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Why It’s Worth to Do a Refresher Course! Many of us are in the same situation: Covid made us stuck in our home base, not able to travel and especially not able to Scuba Dive. Since you’ve had a long break from Scuba Diving, it is worth taking a Refresher Course. Get to know why and what the course looks like. Better to Be Over-Prepared than Risk a Problem Even though, your PADI certification never expires, it is better to be over-prepared than risk a problem because you forget something important. If you have been out of the water for a while, your Scuba skills might feel a little rusty and in need of a tune-up. A refresher is a program, where divers receive the assistance and supervision of a dive professional in a pool or shallow water environment while they review the basic skills of diving. It should also include a thorough review of equipment usage and some knowledge development. The Refresher differs from a ‘check dive’ in which a group of divers might be asked to check their weighting and perform a few skills to demonstrate basic diving competence before heading off into deeper water to enjoy a regular dive. Step by Step with a Private Instructor With us, you will be going through step by step with a private instructor. He or she will help you to set up your equipment, will review with you some of the basic skills required for Scuba Diving but will also give you some more pro tips along the way. Then together you will jump into the water, to review some basic but very important skills. You will stay below the surface until the instructor can feel that you feel comfortable again – then you can join the rest of the group for two amazing dives. Use Your Own Judgement Honestly, as from our experience, 90 per cent of the divers who ask to do a refresher don’t really need to do one, and 90 per cent of the divers who refuse a refresher really do. This makes sense: Usually people who belong to the safe, considerate diver (who everyone would love to dive with) tend to book a Refresher – even if they would be fine without it. But usually people who refuse to do a Refresher program are the ones who tend to create problems for everyone. A good diver should be able to use their own judgement to determine whether or not they would benefit from a thorough refresher program or just need an easy check-dive to get themselves back into the water. Are You Asking Yourself Now – Should I Take a Refresher? PADI suggests that divers who did not dive in the last six months should take a Refresher course. In our opinion, this can vary a bit. If a diver was certified Open Water but made no other dives after the course, then a refresher is essential if the next dive is anything more than a few months later. For a diver with less than 20 logged dives then 6 months out of the water would warrant a tune-up of some description. An absence from the water of more than two years should make even experienced divers consider a confined water session before heading out into the depths. Worried about the Handsignals? You feel like taking a PADI Refresher Course with us? Check all the details here  You have been diving within the last six months but you keep on forgetting the Scuba Handsignals? Don’t worry – we got you covered with our Blog post here: The most important Scuba Diving Hand Signals. Next Post

Why Every Diver Should Have a Log Book Travelers collect Passport stamps – Scuba Divers collect Dive Shop stamps. Quite true, isn’t it? Seeing your logbook becoming richer and richer with information’s is a great feeling and a lovely memory of all the dives you did. But have you ever asked yourself, why it is recommended to log your dives? A Proof of Your Experience Dive logs were first used to ensure safe dive planning of repetitive dives. Divers would record the information from previous dives in a logbook, so that they could calculate the safe parameters for their next one. With the advent of dive computers, planning has become largely obsolete. But there are other reasons as well. First of all the Dive logs are proof of your experience as a diver. In order to climb up the PADI leader, you need to prove that you’ve successfully completed a certain number of dives. But not only that, the number of dives you have completed is also a way to proof your diving experience. Many dive shops like us at MolaMola Diving Center are using the number of your dives to make sure your experience level matches the type of diving we plan to do. Another aspect are the information. Let’s say you haven’t been diving for a while and the next Dive Shop you are going to asks you how much weight you need, how many millimeter your last wetsuit was and when your last dive was. Lucky you having logged everything in your logbook where everything is noted down. And last but not least a logbook is a way to capture and preserve your memories. Many divers use their dive log as an underwater journal or diary. They keep their memories and their incredible experiences while Scuba Diving in one place. What Is There to Log The level of detail you choose to go into in your dive log is just as personal as why you keep it. It could be the bare-bones of your dive, or a detailed diary entry of who you dived with, what you saw, and how you felt. A typical entry consists of the dive site, day and time of the dive, duration of the dive and depth. Divers also often log things like water temperature, equipment, and what they saw. f you’re simplifying your log you can stick to these fundamentals; perhaps you’re a regular diver or a dive pro who’s no longer in need of additional information. However, going into more detail can be rewarding, particularly when it comes to weights. If you’re a travel diver who frequents different locations – flitting between warm and cold water, or diving with different cylinders – getting your weighting correct is a minefield. Digital or Paper – It’s Up to You In this modern world, it’s not surprising that digital logbooks have entered the scene making recording a breeze. These modern electronic dive logs also use statistics, graphs, and other tools to help you track and analyze your underwater explorations. But in our opinion, nothing beats the old-fashioned paper logbook. We at MolaMola Diving Center love sitting down with people at the end of our trip to fill the logbook, exchange stamps, talk about what we have seen and what there is more to see when Scuba Diving in Oman. Next Post

Protect What You Love – Why Sustainable Diving Is So Important For us scuba divers, the ocean is our playground. We descend under the surface, we explore, and we often have the privilege of observing beautiful. For these incredible experiences to continue we need to honour the fact that we’re merely guests in the ocean; it’s imperative that we respect what we love. The oceans absorb a quarter of all carbon dioxideOur oceans regulate our climate. Did you know that the oceans absorb a quarter of all the carbon dioxide that humans put into the atmosphere? Over 90% of the additional heat caused by global warming is stored in the Oceans. Also, did you know that Scientists have discovered that many marine invertebrates produce antibiotic, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory substances? The oceans help us – let us help them. Different human activities are putting our oceans under threatIn the entire cosmos, there’s only one blue planet – ours. Unfortunately, different human activities are putting our oceans under threat. Overfishing is reducing fish populations, threatening the supply of nutritious food and changing marine food webs. Approximately 80 percent of the pollution in the oceans comes from land, and coastal zones are especially vulnerable to pollutants. Plastics are also particularly problematic with enormous floating rubbish patches forming in the oceans. Climate change and its related impacts, such as ocean acidification, are affecting the survival of some marine species. Coastal development is destroying and degrading important coastal marine ecosystems such as coral reef, seagrass meadows and mangroves. As divers, we’re blessed with the chance to see what few others see; an entire world underwater, with unique geology, biology, and a life cycle all of its own. But we’ve also got a front-row seat to the negative impact humans have on that world; coral bleaching, underwater debris and garbage, and declining populations of marine animals. There are many steps that we can take as divers, big and small, to protect the future of our blue planet and to make our underwater adventures more sustainable. We need clean and healthy oceans to support our own health and survival, even if we don’t live anywhere near them. Each and every one of us can make a difference, it’s time to take action! That’s why, as MolaMola Diving Center, we are following these easy rules every single day. Help us and save the Ocean together with us: Do not throw trash into the Ocean Do not take anything from the ocean Try to use as less single-use plastic as possible Do not feed the fish Do not touch or chase marine life Do not stand or walk on corals   Next Post