Using a gap year to go traveling will provide you with life-long memories, experiences, and skills. Use the time wisely to do something impressive – such as learning to dive. Diving opens a whole new world of opportunities and you’ll see things few others get to. Not convinced? Check out these reasons why you should learn to dive.

1. You’ll learn additional skills

In addition to diving, you’ll gain new skills valuable throughout life, these include:

• Staying calm under pressure – you’ll learn to think on your feet if things don’t go to plan, rather than panic.
• Trust – you’ll work on trusting your dive leader, equipment, and other divers.
• Communication – when learning to dive, you’ll quickly pick up non-verbal cues to use when you’re underwater.

In itself, learning to dive is impressive. But these skills are transferable – perhaps you can use them to convince your parents diving lessons are the perfect birthday present before you head off on your gap year.

2. You can dive around the world

Diving can take you to some of the most beautiful places in the world – it will give you a whole new purpose to planning trips. You won’t spend all your time in the water, so you’ll get to explore on-the-ground too in places like Malaysia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Argentina, Thailand, and Australia.

According to The Telegraph, top diving spots in the world include Magnetic Island in Australia, Baa Atoll in the Maldives and the Ambergris Caye in Belize (also home to the famous Blue Hole).

You can dive in some other countries you might not expect too – Scotland, for instance. There are diving spots to suit all levels of experience, as well as personal preference.

3. You’ll see underwater delights

With more than 70% of the Earth’s surface covered in water, there is a whole world to explore by diving. After all, you can’t experience it first-hand any other way. By learning to dive, you can see fascinating, historic shipwrecks, colorful fish and marine mammals.

Swimming alongside these creatures and amongst these underwater infrastructures is an experience, unlike any others. We’re talking about manta rays, sharks, and shipwrecks like the huge luxury liner, the President Coolidge, sunk off the shores of Vanuatu. Every dive is a new adventure – it never gets boring.

4. You’ll make friends

Dive courses generally take place over a few days. You’ll get plenty of learning and practice time, but you’ll also have time to socialize with others on your course. Meeting new friends, learning about different cultures and exploring the local area all make learning to dive that bit more fun.

Plus, you’ll have gained a skill definitely worth bragging about when you return from your gap year – diving is certainly more impressive than being able to down a pint in under 10 seconds.

Have you learned to dive? Where would you recommend to others? Share your experiences in the comments below.