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Class Description PE 47 (Introduction to Scuba Diving) - 3 units Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. An Introduction to SCUBA Diving, is a three unit course intended for the non diver. The objective of the course is to make you a comfortable and qualified diver, capable of conducting recreational dives to intermediate depths in our local waters. Upon completion of any SCUBA diving course you should be able to correctly evaluate the diving environment, your diving equipment, your diving skills, and your personal diving preparedness in order to develop a dive plan and dive accordingly. To accomplish this goal we will spend two hours each week covering diving theory in lectures. After a short break we will then meet for approximately three hours of lab time in the pool to practice the essentials skills of diving. Finally, in the last half of the semester we will make four weekend trips to the Monterey and Carmel area for ocean dives to apply the skills you’ve learned and familiarize new divers with the unique California coastal conditions that make California diving both challenging and rewarding. Lecture topics will include diving physics and physiology, the diving environment and equipment, as well as safe diving practices and procedures. Three sessions will be used to certify students in CPR, First Aid, and Oxygen Administration for Diving Emergencies. There is a midterm and a final exam, as well as quizzes along the way. Diving skills include gear assembly and inspection, water entries and exits, skin diving skills, regulator handling, mask clears, buoyancy control, emergency ascent training, as well as equipment familiarization drills and rescue practice. In the ocean we will incorporate surf entries, diving in the kelp forest environment, dive planning and navigation and such specialties as night diving, search and recovery dives and marine life identification. Expenses SCUBA diving is an equipment intensive sport and requires an initial investment for a minimum set of personal dive gear. A diver’s equipment must be in good working order and must fit well in order to do its job. At a minimum each diver is expected to purchase their own mask, snorkel, fins, booties, gloves, and wetsuit with hood. Additionally, all divers are encouraged to purchase all life support equipment including a regulator with an alternate air source and appropriate gauges, buoyancy compensator, and cylinder. Familiarity with their own set of diving gear makes a diver better prepared to handle anything from minor events like getting tangled in kelp to a major emergency such as running out of air. Any student wishing to use gear more than one year old is required to provide proof that the equipment has been inspected and serviced by an authorized repair facility (forms available on the forms page of this website.) Additional items such as dive lights, spare parts, equipment bags and other items are also recommended, but in some cases may be rented or borrowed. For a complete of diving equipment, click here Equipment. Additional expenses include the Course Material Fee, text book(s), the physical exam (which is not covered by student health insurance) and the costs associated with weekend travel to ocean dives. Time Along with the financial obligations to the course, divers are also committing another precious commodity, their time. While most students are able to budget time during the week without putting too much strain on their already tight schedules, the weekend dives in the last half of the semester sometimes prove to be too much. In order to obtain both a basic and an advanced SCUBA certification, divers are required to attend all ocean training sessions and complete a minimum of 13 dives. And while we are only diving for a few hours each day, the logistics of briefings, debriefings, refilling cylinders, and travel between dive sites makes for a long day. Early starts, hours in the cold Pacific waters, and the excitement of exploring a new environment often lead to abandoned study plans in the evenings after diving. Students are strongly encouraged to consider their other educational obligations prior to enrolling in PE 47. California offers world class diving. It also requires a higher level of commitment than most other locations. If you want to learn to dive in this remarkable environment, be prepared to make an investment of your time, money, and effort in order to be able to do so in a manner that will give you the most enjoyment. If you have further questions about diving in Northern California or PE 47, please contact the Diving Safety Officer at ucbdiver@berkeley.edu. (F, SP)
Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory each week. Complete medical and swimming evaluation required. Prerequisites: Advanced scuba certification, swim test, medical exam, and consent of instructor. The course is designed to teach certified divers how to work underwater. It is a required course for all students who plan to use SCUBA diving as a tool for research. The course will cover diving topics related to working in the marine environment, including: diving physics, physiology, medicine, rescue, decompression, theory, navigation, environment, marine life, research methods, equipment, and University and National Scientific diving standards. Successful completion of the course leads to University certification to use underwater life support apparatus for study or research under University auspices. Also listed as Integrative Biology C407. (SP). |
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