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Learning to dive and becoming a better diver can be a lifelong endeavor. Here are some resources that you may find helpful.
DIVE ORGANIZATIONS & TRAINING
Divers Alert Network (DAN) dan.org DAN is a non-profit dive safety organization.
They provide free educational materials (check out their eLearnings) that help you learn about and avoid the most common causes of dive injuries and fatalities.
They track and investigate safety incidents, develop and promote safe diving practices, and they sell dive insurance - which could help you pay for recompression treatment and evacuation (among other things) if you get bent while diving.
I highly recommend that all active divers become DAN members, and buy dive insurance if you plan on diving so you are protected if something happens. They also operate a dive emergency hotline which is staffed 24/7/365 and is free to anyone (member or not).
If you think you might have gotten bent, or otherwise hurt on a dive you can call DAN for free and talk to their emergency (if urgent) or non-emergency (for more minor issues) line to get free medical advice from trained dive medicine professionals.
PADI padi.com PADI is the most popular dive training organization worldwide. There are dozens of certification agencies, some others common in the US include SSI, NAUI , SDI/TDI, and GUE. Regardless of your training organization, I recommend that all divers continue their education by completing the Advanced Open Water (AOW) and a Rescue classes. If you will be doing multiple dives in a day - such as on a liveaboard - a Nitrox class is also useful and quick.
Your first dive class, usually called Open Water (OW), just gets you started diving. It should really be called "Introduction to diving for beginners". After certification you may only have 4 dives - and maybe only 1 that you conducted yourself! Can you imagine getting a driver license after only driving 4 times? After certification you are allowed to dive independently (no instructor/guide) with a buddy no deeper than 60' and in conditions similar to your training. You are just starting your adventure!
Advanced Open Water (AOW) despite the name is still a course for beginner divers. AOW broadens your experience to include more types of diving (e.g. night, navigation, and "deep" dives beyond 60' up to no more than 100'). The AOW deep dive training teaches you to safely plan for dives between 60-100'. The course will boost your confidence and comfort in a variety of dive situations and help broaden your awareness to think more like an experienced diver. Many dive operators will require AOW certification for certain dives.
A Rescue course will give you skills, experience, and the mindset that will make you a safer diver - so that you learn to prevent problems from becoming accidents, injuries or even fatalities. You also learn to provide aid and CPR should another diver suffer an injury. I recommend also getting the Oxygen (O2) Provider certification and ensuring that whenever you dive someone has emergency O2 available for first aid in the event of decompression illness in you or another diver.
Regardless of whether you take your classes from PADI or another organization (most dive organizations offer similar advanced and rescue courses), don't stop after your open water certification. Get a bit more training when you can - it is a worthwhile investment in your safety and comfort.
PADI Predive Safety Check printable poster.pdf Print it out, laminate it, take it with you and never forget what BWRAF means. Printed safety checklists are more effective than going by memory.
Local Diver Medical Services
Hyperbaric Chamber at Virginia Mason Medicine Center in Seattle (not the one in Bellevue!). This is our local recompression chamber, if you get bent - you need to go here for treatment.
Dr. Nicholas Bird - one of the doctors focused on hyperbaric medicine at Virginia Mason. If you have a dive-specific medical concern, you might find it helpful to visit Dr. Bird or another local doctor with a similar specialty.
BOOKS & LECTURES
Scuba Compendium by Simon Pridmore. This book is a compilation of 4 shorter books by the same author: Scuba Fundamental, Scuba Confidential, Scuba Exceptional, and Scuba Professional. You can buy the set as an eBook for a very reasonable price. These books will educate you about all aspects of diving - starting from divers who are just getting their feet wet to individuals who are thinking about working in the dive industry. I found the books to be easy to read, occasionally entertaining, and packed with good tips that can help make your diving more fun, comfortable, and safe. This is not a great set of books for learning about cold water diving - as the bulk of the author's examples and experience are from Guam and other relatively warm locations. The books complement professional scuba classes/certifications. One area where I disagree with the author is his assertion that a little bit of unplanned decompression (exceeding your no stop limits on your dive computer) is no big deal as a recreational diver. Completing dives with required decompression stops is the realm of technical diving, it can be done relatively safely but you should be planning for it (e.g. bringing appropriate additional amount of gas for deco) and getting appropriate (technical dive) training first.
The Great Buoyancy Scam and How to Avoid It by John Kean. Despite the name, this book is not just about buoyancy. It is a general "how-to" scuba booked aimed squarely at new divers looking to learn how to dive properly and with competence. Once you get past the meandering introduction (which is odd and long) it has good and practical advice perfect for a new diver. I found the sections on buoyancy particularly thorough and helpful and a nice complement to what you will get in a typical Open Water certification class. One area where the author could be stronger (particularly for our cold water diving) is in his discussion of decompression theory and prevention of decompression sickness (DCS, "the bends"). If you want to learn more about what gets divers bent and how to not get bent I recommend the following lecture from Dr. Neal Pollock.
Thoughtful Management of Decompression Stress, (YouTube) a lecture by Dr. Neal Pollock. This excellent talk summarizes recent research into decompression theory to help you understand the factors that can contribute to decompression sickness (DCS). He provides research-backed suggestions for how you can decrease your decompression risk that go beyond the standard "stay hydrated" - which is fine advice, but may not be the most impactful way to reduce your risk - depending on where, when, and how you are diving. For example, diving up here in our cold Pacific Northwest waters we are potentially at significantly increased risk of DCS - because we may be quite cold during the off-gassing phase (ascent) phase of our dives compared to divers in warmer locations. Dr. Pollock has some excellent suggestions that may help you mitigate that and other DCS risk factors.
HOW-TO VIDEOS
Flowstate Divers: Fundamental Skills | Master Series (YouTube)
How to achieve perfect trim #1, #2, & #3 go together. Start with the foundation of weighting in #1... if that's off, nothing in diving works right!
How to frog kick the preferred kick for most experienced divers to minimize silting and effort
How to back kick so you can move backwards without using your hands
How to master DSMB deployment (Deployable/Delayed Surface Marker Buoy)
How to achieve perfect body alignment (underwater posture)
Divers Ready (YouTube)
Quick Tips 5: Everything bolt snaps - including how to tie one on
Good surface habits for scuba divers - hint: make sure you can breathe (reg/snorkel in), see (mask on), and float
Scuba Diver | Magazine (YouTube)
The 5 Basic Scuba Diving Fin Kicks - flutter, frog, modified flutter, back kick, avoid bicycle kick (5:40)!
WeDive Mena
Backward Kick - detailed breakdown of backfinning, struggling to back fin? Watch this video!
Vancouver Diving Locker (Vancouver Canada - cold water diving like us)
How to set up a DSMB and spool - how to rig your spool and DSMB for cold-water diving (thick gloves)
DIVE PLANNING
PlanYourDive.com - dive site overviews, tide and current forecasts. Diving is usually best on a high tide and a slack (neither ebb nor flood) current. High currents can be tiring at best, and dangerous at worst. Avoid them unless they are part of a carefully considered dive plan (e.g. drift diving) and you have experience and training in those types of conditions. Look to dive when the current is near 0 knots (slack tide) or relatively low (less than half a knot or so).
Windy.com (or download the app) - wind and wave forecasts and current conditions.
Emerald Diving - great pictures of local animals in our Salish Sea (which includes Puget Sound), dive site descriptions and locations.
LEARN MORE, GIVE BACK
Reef Check: Kelp Forest Program https://www.reefcheck.org/kelp-forest-program/ this non-profit is working to understand and protect our local kelp forests - which provide critical habitat for local species and have been dissapearing at an alarming rate for reasons not fully understood. Donate, get trained, volunteer.
Report Sea Star Wasting and Healthy Sea Stars https://marine.ucsc.edu/data-products/sea-star-wasting/observation-log.html#track-disease
I Love Nudis https://ilovenudis.com/ All you could want to know (and buy) about nudibranches (sea slugs). These are some of the most interesting looking and colorful creatures you'll find in the Salish Sea. I Love Nudis is a small business owned by a local diver.
Edmonds Underwater Park there is no formal organization that manages the park, instead you'll find Bruce Higgins (the park steward and multi-decade volunteer leader) and other volunteers working on the park many days of the week. They are almost always out diving on Saturday mornings. You'll often find Bruce and his truck in the parking spot nearest the bathrooms and the traffic circle. Stop by and volunteer! The park is a marine protected area (no fishing or crabbing - so the fish get big) just north of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry located on the beach in front of Brackett's Landing North. Volunteers maintain a system of trails marked by underwater ropes and buoys at intersections. The park also contains many features such as sunken boats, rock piles and even underwater obstacle courses to fine-tune your buoyancy - all maintained by volunteers. Annie Crawley, a photographer, videographer and ocean advocate in our local dive community, has a website describing the park here: https://www.edmondsunderwaterpark.com/
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