Frequently Asked Questions

You don't need to be an expert swimmer to enjoy scuba diving, but you should be comfortable in the water. Most dive courses include basic swimming and water comfort tests, such as treading water for a few minutes. As long as you're comfortable with floating, kicking, and staying calm in the water, you should be good to go!

PADI stands for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. PADI is the most recognised dive training organisation worldwide with over 30 million divers and counting.

We provide  the necessary scuba diving equipment for all our courses and try a dive activities. You just need to bring your swimming gear, suncream, bottle of water, warm jacket, hat or beanie, and a towel with you.

The minimum age for kids to participate in scuba diving programs is from 8 years old. At this age, they can participate in the PADI Bubblemaker Program and start to learn the basics of scuba diving. This includes how to put on and take off scuba gear, basic breathing techniques, and safety procedures.

At 10 years old, kids can take the first step to scuba diving in open water. This is the minimum age to obtain a scuba diving certification, known as a PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification.

No matter your age, scuba diving is a life-changing experience that allows you to explore a whole new world and connect with nature in an incredible way, and kids can get started early.

This will depend on your age and level of experience, the maximum depth for the PADI Open Water course is 18 meters, please look under our PADI Courses section for more information on specific depth restrictions.

No, children under the age of 18 will need to have at least one guardian around at all times. This policy is in place to protect the safety of your child and to provide peace of mind for both you and your children.

The majority of scuba diving training and water activities will take place in the calm sheltered waters of Roberts Cove, Oysterhaven, and Dooneen Pier.

Every course will have different minimum requirements but at Discovering Scuba, we will work around your schedule. In our experience, once you get started, you will want to keep going and get certified as quickly as possible.

Scuba diving is generally safe, especially when you follow proper training, procedures, and safety guidelines. Maintaining good physical fitness and servicing equipment regularly is important.

We always recommend diving with a buddy. Before each dive, a good pre-dive safety check is essential, so you're always prepared!

If you are concerned about a certain health condition, we recommend that you talk to your doctor before diving. Scuba diving requires physical fitness, so being in good health is important. Your doctor can assess whether diving is safe for you and guide you on any precautions to take.

The best time of the year to go scuba diving in Ireland is from April until October. Always check local conditions, including water temperature and visibility, before booking your dive.

Life happens and we understand that sometimes unexpected things come up. At Discovering Scuba, we have a very flexible cancellation policy, we will only charge you for the parts of a course that you have already completed.

If plans change and you can no longer attend the activity that you signed up for, we will try to reschedule the activity on an alternative date that suits you. Otherwise we will issue you a refund for the parts of the course or activity that you didn't complete.

Sometimes, sea conditions are not suitable to conduct any water activities. In these circumstances, we will try our best to reschedule the activity with you. Otherwise we will issue you a refund for the parts of the course or activity that you didn't complete. All we ask, is for you to give us as much notice as possible if you can no longer attend the activity that you signed up for.