The Best SCUBA Diving Equipment in Alexandria Northern Virginia

If you are interested in obtaining the finest  SCUBA Diving Equipment in Northern Virginia a great place to start would be Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy located in Alexandria Northern Virginia.  Aquatic Adventures is a PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center that offers SCUBA diving classes, all levels of SCUBA certification.  Besides SCUBA Lessons, Aquatic Adventures has a full line  of quality SCUBA Equipment,  second to none.

There are many good brands of SCUBA Diving Equipment.  However, a few brands stand out as being far better than others.  At Aquatic Adventures you will find Scuba Pro Diving Equipment and other fine brands such as Sherwood dive equipment.  Zeagle BCD’s and Aeris Dive Computers are also routinely in stock.  Dive Centers that offer only one or two quality brands will have good choices but Dive Centers that can carry many quality brands like Aquatic Adventures has the advantage of being able to offer the finest in each line of SCUBA regulator and SCUBA diving buoyancy control devices or BCD’s.

Quality Scuba diving equipment is just part of the equation, however.  In addition a high quality Dive Center will have staff that is very knowledgeable about the scuba equipment and can help you select what is best for your individual type of diving.  When you buy your SCUBA Equipment a quality dive center will also take the time to make sure that you understand your purchase and know how to get the most out of your gear and how to take care of it.  A quality Dive Center like Aquatic Adventures will also make sure that you do not make mistakes and misuse your equipment.

Last but not least a quality Dive Center will take care of you after the purchase.  They will be there to assist you should you have a problem or a question.  They are there to help you in the case of warranty repairs as well as normal routine service.  When you are in the market for quality SCUBA diving equipment stop by Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy.  You will be amazed at how much they have in stock, their reasonable prices and their knowledge and helpfulness.

The Best SCUBA Diving Lessons – Alexandria Northern Virginia

If you are interested in obtaining  SCUBA Diving Lessons in Northern Virginia a great place to start would be Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy located in Alexandria Virginia.  Aquatic Adventures is a PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Center that offers SCUBA diving lessons, all levels of SCUBA certification.  Aquatic Adventures has a staff of quality SCUBA Instructors second to none.  All levels of SCUBA classes and SCUBA courses from beginner through SCUBA Instructor level are offered year round.

Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy also offers SCUBA diving travel to many exciting locations in the Caribbean and Pacific throughout the year.  Our dive travel program is second to none and includes dive trips to locations for both long weekends and week long dive trips.  Fantastic dive locations are offer to such incredible SCUBA diving locations like Bonaire, Grand Cayman, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cozumel and more.  If one of our group SCUBA Diving Trips does not fit your personal schedule Aquatic Adventures can arrange your own person dive trip.

Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy offers the finest SCUBA Dive Equipment of any Dive Center in Alexandria Virginia.  The best rated brands of SCUBA dive equipment are offered at fantastic prices.  Scuba Pro, Aeris, Sherwood, Mares, Sub Gear, and Zeagle Diving Equipment and Henderson Wetsuits along with DUI Dry Suits provides a selection of quality SCUBA diving equipment at Aquatic Adventures that is second to none.

Whether you are looking to learn to SCUBA dive, take that next SCUBA continuing education course, become a SCUBA Diving Professional by becoming a Divemaster or Scuba Instructor Aquatic Adventures has the appropriate SCUBA course for you.  Ready to go SCUBA diving?  Then Aquatic Adventures has a SCUBA diving travel program that will satisfy your SCUBA Diving dreams and the finest SCUBA diving equipment available.

Accessory Scuba Equipment in Northern Virginia

When diving locally the use of Accessory Scuba Equipment in Northern Virginia will make your Scuba Diving safer and more enjoyable.  There are many different pieces of accessory equipment available.  Today we will look at some of the more popular pieces and see why we might want to use them.  Most of these can be found at a quality Northern Virginia Dive Center like Aquatic Adventures.

Dive Lights in Northern Virginia

While scuba diving in local waters many divers will use Dive Lights in Northern Virginia lakes and quarries.  There are many types of dive lights available.  Most scuba divers will use three dive lights when scuba diving at night.  A primary dive light is what is used throughout the dive.  A back up dive light is also carried in case the primary light should fail.  Many scuba divers will carry their back up dive light during the day so that they can look inside nooks and crannies during the day to spot lobster, moray eels and shrimp that may be hiding.  In addition most divers will wear a marker light on their regulator.  This is to prevent buddy team separation.  There are many good manufacturers of scuba diving lights.  Hollis Dive Gear, Ikelite, and Princeton Tech are among the most popular at Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy in Northern Virginia.

Scuba Dive Gear Bags in Northern Virgnia

Scuba diving involves quite a lot of scuba equipment which needs to be transported, thus divers will have scuba dive gear bags in Northern Virginia since we often have to travel by air to get to where we are diving.  There are many types of dive gear bags.  The roller dive bags are used to carry gear that is usually part of your checked luggage when traveling by air.  A scuba regulator bag is used to carry your scuba regulator, which is usually carried on board with the diver as a carry on bag.  A mesh dive bag is what the diver uses to carry his or her gear from the hotel to the dive boat.  If comes in both a duffel and a backpack style.    Another type of scuba dive bag is the catch bag, which a diver uses to carry game, such as speared fish or lobsters caught on a scuba dive.  A dry bag is also a handy bag to have.  It allows you to carry items on board a boat that you want to be kept dry.  Akona, Mares, Scuba Pro, Sub Gear and Aeris all make good quality dive bags.

Underwater Compass in Northern Virginia

An underwater Compass is an essential piece of scuba diving equipment in Northern Virginia or anyplace else for that matter.  When scuba diving it is very important to be able to properly navigate your way around the dive and then back to the dive boat or shore.  An underwater compass is the most practical way to accomplish that.   The underwater compass can be part of your scuba gauge console, it can be a separate wrist compass or a clip on dive compass.  Some divers like a digital compass built into their dive computer but the standard underwater compass is far less expensive and very reliable.   Aeris, Sherwood, Scuba Pro, Sub Gear and Mares all make very good underwater compasses.

Dive Slates

Scuba divers often need to communicate while underwater and since they cannot talk while diving they will use either hand signals or they will often write notes on a dive slate.    Dive Slates can either be a flat piece of plastic that one writes on with a pencil or they can be a curved piece that straps to their arm.  Some have layers of plastic to allow multiple notes.  Trident Scuba and Innovative Scuba are two companies that provide underwater slates to Dive Centers.

Scuba Hoods, Scuba Dive Boots and Dive Gloves

Since it is colder diving in the Northern Virginia most scuba divers in this area will wear a Scuba Hood, Scuba Dive Boots and Dive Gloves when scuba diving.  These accessories all allow the diver to remain warmer and more comfortable when scuba diving.  They also provide extra safety from getting cut if the scuba diver were to rub up against a ship wreck or a coral head.  Henderson Aquatics,  Scuba Pro, Deep Sea, Aeris and Akona are all makers of quality dive boots, dive gloves and scuba hoods.

While there are literally dozens of additional pieces of accessory dive equipment in Northern Virginia, these are the most commonly used.    Each is designed with a specific purpose and will make your scuba diving easier and more enjoyable.

Scuba Dive Equipment in Northern Virginia?

Every Scuba Diver needs certain equipment to safely scuba dive and while most of the equipment is standard there are some variations in what is needed depending upon where you will scuba dive.  Today we will look at the regular scuba equipment needed and will also look at how it might differ in different locations such as Scuba Dive Equipment Northern Virginia.

Scuba Diving Mask

The human eye cannot focus in water.  The scuba mask provides an air space so your eyes can focus and you can see clearly underwater.  A properly fitted mask is not just a luxury item but your eyes to the underwater world.   There are several manufacturers of quality scuba masks: Sherwood Scuba, Scuba Pro, Mares and Aeris are just a few of the better brands available.

Snorkel

A snorkel lets you breathe with your face in the water, and to breathe more easily when waves are splashing about, without wasting air from your scuba tank. It’s especially useful when your cylinder is nearly empty and you have a long wait or swim to the boat or shore.  Snorkels come in several varieties and colors.

Scuba Fins

Fins are your means of propulsion while scuba diving.  Fins provide a large surface area to push against the water. This allows you to swim using your powerful leg muscles. This moves you more efficiently and frees your hands.

Fin Types:
Open heel adjustable – Open heel adjustable fins are the main fins used for scuba diving. They have the power to push you and your gear through the water. These fins require you to wear wet suit boots (booties). Booties also come in handy for shore dives to protect the bottoms of your feet when entering and exiting the water.

Full foot fins – Full foot fins aren’t adjustable and don’t require wet suit boots. They go on like slippers. Most smaller fins suited to snorkeling or very lightweight scuba diving are full foot fins

Scuba Exposure Suits

Water absorbs heat about 800 times faster than air does, so you cool rapidly in water. Also, the scuba diving environment sometimes has a potential for scrapes, stings and burns. Exposure suits help you retain heat and provide protection against incidental skin injuries and sunburn.  Scuba Divers in colder climates will use wetsuits that are thicker to provide extra warmth and protection.  While there are many manufacturers of quality exposure suits Henderson and Scuba Pro are among the finest.

Scuba Divers in exceptionally colder climates will use a dry suit when scuba diving. A dry suit will keep you warmer in colder climates since you are dry underneath.  This cuts down on the amount of heat conduction a scuba diver undergoes.  Most Dry Suit Divers will use a fabric suit with insulated underwear underneath appropriate to the local environment.  DUI Dry Suits are among the finest dry suits made.

Scuba Cylinder

A scuba cylinder (more commonly called “scuba tank”) holds compressed breathing air that you use during the dive. Modern scuba tanks are made from aluminum alloy or steel alloy and are rated to hold pressures as high as 200 bar/3000 psi.  Aluminum is by far the most common type of scuba cylinder in use due to its durability and lower cost.

Scuba Diving Regulator

The scuba regulator takes high pressure air from your scuba tank and adjusts it to the pressure you need for breathing. It supplies air only when you inhale (on demand), and directs your breath into the water when you exhale.

There are several different brands and types of scuba regulators available.  Divers in cold water areas like Northern Virginia will often select a scuba regulator that is environmentally sealed to prevent cold water freeze up or free flowing of the regulator.  Some of the better known and higher quality scuba regulators are the Sherwood SR-1 regulator and the Scuba Pro MK25/S600 regulator.  Mares and Zeagle also make quality regulators.

Buoyancy Control Device or BCD

The buoyancy control device or BCD allows you to add or release air from a bladder so that you can adjust your buoyancy. This lets you float, hover or descend slowly at will. The BCD is, or integrates with, the harness that holds the scuba cylinder on your back and unites this and the scuba regulator into a single scuba unit.

There are two main types of buoyancy control devices: the jacket style and the rear inflation style.

The Jacket Style BCD is the most popular style in recreational diving, this style BCD combines the harness and air bladder into a single compact, sleek unit. The bladder is primarily along your back, but sweeps forward under your arms for balance when inflated at the surface.  The Sherwood Avid and the Scuba Pro Glide Pro and two of the more popular Jacket Style BCD’s.

The Rear Inflation or Back Mount BCD is rapidly gaining in popularity.  Since the bladder is in the back it is more streamlined and offers less drag then the traditional Jacket Style BCD.  The Zeagle XZena and the Scuba Pro Lady Hawk are two very popular women’s rear inflation BCD’s.  The Zeagle Stiletto and the Scuba Pro Knight Hawk are popular mens rear inflation BCD’s.  All four are of exceptional quality and include integrated weight systems for easy use.

Dive Computer or Gauges

When ever you scuba dive you need to know how long you have been down, how much air you have left and what your remaining no decompression time is.  Do this and you will be a safe diver – neglect any of these and you are putting yourself and your dive buddy at risk.  While many scuba divers use standard gauges for air and depth, today more and more are using scuba diving computers to monitor this information.  There are several very good dive computers available today and fast becoming the most popular are the air integrated computers.  These will monitor both your remaining air time and your remaining no decompression time.  Two of the most popular models with hoses are the Sherwood Wisdom Computer and the Aeris AI Computer console.   Air Integrated Computers are also available in hoseless models as well.  In this case a radio transmitter sends the information from the regulator to the wrist computer.  The Aeris T-3 and the Scuba Pro Luna are two of the more popular of these units.

Whichever you choose make sure that you read the manual and monitor the computer frequently.  Next time we will look at Accessory Equipment that is part of your Scuba Dive Equipment Northern Virgnia.

What to look for in a Dive Center in Northern Virginia?

The three things that a Scuba Dive Center in Northern Virginia, or anywhere else for that matter, can offer you are the three E’s: Education, Equipment and Experience.  These are the three things necessary to be a Scuba Diver and a quality Dive Center will offer you all three.

Location: Alexandria Northern Virginia & Fairfax County, Virginia

That may sound like a simple question but it is really very important if you want to get the best in service, training and sales support in scuba diving.  We are all somewhat lazy at heart and would naturally prefer that any Dive Center that we patronize be conveniently located.  Since I live in Alexandria, Northern Virginia I would want a Dive Center that is located in that area.  There may be more then one dive center in that particular are so then you have to look at other criteria to narrow your search.  I might start by searching for Scuba Classes Northern Virginia or Scuba Lessons Northern Virginia.

Scuba Diving Training – PADI Certification in Northern Virginia

What certification agency to choose is an issue we have discussed before.  There are several reputable certification agencies and they all offer many quality courses.  Some, however, have advantages over the others.  While all of the Scuba Certification Agencies follow the same guidelines there are some very distinct differences.  The Professional Association of Diving Instructors, or PADI is the Largest Scuba Certification Agency in the world.  Any certification that you earn at a PADI Dive Center is recognized world wide.  However, PADI does stand out in one area that I find to be extremely important.  PADI has by far the finest support materials, books, DVDs, Videos, etc of any Scuba Training Agency.  Thus a PADI course is easier to learn and to master.

Scuba Diving Training – Certification and Continuing Scuba Education – Northern VA

If we are a new diver then we are interested in Learning to Scuba Dive.  If we are already certified as a Scuba Diver then we might be interested in continuing your scuba education.  In addition there are several types of continuing education Scuba Diving Training Courses available.  There are the recreational courses such as the PADI Advanced Open Water or the PADI Rescue Diver.  There are “PADI Specialty Diver Courses” such a Underwater Photography,  PADI Underwater Digital Photography, PADI Wreck Diver, PADI Night Diver, PADI Underwater Navigation, PADI Multi Level or Computer Diving, PADI Deep Diving, PADI  Boat Diving and PADI Equipment Specialist just to name a few.  These are all courses that are available for the recreational diver to assist him or her in discovering new areas of interest.

Scuba Diving Training & Certification for Scuba Divemaster and Scuba Instructor in Northern VA

There are a lot of Dive Centers and they all offer some Scuba Diving Certification.  Only a select few can offer Professional Level Scuba Certification beyond Divemaster Level.  Those that can are knows as PADI 5 Star Instructor Development IDC Dive Centers.   These Dive Centers will also offer training and Certification for Assistant Scuba  Instructor and Open Water Scuba Instructor as well.

The mark of the finest of the PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Dive Centers are the ones that offer the Master Scuba Diver Trainer and the IDC Staff Instructor Course as well.

Major Brands for Sale and Service of Scuba Diving Equipment in Northern Virginia

There are often several Dive Centers in a town or city.  While most of them may offer the courses that you want you will also want Scuba Diving Equipment.  You will want to patronize a Dive Center that offers many different lines of retail scuba diving equipment.  There are many reputable brands available.  Some of the best brands of Scuba Diving Equipment are Scuba Pro, Sherwood, Zeagle, Aeris and Mares Diving Equipment.  Finding all of these quality brands in one Dive Center is very unusual.

Many Dive Centers will carry one or maybe two of these brands.  The advantage to patronizing a Dive Center that carries so many is that such a Dive Center like Aquatic Adventures will offer the best Scuba Regulator, Scuba BCD and Scuba Computer of each brand of Scuba Diving Equipment, giving you a wider selection and more quality and choices often at better prices.  Your quality Dive Center should also offer service on these items once they are sold so that you can get the most out of them.  Here I would conduct a search for Scuba Equipment Northern Virginia or Scuba Diving Equipment Northern Virginia.

Scuba Dive Travel – Dive Center sponsored offered and led Scuba Dive Trips in Northern Virginia

We have looked at the first two E’s – Education or Scuba Certification Courses and Scuba Diving Equipment.  Now we need to look at when and where we will have the opportunity to try and put these things o use.  We all want to go diving but many of us do not know where is the best place?  What is the best time of year to dive at a particular location?  Where to stay?  How to get there?  Your local Dive Center can be a great resource in this area as well.

At Aquatic Adventures Scuba Academy we offer Scuba Dive Trips year round. We try to have at least one every quarter.  We will vary our Dive Destinations to offer a variety of trips throughout the Caribbean and Pacific.  We have been leading Dive Trips for over 25 years and know where and when to dive.  We offer local trips to places like Morehead City, North Carolina for wreck diving,  we offer trips to Florida to dive with the Manatee and get away from the winter cold, we offer live-a-board dive boat trips to the Bahamas, and we also offer trips to the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean.

The Final Test – What Others Think if the Best Dive Center in Northern Virginia?

Once you have narrowed your selection to one or two Dive Centers be sure and ask other Scuba Divers what they think of your choices?  Once you find a Quality Dive Center be sure and let others know about them.  In today’s world any business that does things well and stands behind their product or service is worth keeping.