.
Contact us at Aura Divers if you want to learn more tips to become a better diver or about diving in Oman
Refresh or ReActivate your Scuba Diving Skills with Aura Divers
Has it been a while since you’ve been diving? Want to get back in the water but don’t know where to start?
PADI offers two different courses to help you refresh your scuba diving knowledge and skills: the PADI ReActivate Course and the PADI Refresher Course. The PADI ReActivate Course is a course for certified divers that want to refresh all the diving skills they learn during the Open Water Course. The course consists of online theory, confined water session and an optional open water session. The Refresher Course can be done in a few hours and before open water dives. It consists of a quiz and practicing in-water skills.
To do a Refresher or ReActivate course, you need to have an entry level certification from any organization. Whether to do a PADI Refresher or ReActive Course depends on how long you’ve been out of the water and your certification level. It’s recommended to do a PADI Refresher if you’ve been out of the water for longer than a year. If it’s been longer than 2 years’, the PADI ReActivate Course is the way to go. If you haven’t been diving since your initial course, it may be better to consider the PADI ReActivate Course. Both of these courses are useful for people that are a bit apprehensive about scuba diving.
PADI ReActivate
The PADI ReActivate Course is part eLearning where you can watch videos on how to perform the necessary diving skills. It helps you relearn dive theory. If you have any questions, write them down and make sure to ask your dive instructor when you see them. You’ll go over the content from your initial course like: dive planning, equipment assembly and safe diving practices. With your instructor, you can do an in-water session in a pool or confined open water. During the in-water session, you’ll go over ALL the skills from your Open Water Course.
PADI Refresher
In comparison, A PADI Refresher Course is slightly different. It goes over basic diving practices, including alternative air source use, how to clear a mask, setting up and disassembling dive gear, and how to recover your regulator. At the start, complete a quiz which you’ll go over with your dive instructor which covers dive theory and safety practices. There is no eLearning as part of this course.
At Aura Divers, we offer both Refresher and ReActivate Courses. Give us a call to discuss which is the best for you!
Macro Diving in Muscat Oman
Number of dive sites: 25
Boat ride: 15 minutes
Good for: All level divers, Macro photography lovers
Did you know that there are great dive sites for macro diving in Oman?
A trip to Bander Khayran in Muscat is where you should go if you want world-class diving with warm water, dense live coral reefs, many macro organisms, and a diverse range of megafauna, as well as uncrowded dive sites.
Coral reefs
Bander Khayran is one of Oman's must-see treasures, with over 25 diving spots featuring stunning rock formations, cliffs, and reefs teeming with vibrant corals and tropical fish With essential features like staghorn, orange cup, cabbage, and whip coral, this is a fantastic environment for macro photographers. The majority of the rock falls are surrounded by colorful soft corals and sponges, as well as enormous gorgonians that aren't seen on any other Muscat island.
What can you see
We are lucky to have warm waters free of currents majority of the year, this coupled with our nearshore reefs—many within swimming distance of the beach or a 15 minute boat ride from our dive centre these top dive sites are perfect for offering macro seekers ideal conditions and ample time to go on a hunt.
Moray eels, shrimp, crabs, nudibranchs, pipefish, lobster, scorpionfish, lionfish, octopus, squid, and cuttlefish can all be found in between the rocks and crevices.
Fish fish and more fish!
And let not forget all the other exciting marine life to to swim alongside. Snapper, batfish, jacks, and barracuda may all be found during your dive, in addition to schooling fusiliers. Oman is home to six turtle species, eagle, mobula, and manta rays, as well as reef, guitar, leopard, and the occasional whale sharks, are among the megafauna highlights, which are topped off by dolphins and pilot whales, and a few fascinating wrecks.
Go the the right places
It's all about location when it comes to macro diving in Oman, and we've got you covered. Contact us now for more information and to book a trip with us.
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6 Steps If Separated From Your Dive Buddy
Your dive buddy is your lifeline underwater. They can me a second set of eyes and support if anything goes wrong. But there are occasions where you might lose sight of each other. Say if you get separated during a dive with low visibility, or if you are focused on your compass only to look up and realize that your buddy swam in the other direction.
What should you do if you’re separated from your diving buddies?
1- Establish a lost-buddy pre-dive plan.
Remember to always make a lost-buddy plan part of your pre-dive check, especially when diving with a new buddy or a stranger. Agree on how long you’ll search for each other underwater (usually one minute) and then agree to end the dive (after making your safety stop) and reuniting on the surface.
Remember to arm you and your buddy’s buoyancy compensater (BCD) with the essential emergency gear like SMB and whistle.
2- Stop and slowly turn 360 °
As soon as you notice that you cannot see your dive buddy, stop where you are, establish neutral buoyancy, and do a slow visual 360° spin. Also look both upwards and downwards to check whether they have ascended or descended. Try spotting your buddy’s bubbles, if possible.
3- Use a signaling device
Use your tank-banger or another audio signaling device to get your buddy’s attention. He or she may be able to locate you by following the direction of the sound.
If you have a dive light on you and visibility is low, use the light while doing your slow spin. The light can be used to grab the attention of your buddy who could be behind any underwater features like big rocks.
4- Start Ascent
After the agreed time (around 1 minute), start your ascent while repeating the 1-minute turn with noise and light at every safety stop
5- Deploy your delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB)
While at your safety stop, deploy your delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB) or so that your buddy can easily spot you if he is searching for you at the surface.
If you’re doing a boat dive this will also aid the boat crew in locating you.
6- Wait at the surface
At the surface, wait for your buddy to emerge while continuing to look for the air bubbles or DSMB. If the weather is good chances are you will be able to spot them. However if your buddy is taking too long to surface do not re-descend, instead inform the boat crew or dive center as soon as possible that your buddy is missing.
Learn to Dive From Home - Quarantine Edition
We're all stuck home now due to the pandemic, and yes it sucks, but it isn't all bad. Take this opportunity to pick up new skills, or finally start reading that book you kept postponing for different reasons or simply expand your knowledge from the comfort of your home.. Online courses are the limelight.
Take a Dive Course! Special 25% off eLearning with PADI
Social Distancing and Quarantine won’t last forever! Make sure you’re ready to dive into your next adventure by starting your PADI eLearning today. You can start the course in the comfort of your own home, get all the theory out of the way, so you only have the fun stuff (aka diving) left to do when this nightmare is over.This way you are ready to go diving with us as soon as the COVID-19 crisis is behind us. Moreover Aura Divers is offering a 25% discount on your elearning! (valid until April 30th 2020)
Is It Worth It?
100% yes, every student who’s completed the elearning before arrival has been glad they’ve done so. Learning to dive in three days is no mean feat and by getting a huge chunk of the course out of the way before arrival frees a lot of time and makes the pool session much more relaxed and fun, there’s simply no need to rush.
How Do I Sign Up?
That’s fairly straight forward, Click the button below to start your adventure and get a 25% discount off eLearning (valid until April 30th 2020), or simply click on this link to redirect you to the PADI website. The registration is a simple process and you’ll be ready to start learning in minutes. Otherwise you can contact us at Aura Divers and we will send you a link to get started. There’s simple instructions for every step and if you get a little confused , contact us at Aura Divers for help.
