Wheelchair Users Don't Just Dive---- They HANDI-DIVE!

For those Mobility Impaired persons who may not yet know, chances are that you probably CAN make scuba diving an enjoyable sport as part of your overall health and wellness. Handi-Divers can not only counsel you on how to get started learning scuba but help you and your instructors plan the most accessible travel arrangements. Together, as wheelchair users, we have specialized experience in a wide range of issues confronted by other wheelchair users as we pursue adventures related to learning the sport of scuba diving. Our customers include persons with uncommon needs and those instructors, dive masters and boat crew who hope to better serve them.

To that end, we want customers to feel inspired by the hope of enjoying a very rewarding sport while at the same time teaching what is necessary for them to be confident in their ability to assess what they need to perform safely.

If you are a wheelchair user or person with limited ability to ambulate, then you should know that scuba diving may be a sport that you can enjoy and be proficient in. There are resources available to help you reach you goal of diving off the dive boat, descending to explore the oceans and then returning to the dive boat. Even if you do not currently swim at all, with your doctor’s approval you can begin the process of swimming and training and reaching a point where you are comfortable in the water.

Handi-Divers is here to inspire you explore all the possibilities awaiting you underneath the surface of our planet’s magnificent oceans.

Mobility Impaired persons have been scuba diving for over thirty years. The possibilities for scuba divers of all kinds have never been greater. Whether you are new to considering your options or a seasoned diver already, Handi-Divers is here to help you increase your level of proficiency.

Once in the water, the obstacles you come across while on dry land are all left behind. The adventures you will discover through scuba can reward you in ways that are hard to describe: Independence, liberty, relaxation, meditation, relief of pain and mental stress, comradery, environmental awareness, body awareness to name but a few.

For all of our nation's Veterans, both Mobility Impaired and not, who are still considering scuba as a new activity, the above benefits are even more meaningful. Being a Navy Veteran paralyzed in the line of duty, I understand that many of my fellow Veterans are returning to a civilian world they sometimes feel uncomfortable in. The anxiety related to unit separation can be quite alienating, especially for servicemen and women who have sustained trauma or other injuries. Scuba benefits everyone, especially veterans who are injured or traumatized. Not all combat wounds show to the outside world and it is exactly this type of distress that scuba diving can help alleviate. Learning to dive is relaxing and builds such great self-esteem that it is more like scuba therapy. The mental wounds of our Veterans often heal over just one week of scuba diving. The positive transformation is quite noticeable. The cognitive and subconscious defenses that we, as combat Veterans build up are significant and can be isolating as well. Scuba helps us to move from the safe place behind our walls to a safe place in the ocean to a safe place in the world around us.

For those experienced scuba divers, both able bodied and not, Handi-Divers can help you and your boat crews manage your dives and your travel arrangements in the most accessible ways possible.

So explore our website and read through the various dive journals and blog entries. If you have any questions, select the Contact Handi-Divers link or post a blog entry.