| Many people are afraid of diving and are not willing to | | | | Afraid of Drowning: this is a very common reason for |
| try this wonderful past time due to their different | | | | most people. Some of them are not strong |
| personal reasons and even phobias. A phobia is an | | | | swimmers and the idea of going into deep waters is |
| intense, persistent fear of certain situations, activities, | | | | actually a phobia. "I had never gone deeper that my |
| things, or people. The main symptom of a phobia is | | | | waist"- one of them quoted. You don't have to be a |
| the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the | | | | strong swimmer to dive. Diving instructors also could |
| feared subject. | | | | test your ability for snorkeling as a second option. |
| Lets make this clear, not everybody who is afraid of | | | | The good part about diving is that you must try the |
| diving has a phobia of diving. However, often when I | | | | equipment in a pool first, where you will see if by |
| meet new people and I mention that I am a diving | | | | using the gear you can breathe easily underwater. |
| instructor, the first thing some of them ask: Can you | | | | After that during the scuba diving courses, you will |
| help me with my phobia? Many of them used the | | | | learn all the safety rules and exercises that have |
| following common reasons that have prevented | | | | been implemented to make diving more safe. |
| them from experiencing diving: deep water, afraid of | | | | Afraid of Sharks: Someone once wrote: "The |
| the unsuspected, afraid of drowning and the majority | | | | simplest way to avoid shark encounters is by simply |
| afraid of sharks. | | | | not going into the habitat of sharks. I have never |
| Afraid of the deep water: almost all diving areas | | | | seen one on dry land." Very true, but I have over |
| around the world have diving spots for beginners and | | | | 500 dives logged in my logbooks, before I got tired |
| advanced divers. For those who are afraid of diving in | | | | to write them down, and I only saw a nurse shark |
| deep water, you must know that your fear will | | | | once. |
| disappear with more dives and experience. | | | | You have to remember that not all sharks are |
| Afraid of the unsuspected: yes even me, the first | | | | aggressive and majority of the attacks happen when |
| time I dove. I was looking at the infinite blue under | | | | sharks, a curious creature which uses bite to find out |
| the water and I was expecting anything at any | | | | if you are on his menu, confused us with his meal. |
| moment. I had that same experience on my first | | | | For our conclusion on "afraid of diving" we will use |
| night dive. But all these feelings of being afraid of the | | | | what one of our visitors, Carlos Estrada Mellado, once |
| unsuspected disappeared after a few dives. I was | | | | quoted in ScubaDivingFanClub.com: "Diving, an activity |
| not afraid of diving any more. I understood the | | | | dreaded by some, but those who dare don't stop to |
| environment, where I was, and I started to enjoy | | | | enjoy it". I will add to it to please keep it within the |
| diving since then on. | | | | limits, "safe" and always enjoy it. |