Dive Arizona Blog Posts

How to Choose Your First International Dive Trip
How to Choose Your First International Dive Trip
The short answer: pick your first trip based on what you're looking for and what each trip requires, not just which destination has the prettiest photos. Newly certified and more... Read more...
Why We Chose SDI Over PADI (And What It Means for You as a Student)
Why We Chose SDI Over PADI (And What It Means for You as a Student)
People ask me this more than almost anything else when they walk into the shop. They've seen PADI's logo everywhere, on dive flags, on rental gear, on every shop window... Read more...
How Much Does an International Dive Trip Cost? (Plus Payment Plans)
How Much Does an International Dive Trip Cost? (Plus Payment Plans)
Ask five dive shops what a trip to Roatan or Fiji costs and you'll get five vague answers, if you get one at all. Most travel pages show a starting... Read more...
Private & One-on-One Scuba Lessons in Arizona: Who They're For
Private & One-on-One Scuba Lessons in Arizona: Who They're For
Most people learn to dive in a group, and for most people that works fine. But every group class moves at one pace, and that pace isn't right for everyone.... Read more...
The Scuba Refresher Course: How to Get Back in the Water After Years Away
The Scuba Refresher Course: How to Get Back in the Water After Years Away
Most divers who've been out of the water for a few years don't call the shop right away. They think about it, put it off, and quietly assume they'd have... Read more...
The Full SDI/TDI Certification Pathway, From Open Water to Instructor
The Full SDI/TDI Certification Pathway, From Open Water to Instructor
Walk in with your Open Water card and a few dives logged, and the wall of course names at the shop can look like a maze with no clear order.... Read more...
What Is a Master Diver? Every Requirement for SDI's Top Recreational Rating
What Is a Master Diver? Every Requirement for SDI's Top Recreational Rating
Someone at the shop, or a diver you met on a boat, mentioned they were working toward Master Diver, and now you're wondering what that means and whether you're already... Read more...
Is Rescue Diver Certification Worth It? What the Course Covers
Is Rescue Diver Certification Worth It? What the Course Covers
You've got your Advanced Adventure card, or fifteen logged dives sitting in your log book, and someone at the shop mentioned Rescue Diver as the next step. This one is... Read more...
Flying After Scuba Diving: How Long You Need to Wait
Flying After Scuba Diving: How Long You Need to Wait
You just logged your last dive of the trip in San Carlos, the gear's rinsed and packed, and the drive back to Queen Creek or the flight home leaves in... Read more...
Can I Get Scuba Certified With a Medical Condition? The Complete Clearance Guide
Can I Get Scuba Certified With a Medical Condition? The Complete Clearance Guide
You've got an inhaler in your gear bag or a glucose meter in your carry-on, and somewhere along the way someone told you scuba diving just isn't in the cards... Read more...
SDI vs. PADI vs. SSI vs. NAUI: What the Agency on Your Card Changes
SDI vs. PADI vs. SSI vs. NAUI: What the Agency on Your Card Changes
If you've started looking into getting certified, you've probably run into four names: PADI, SDI, SSI, and NAUI. Course brochures rarely explain what separates them, so it's easy to assume... Read more...
Wreck Diving Beyond Arizona: From Lake Mohave to San Diego and San Carlos
Wreck Diving Beyond Arizona: From Lake Mohave to San Diego and San Carlos
Arizona doesn't have a shipwreck. What it has is a sunken school bus at Lake Mohave, the right place to start. From there, three of the best wreck-diving destinations in... Read more...
Why Every Arizona Dive Is Already an Altitude Dive
Why Every Arizona Dive Is Already an Altitude Dive
You logged your Open Water checkout dives at Lake Pleasant, checked your no-decompression limits against a table or a computer, and never thought twice about where you were standing while... Read more...
Full Face Masks for Diving: Ocean Reef vs OTS
Full Face Masks for Diving: Ocean Reef vs OTS
A full face mask seals your whole face and lets you breathe through your nose, no mouthpiece required. The first time you breathe through a full face mask, the whole... Read more...
Lake Pleasant Diving: What New Divers Should Know
Lake Pleasant Diving: What New Divers Should Know
Lake Pleasant is the closest open water dive site to Phoenix, about an hour from Queen Creek. New divers should plan for cold water below the thermocline, visibility that swings... Read more...
Open Water Certified, Now What? The Dive Arizona Roadmap for New Divers
Open Water Certified, Now What? The Dive Arizona Roadmap for New Divers
The card is the start line, not the finish. What you do in the next few weeks decides the kind of diver you become. You just got Open Water certified... Read more...
BCD 101: How to Choose Your First One
BCD 101: How to Choose Your First One
Written by Amanda Krugen Your first BCD is a bigger decision than most new divers expect, because it is the one piece of gear you wear on every dive. It... Read more...
Nitrox 101: Is It Worth It?
Nitrox 101: Is It Worth It?
Written by Amanda Krugen For most divers, yes, and it's about the cheapest upgrade you'll ever make to how a dive day feels. Nitrox, sometimes called enriched air, is regular... Read more...
What It Actually Costs to Get Scuba Certified in Arizona (No Surprises)
What It Actually Costs to Get Scuba Certified in Arizona (No Surprises)
Written by Amanda Krugen If you have started pricing out scuba certification around Phoenix, you have probably run into the same frustration. Half the shops give you a number, the... Read more...
How Often Should You Dive After Getting Certified? A New Diver's Guide
How Often Should You Dive After Getting Certified? A New Diver's Guide
Written by Liz Robinson Most new divers should aim to dive every 4 to 6 weeks during their first year, then settle into a dive every couple of months after... Read more...
GI Bill and Scuba: How Arizona Veterans Get Certified With Military Benefits
GI Bill and Scuba: How Arizona Veterans Get Certified With Military Benefits
Written by Liz Robinson If you've got unused GI Bill entitlement, you can put it toward scuba certification, from your first Open Water dive to a professional rating. Here's how... Read more...
What It's Like to Dive San Carlos, Mexico (A Weekend Trip from Queen Creek That's Worth Every Mile)
What It's Like to Dive San Carlos, Mexico (A Weekend Trip from Queen Creek That's Worth Every Mile)
Written by Amanda Krugen I've been on a lot of dive trips. Long-haul flights, layovers, sleepless nights, the whole production. And I love every bit of it. But San Carlos... Read more...
Why Buoyancy Control Is the Most Important Skill in Scuba Diving (And How to Actually Master It)
Why Buoyancy Control Is the Most Important Skill in Scuba Diving (And How to Actually Master It)
Written by Amanda Krugen You can spot a diver with good buoyancy the second they hit the water. They move like they belong there, slow, deliberate, effortless. Their fins barely... Read more...
Your First Open Water Dive: What to Expect, How to Prepare, and Why You'll Love It
Your First Open Water Dive: What to Expect, How to Prepare, and Why You'll Love It
Written by Liz Robinson Nervous about your first open water dive? Here's exactly what to expect, from gearing up on the surface to that first breath underwater and how to make the most... Read more...
The First Major Scuba Purchase You Should Make After Class (And Why It's a Dive Computer)
The First Major Scuba Purchase You Should Make After Class (And Why It's a Dive Computer)
Written by Amanda Krugen You did it. You signed up for your scuba certification, bought the gear your instructor required, a mask, fins, boots, snorkel, and now you're working your way through... Read more...
4 Best Dive Destinations Within a Day's Drive of Queen Creek, AZ (Ranked by a Local Instructor)
4 Best Dive Destinations Within a Day's Drive of Queen Creek, AZ (Ranked by a Local Instructor)
Written by Amanda Krugen One of the most common things I hear from certified divers in the East Valley is some version of: "I wish I lived closer to the... Read more...
Diving in Proco Island, Indonesia
Diving in Proco Island, Indonesia
Written by Amanda Krugen A Hidden Gem in Indonesia... Most certified divers have Komodo on their bucket list. A lot have done Raja Ampat. A much smaller number have heard... Read more...
Fins 101: Choosing the Right Fin
Fins 101: Choosing the Right Fin
Written by Amanda Krugen Your fins are one of the most important pieces of scuba gear you’ll own — they determine your comfort, efficiency, and control underwater. Whether you’re gliding... Read more...
Why DAN Dive Accident Insurance Is a Must for Every Diver
Why DAN Dive Accident Insurance Is a Must for Every Diver
Written by Liz Robinson Whether you’re exploring coral reefs in the Caribbean or drifting through deep wrecks off Florida’s coast, diving safely starts long before you hit the water. One... Read more...
Advanced Adventure vs Advanced Diver: Here's the Difference
Advanced Adventure vs Advanced Diver: Here's the Difference
Written by Liz Robinson You've earned your Open Water card, congrats! Now the real fun begins. Most new divers ask the same question: what's next? Two SDI courses come up constantly, Advanced... Read more...