For Scuba Divers, There’s an Adventure to Be Had Down in the : WILD BLUE YONDER

The calm of 6 a.m. is broken only by the rolling surf and the forceful “ssssshhh!” of a teacher as he walks along a residential street.

Few teachers hold classes this early, but Keith Bortle does. His students are getting ready for a scuba dive in one of the many coves off the coast of Laguna Beach, the most popular diving spot in Orange County.

Bortle, who owns diving shops in Huntington Beach and Fullerton, has taught about 300 scuba diving classes since 1976. He is preparing his students for their first ocean dive and is trying to keep them from disturbing the residents along the street who don’t share the same enthusiasm for being up before the sun.

After arriving at the steps leading down to the sand, Bortle gathers his students for a pre-dive lecture. He tells them the surf is low and there will be no trouble getting out to the diving spot, 30 yards off the beach.

Bortle breaks into a step-by-step explanation of the morning’s two dives. After he finishes, he takes time for a review.

“What’s the first rule of scuba?” he asks.

“Never hold your breath,” the class answers in a muffled unison.

The students, covered with wet suits, tanks, regulators, instruments, buoyancy vests and carrying masks, fins and snorkels, start to waddle down the steps that lead to the beach.

The class enters the water by twos and meets at a buoy. Two-by-two, the group disappears under the surface into the isolation of the ocean, returning the morning to the calm that preceded its predawn arrival.

Although scuba diving seems so easy in a James Bond movie or on “Sea Hunt,” you don’t just dive right in. It is a complicated sport that involves a lot of instruction and expense.

Certification cards are required before dive shops allow people to rent equipment or get air tanks refilled and before dive boat operators will allow divers to board.

“We always watch people trying to rent two of everything,” said Bortle. “The water is a dangerous place and even more for someone who hasn’t been trained properly and doesn’t know what he’s doing. There is no way someone should be diving that isn’t certified. People who are certified are not teachers, either. They shouldn’t think they know it all. No one does.”

Certification classes in scuba (an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) usually consist of six to nine hours of lectures, two dives in a pool and two more in the ocean. But certification requirements vary from place to place and are determined by the standards of individual certified instructors.

There are many places for people to take certification courses. Dive shops are the most common, but many community colleges offer classes, usually through extension programs. Classes are also offered through the YMCA.

Most scuba classes require students to purchase a mask, fins, boots, snorkel and instruments such as a compass, depth and pressure gauges.

“Even if you are Jacques Cousteau, your mask is your most important piece of equipment,” Bortle said. “Quality fins are also important so you don’t have to work too hard and suck up all your air. You should always buy quality equipment; the sport is too dangerous to risk with discount equipment.”

Cost of classes vary, though they usually are in the $185 to $250 range.

In the classroom, students learn how to use equipment and what to do in case of emergency.

Next they apply that knowledge in the pool, where they practice skills and get used to breathing underwater.

The students then progress to the ocean for two more dives and must pass a final written examination before being issued a certification card.

Every time a diver goes into the water he needs a wet suit and hood, an air tank, a regulator, gloves, weights and a buoyancy compensator, which fills with air and is used to help the diver stay buoyant once the the wet suit’s material fills with water.

If someone walked into a shop and bought all the needed equipment, the bill could run between $1,500 and $3,000.

There are ways to offset the high cost. Items can be rented or bought a piece at a time. Most dive shops charge about $45-$60 for a full set of rental gear for a day.

“We suggest they rent gear until they’re certified, then we suggest they buy it,” said John Reseck Jr., who teaches diving classes at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana. “Because with your own gear, it fits you properly and you are more comfortable with it and you’re safer with it.”

Southern California and Florida are the two most popular diving areas for the estimated 3.2 million divers in the United States.

The 10-mile stretch along Laguna Beach is the most popular spot in Orange County, but there is also some diving done off Corona del Mar. The water off Laguna Beach averages about 10-20 feet in visibility. It’s better in the winter, though, when visibility can increase to 40 feet because there’s less plankton in the colder water.

La Jolla to the south, Palos Verdes to the north and Santa Catalina Island are the most popular spots for those seeking more underwater adventure in Southern California.

“It’s totally a unique sensation,” Bortle said. “It’s very relaxing, and the only thing you have to deal with is the movement of the water and the marine life. It takes away or subdues the pressures of everyday life.”

But the look of relaxation can’t be found in the dripping, tired faces of the divers who have just completed their first dive in Bortle’s class.

“It was a very new experience,” said Chris Baier of Huntington Beach, who is taking the class. “I guess it will be relaxing, but not right now. The fact that it was all so new and different made it a lot less relaxing.”