SCUBA Diving Classes in North Carolina

North Carolina has a large number of dive shops where people can try diving, earn their certification or become more qualified. The diving within the state is seasonal, with local diving taking place during the warmer months of the year. But with many courses, training takes place in local swimming pools and classrooms, enabling year-round diver training. It is a good idea to take a class and then be able to take advantage of North Carolina's reputation as the No. 1 one wreck-diving destination in the United States.

  1. Try Scuba Diving

    • If you are looking to try scuba diving before committing your time and money into doing a full certification course, then the Discover Scuba Diving class is a good option.

      Water World in Durham offers a try-out dive in local swimming pools in the area. This is the most popular introduction to scuba diving in the world, and credit can be earned from this toward your Open Water course as the few skills you learn are part of the larger course.

      The experience will take around 1 to 2 hours. Water World will provide all of the equipment.

      Water World, Inc.

      135 South Miami Blvd.

      Durham, NC 27703

      919-596-8185

      staff@waterworldinc.com

      waterworldinc.com

    Beginner Certification Courses

    • The first step for a beginner is to become certified. Lake Norman Scuba offers the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Open Water Diver course over a period of two to three weeks. This includes classroom training in the Lake Norman dive shop, although if you choose, it is possible to complete the classroom training online through PADI eLearning.

      Pool training, which teaches you the basic skills in a confined environment, takes place at the Huntersville Family Fitness and Aquatic Center. The open-water dives where you apply what you have learned take place in a local quarry. This certification is valid worldwide and is a great point to start your diving education.

      Lake Norman Scuba

      482-E River Hwy.

      Mooresville, NC 28117

      704-660-3483

      dive@lakenormanscuba.com

      lakenormanscuba.com

    Continuing Education Courses

    • There are many more courses you can take once you are a certified diver to make yourself more skilled in the water. Pro Scuba Center in Rocky Mount offers a selection of continuing education classes including: Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver and Divemaster course, the first level of the PADI professional ladder.

      Training is done in small classes of no more than six, and training is started on request, in contrast with other dive centers that schedule their course dates.

      Continuing your education is a good idea and means that you can have more dive options including being able to do deeper dives past 60 feet, the open-water diver limit.

      Pro Scuba Center Inc.

      1155 North Wesleyan Blvd.

      Rocky Mount, NC 27804

      252-985-3951

      proscubanc@suddenlink.net

      proscubacenter.com