Private Scuba Team › A-Z Guide for Divers and Snorkelers

Information about Scuba Diving

No matter what your certification level, be it beginner or advanced, there is always something new and exciting to learn about scuba diving.

The information in this section lists hundreds of interesting and essential topics about scuba diving and snorkeling activities with simplified explanations, pictures, and videos.

Scuba Diving Information | List of Contents

This section is an ongoing project to help you stay up-to-date with everything connected to scuba. Each category contains different topics that explain important scuba diving information and facts - especially for beginners.

Using the Search Function

The alphabetical tool below is useful for speeding up the search process if you need a quick answer. Click the most appropriate letter and you will go directly to the section that contains that information.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Note: We update this page every month. Please bookmark our A to Z list of scuba topics and contact our research department if we missed something important.

Letter "A"

Absolute Pressure

In simple terms, absolute pressure is defined as the calculation that combines a vacuum as the zero point, gauge pressure, and the pressure of the atmosphere.

Accident Guide

The PADI® Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is a free template and flowchart that provides accident assistance and guidance during emergency rescues.

Adrenaline

The body releases adrenaline (epinephrine) when a person feels a strong emotion (e.g. anger, excitement, fear). The substance usually causes the heart to beat faster than normal.

Often, the release of the adrenaline hormone will give the person a sudden boost of energy (so-called fight or flight response).

Adventure Divers

Completing the PADI Adventure Diver Course introduces you to new scuba skills underwater and gets you one step closer to an advanced scuba certification.

Advanced Divers

Participate in a range of deep sea scuba adventures and you can get the most out of diving with the PADI Advanced Diver Certification course.

AED (Course)

An automated external defibrillator (or AED) is a portable electronic device that 'automatically' diagnoses potentially life-threatening abnormal cardiac rhythms.

Any one of any age may enroll in the Emergency First Response® CPR and AED course because the theory lessons and skill objectives are performance-based.

Air

Recreational divers breathe compressed air from a scuba cylinder while underwater. The tank will contain a gas mixture of oxygen (21%), nitrogen (78%), and other trace gases (1%) - mostly argon.

Alternobaric Vertigo

Disturbance to the balance mechanism of the inner ear is the main cause of a pressure injury 'alternobaric vertigo. It often results in dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting.

Articles

Chill out for a while and read through the scuba diving articles written by 'Scuba Steve' for the enjoyment and entertainment of all our friends and dive buddies.

Note: Are you planning on starting up and running your own company? If so, 'how to start a scuba diving business' is this month's article of the month.

Assistant Instructor

The PADI® Assistant Instructor Course is the first portion of the IDC (Instructor Development Course). It results in limited teaching responsibilities combined with the role of being an instructor's assistant.


Letter "B"

Blog

Go ahead and browse through our snorkeling blog and articles with advice and tips for snorkelers and beginners as well as the answers to popular questions about swimming with a snorkel.

Boat Diving

Some divers never make boating dives, whereas others have logged countless descents and have never made an entrance from the beach or shoreline.

Bubblemaker

The PADI Bubblemaker program is specifically aimed towards young eight or nine year old children who want to start blowing bubbles underwater and learn how to dive.

Bubble Rings

Blowing bubble rings underwater has no purposeful benefit for fish or the environment, but - hey - making air rings like whales do is a fun trick and it looks pretty cool in diving circles too.

Bull Shark

The Bull Shark - scientific name Carcharhinus leucas - mostly exists in shallow warm-water oceans. It is essentially a dangerous and aggressive marine animal which belongs with a migratory and live-bearing species of requiem sharks.


Letter "C"

Christmas Tree Worms

Christmas tree worm is its common name but in fact scientifically this member of the tube-dwelling bristle worm family is called Spirobranchus giganteus.

Coral Reefs

Coral Reef Formations

Courses

PADI scuba courses and certifications for beginners or qualified divers with a license.

CPR and First Aid

The benefits of knowing CPR and first aid safety training are never wasted. You can never be sure whether a few hours spent learning the correct procedures and basic steps might help save someone’s life one day.


Letter "D"

DAN

Divers Alert Network - is a global network of not-for-profit, member-based, dive safety organizations working for the safety of all divers through education, research, and training.

Day Trips

Follow the dive leader on your fun dive trip in Pattaya and you might swim with sharks and sea turtles. Each day, the boat sails out to Pattaya's most dived capsized artificial ruins – Khram and Kood shipwrecks – and drops anchor nearby the gardens of encrusted hard and soft corals.

Destinations

We dedicate this section as an informative guide to the world's top dive sites for scuba divers.

Discover Scuba Diving

Try Diving in Pattaya. The PADI Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) program gives you an opportunity to become a diver for a day and see how much you like it.

Divemaster

PADI Divemaster Course.

Divemaster DSD Leader

DSD Leadership program.

Dive Agency Crossovers

The table shows BSAC, CMAS, SSI, NAUI, and SAA scuba training agencies and their PADI equivalent graded certification.

Diving Deaths Statistics

Deaths are relatively uncommon, but they do happen in dive areas the world over. Some are unique, but many have things in common. Most of the deaths could have been prevented - as with most unfortunate accidents!

Drift Diving

Gliding with the flow of underwater tides and currents saves energy and air supply which usually results in a relaxing and effortless dive.

Drysuit Diving

Surprisingly, drysuits are useful for many dive sites. You need more thermal protection the longer you are in the water.


Letter "E"

Emergency First Response™

Emergency First Response Primary Care (CPR) and Secondary Care (first aid) Courses create confidence that encourages you to help others in the event of a medical emergency and prepares you how to respond appropriately.

Emergency First Response Instructor

The Emergency First Response® Instructor Certification allows you to teach internationally recognized courses in CPR and First Aid.

Environment

 

Equipment

Scuba equipment section


Letter "F"

FAQ

We always welcome questions and comments by email (and we reply to them all). But, you might find what you're looking for in our scuba diving FAQs for a quick answer.

Fishes

Fish Identification

The PADI AWARE Fish Identification Specialty Course teaches you basic identifying skills so you can recognise fish species and name their families on the next dive.

Flying After Diving

The information in this guide explains the recommended flying after diving guidelines and why you have to wait to fly after scuba diving.

Fun Diving

Daily fun dive trips around the wrecked remains and encrusted coral gardens off the coastline of Pattaya, Thailand.


Letter "G"

Good Habits vs. Bad Habits

With more than twenty years' of personal experience in the industry I would like to share some of scuba's good habits, some bad habits, and a few of those really ugly ones.


Letter "H"

Hand Signals

All PADI beginners should find the review of underwater scuba hand signs and symbols a useful resource, especially when you want to recall the language and gestures used in diver communication.

Handicapped Divers

The International Association for Handicapped Divers (IAHD) is one of the diving associations that focuses on providing the means for people with a handicap or physical disabilities to become scuba divers.

Health and Safety

This collection of scuba diving health and safety rules contains essential information about all the medical contraindications that new and experienced divers need to know.


Letter "I"

Injuries

A comprehensive list of the most common scuba diving accidents and injuries from minor ailments to maladies creating serious medical emergencies.

Insurance Cover

If you're asking yourself "why do I need dive insurance" this guide explains why scuba divers should have some kind of diving accident insurance and how to get the best coverage.

Internships

An internship works in a similar way to an apprenticeship. So, a trainee works at an organisation to gain experience or to meet the requirements needed for a qualification.

Different types of internships for divers include:

Signing up for a scuba internship means you will have a good opportunity to learn new dive skills and to meet people with similar interests.

Invertebrates

Marine invertebrates.


Letter "J"

Junior Scuba Certifications

A list of PADI Junior Scuba Certifications available for young kids and teenagers.


Letter "K"


Letter "L"

Lessons for Beginners

The "Private Scuba" team of instructors and dive educators are experts at highlighting the basic safety procedures and diving industry guidelines.

Our section of free scuba lessons and tips is the ideal place for absolute beginners to start learning online with some introductory courses.


Letter "M"

Multilevel Diving

Learn how to extend the bottom time by gaining credit for slower nitrogen absorption as you ascend to a multi-tiered shallower depth.


Letter "N"

News Stories

Get up to date with the latest dive and snorkeling news snippets and hot stories from the amazing underwater world of scuba diving.

Nitrox Diving

If you scuba dive with a nitrox cylinder it means the gas mixture has a higher proportion of oxygen than standard air and therefore a lower percentage of nitrogen.

The main benefits of diving nitrox with an increased oxygen content of the breathing gas is to extend the time divers can stay underwater at certain depths.

Nudibranch

The nudibranch sea slug - scientific name Nudibranchia - is one of over 3,000 known species of soft-bodied jazzy, shell-less, gastropod marine mollusks.


Letter "O"

Open Water Diver

The PADI Open Water Diver Certification Course is a world leader for basic scuba licenses. Becoming a diver changes your lifestyle introducing you to new diving adventures and undiscovered nature underneath the ocean waves.


Letter "P"

PADI®

The acronym stands for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. PADI is undeniably the world's foremost organisation for those who are serious about scuba diving.

PADI Master Scuba Diver

PADI Master Scuba Divers are recognized and rated for reaching the highest achievement in recreational scuba diving.

PADI Scuba Diver

The PADI Scuba Diver Certification Course is shorter than the full license. The benefits of the part course usually save you time and costs.

PADI ScubaEarth®

PADI Scubaearth is an online resource social community sharing platform dedicated to scuba divers, snorkelers, and water lovers.

Pollution

Underwater garbage pollution may be an unfamiliar phrase, but 'garbage dumping' is one of the biggest contributions to the destruction of our oceans.

Price List

A comprehensive scuba and snorkeling price list including dive packages and high season savings.


Letter "Q"


Letter "R"

Rescue Diver

The PADI Rescue Diver Course builds on what you have already learned in previous certifications. It is prudent to learn more about self-rescue and the safety of other divers.


Letter "S"

SCUBA Acronym

SCUBA is a slang word. The popular expression refers to the aqualung device used by recreational divers to help them breathe underwater.

In its full form, the SCUBA acronym stands for 'Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus'. U.S. Major Christian J. Lambertsen first coined the term way back in 1952.

Scuba Review

The team at 'Private Scuba' offers the PADI ReActivate™ Scuba Refresher in Thailand. We use the program to help get inactive divers back in the water.

Scuba and Snorkeling Packages

Some people like to combine scuba diving with snorkeling as a one-day event. You can take advantage of a unique snorkeling and scuba diving combination package available at our dive shop in Pattaya.

What is Scuba Diving?

Scuba diving is a water sport activity that takes place underwater. Participants breathe compressed air via a regulator assembly that is attached to a metal cylinder (usually strapped to the diver's back).

Most of the people who enjoy scuba diving are recreational divers (e.g. for fun). They will explore different kinds of underwater environments (e.g. coral reefs, kelp forests, freshwater lakes, quarries, and rivers).

Nonetheless, some people actually scuba dive for work. Typical examples include marine biologists, public safety divers, and underwater welders.

Sea Life

Sea-life Section

Sharks

Shark species size range from the dwarf lantern shark less than 20 cm in length to the colossal whale shark measuring in at a gigantic 12 meters long.

Snorkeling

Pattaya Snorkeling Tours. What is the history of snorkeling? Snorkeling tips for non swimmers.

Note: Another section explains the basic differences between snorkeling and scuba diving. But, you will also find extra information on which water-based activity is easier, safer, and often – more fun!

SNUBA Diving

SNUBA seems to bridge the gap creating a comfortable 'limit-pusher' combination between traditional snorkeling and scuba diving. But what does SNUBA Diving mean?

Specialty Diver

PADI Specialty Diver Courses.

Split-level Photography Underwater

Split-level photography is a 'split-shot' technique of producing amazing pictures that capture one image of air and water scenes simultaneously.


Letter "T"

Team Building Activities

Boost morale and motivate your staff with group activities to create a company team building event, scuba diving in Pattaya, Thailand.

Testimonials

Why choose the Private Scuba Instructor Team in Pattaya? The best reason is our friendly 'mentor' approach and providing flexible, customized dive and snorkel lessons.

Thailand

Officially called the "Kingdom of Thailand", this is one of the most visited countries in all of Southeast Asia (SEA).

Our new Thailand holiday and travel guide is for tourists and expats to learn more about life in the "Land of Smiles" and find out what this fascinating country has to offer.

Thai Language

ยินดีต้อนรับสู่พัทยาซีส์ล ค่ะ ดำน้ำลึกแบบสคูบ้าสำหรับทุกคน ง่ายกว่าที่คิด ในราคาค ไทย เรียนดำน้ำแบบสคูบ้าที่พัทยากับพัทยาซีส์ล ไปดำน้ำกันเถอะ เรียนดำน้ำแบบสคูบ้าใกล้ๆที่พัทยา

Try Dives

Tryout the PADI Discover Scuba one-day highly supervised scuba program.

Tsunami

The date was the 26th of December 2004 and the impending Thai tsunami natural disaster would scar the lives of so many people.


Letter "U"

Underwater Naturalist

Learn about symbiotic and predator/prey relationships between aquatic animal and plant life. This fascinating interaction is covered in the PADI Underwater Naturalist Course.

Underwater Navigation

Underwater navigation diver skills are much more than luck! Learn how to navigate with an underwater compass - or nav-finder for complex patterns.

Underwater Photography

The PADI Digital Underwater Photography Course is the most flexible and popular specialty for scuba photographers emphasising the SEA method - Shoot, Examine, Adjust.

Underwater Videography

Learn how to make a movie of your scuba vacation adventures and share your videos with your dive buddies, family, friends, and through social websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.

Underwater Weddings

Tie the knot and Make Underwater Memories. If you and your partner share a common love for Scuba Diving, Private Scuba has something unique, memorable and exciting with our underwater wedding packages in Thailand.


Letter "V"

What is a Vertebrate?

Marine vertebrates.


Letter "W"

Wreck Diving

A section all about wreck diving adventures.


Letter "X"


Letter "Y"


Letter "Z"

Zooplankton

Zooplanktons are tiny microscopic animals which play a vital role in the biosphere of saltwater oceans and freshwater systems.

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