This guest blog is written by Rutger Thole who is a passionated scuba diver and instructor. After traveling the world and the seven seas he founded Book Your Dive. Where divers can review, compare and book their scuba dives. 

Maldives Promotion House – Scuba diving is a recreational activity/sport which is becoming more and more popular worldwide now as more and more people get scuba certified. A number of myths are held amongst most people when they think of Scuba diving that puts them off of even attempting it. This blogpost will attempt to debunk some of these strange myths and perceptions that people have about scuba diving.

Lets take a closer look at “5 myths about scuba diving”.

Myth 1) Lots of divers get killed by Sharks

It must be said that Jaws did no good for the reputation of scuba diving. Anybody who has ever seen the movie seems to now count themselves as an expert who knows that diving is an unsafe sport due to sharks lurking in the water. The record for sharks killing or even injuring divers is rather dull to look at so completely goes against the myth that scuba diving is unsafe due to sharks. An interesting statistic is that in 2005 in the U.S 27 people were killed by “man’s best friend” yes your dog! Whereas only four people worldwide died from sharks suggesting dogs are more dangerous than sharks! In fact there is ZERO shark attacks recorded in Maldives for the past 10 years.

Myth 2) Diving will cost you an absolute fortune

Another myth that puts people off is that they think they will need to fork out a king’s ransom to just start learning to dive. Of course like any sport it helps to have the best possible equipment, but in scuba diving you actually only need three basic pieces to start off with ; a mask, a snorkel and a pair of fins. Generally you can rent the rest of the gear through the dive shops and this will not cost you a great amount. This is how most of the newly trained divers start of with.

Myth 3) Divers need to be Olympic level swimmers

Another myth is that unless your ability as a swimmer is up there with Michael Phelps then it is pointless you going diving. Of course being a great swimmer will add to your experience but if it were true that you had to be a brilliant swimmer then surely this would mean you could not go cycling if you weren’t up to riding in the Tour De France. Clearly this is a myth, but it must be said the more comfortable you are at swimming the more comfortable you will be in the water when you go diving.

Myth 4) Getting scuba lessons costs a fortune

When you want to go diving at any dive site across the world you need to be a certified as a scuba diver. You only get a certification when you took scuba lesson, and you will have to pass the exams. 
 You probably have heard of PADI, who is the biggest scuba certifying agency out there. When you start with your scuba lessons trough PADI you probably start with the Open Water Course. A myth exists here that a certification costs a massive amount. It costs somewhere between $300-$500, in most of the dive centers in Maldives to start your course. A Diving certification for life for $500 is relatively cheap.

Myth 5) A macho sport that doesn’t welcome women

Another silly myth is that scuba diving is a macho obsessed sport that is quite negative towards women. Maybe five or six decades ago this could have been said, but it is far from the truth now and female participation is greatly encouraged in the sport. It is still true that male participation in the sport is higher than women, but the ratio is now only 67/33 showing that there is not a big gap at all and scuba diving is very much so a sport for females. 

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has blown out of the water any misconceptions or myths held in readers minds about scuba diving that may have put them off trying out this popular sport. If you ever hear any of these 5 myths being mentioned, contest it, this is the only way the myth will disappear.