Best place to get open water certified

Chip wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the replies from everyone. The prices around Oregon where I
> am, are approximately $285-$350 for the open water certification. I have
> been finding the average cost in Cozumel, and Cancun to be around $350. To
> do the classroom and pool work, and the check out dives in Mexico will be
> about $400 total cost. Therefore, it seems smart to just do the entire class
> down there.
>
> I have to burn a week a timeshare time and I can pick where and when I go.
> Since I will be there for a week without any plans, I figured that going to
> a dive class for 4-5 hours a day for 4 days would be kind of fun. Seems like
> classes there will be a lot more enjoyable than the classroom environment
> here in the rain drenched state of Oregon.

As a many times visitor to Cozumel, I've gotta tell you that the last
thing I would want to do there is be cooped up in a classroom; when you
are indoors in a SCUBA class, what diff does it make what the weather is
like? I also think that you will get better instruction in the States,
if for no other reason than for most Coz diving instructors, English is
a second language. Furthermore, if you do your cert dives at Cozumel,
that sort of diving is the extent of your limitations; diving, say, in
Monterey Bay would be outside them and possibly dangerous for you. I
don't think that one should choose the easiest path for training.

To me it just doesn't make sense to go to one of the world's greatest
diving destinations for a week, and spend most if not all of your entire
visit preparing to dive. You could get prepped for it beforehand and
spend your time actually diving; if you do your whole cert class there,
you will (IMO, of course) miss a whole lot of what Coz has to offer.
You have to figure that into your bang-for-buck calculations.

> Right now, the big decision is flight costs. I really wanted to go to Maui,
> but at $750 RT for flights this summer, it is ridiculous! That is also why I
> am looking at Cancun even though Cozumel is rated so much higher- the cost
> of the flight will be around $450 vs $700. Stupid airline industry....

Get your cert in the States, fly to Cancun, spend $35 and a couple of
hours on the bus and ferry, and go to Cozumel.

Gordon in Austin

In article <296wd.42321$Jk5.25620@lakeread01>,
DrYak <DrYak@nospam.com> writes:

>Do the classes at home and then get a referral for the open water dive
>some place warm with visibility over 5 feet.

This is absolutely the best advice.

My limited observations suggest that you will get better training
close to home. Too often the classes I see at resorts seem to be
rushing people through the classroom and pool work without really
teaching them thoroughly the minimum knowledge and skills that every
open water diver should have. Of course that can happen at home, too,
but at home you have the opportunity to look at various offerings
and find one that does a good job. *DO* that the time to talk
to seveal shops and instructors before you decide.

Another important point that someone else made is that if yo do
you check-out dives in tropical conditions, you will NOT be qualified
to dive in cold water without some additional training or supervised
experience. If this is not a concern for you, then don't worry
about it. Just be aware.

--
Charlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA
(hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying)
All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's.

rwjg40 <identity.available@upon.request> wrote:

>Chip wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for all the replies from everyone. The prices around Oregon where I
>> am, are approximately $285-$350 for the open water certification. I have
>> been finding the average cost in Cozumel, and Cancun to be around $350. To
>> do the classroom and pool work, and the check out dives in Mexico will be
>> about $400 total cost. Therefore, it seems smart to just do the entire class
>> down there.
>>
>> I have to burn a week a timeshare time and I can pick where and when I go.
>> Since I will be there for a week without any plans, I figured that going to
>> a dive class for 4-5 hours a day for 4 days would be kind of fun. Seems like
>> classes there will be a lot more enjoyable than the classroom environment
>> here in the rain drenched state of Oregon.
>
>As a many times visitor to Cozumel, I've gotta tell you that the last
>thing I would want to do there is be cooped up in a classroom; when you
>are indoors in a SCUBA class, what diff does it make what the weather is
>like? I also think that you will get better instruction in the States,
>if for no other reason than for most Coz diving instructors, English is
>a second language. Furthermore, if you do your cert dives at Cozumel,
>that sort of diving is the extent of your limitations; diving, say, in
>Monterey Bay would be outside them and possibly dangerous for you. I
>don't think that one should choose the easiest path for training.
>
>To me it just doesn't make sense to go to one of the world's greatest
>diving destinations for a week, and spend most if not all of your entire
>visit preparing to dive. You could get prepped for it beforehand and
>spend your time actually diving; if you do your whole cert class there,
>you will (IMO, of course) miss a whole lot of what Coz has to offer.
>You have to figure that into your bang-for-buck calculations.

I've been reading everyone's answers and I must say I agree both with
Chip and the folks who are urging him to just do the OW in Cozumel.

We are in the Chesapeake and the only way I'd dive there is if
something is wrong with the boat that I have to go under to fix it -
like something wrapped on the prop. Otherwise I have no intention
whatever of diving in my home waters. I only want to dive where the
water is warm and the viz is good. The Chesapeake is sometimes warm,
but the viz is almost never very good.

I did my classes at a local pool and paid about $200 for them (about 8
years ago), and then did the checkout dives in the Virgin Islands. It
did cost me another $200 for that.

My second trip to the VI, my husband finally took advantage of the
resort course that was offered free with our charter, and decided he'd
like to dive too. But there were too many other things competing for
his attention for him to want to take classes at home as I had done.
He was working in Baltimore during the week, and only driving 100
miles home on weekends for one thing, and the classes I had taken were
Wednesday, Sat and Sun.

So I found us a cheap flight to Cozumel and booked classes with Papa
Hog's shop and they are Canadians who speak English pretty well. I
think the instruction was first rate. Bob had read my manual first,
so it was not hard for him to pass the knowledge part. He did the
water skills classes right off the beach (the only problem was getting
sun burnt). We were there for less than a week, and at the end he had
his OW certification too, plus I'd gotten a bunch of diving in.
>
>> Right now, the big decision is flight costs. I really wanted to go to Maui,
>> but at $750 RT for flights this summer, it is ridiculous! That is also why I
>> am looking at Cancun even though Cozumel is rated so much higher- the cost
>> of the flight will be around $450 vs $700. Stupid airline industry....
>
>Get your cert in the States, fly to Cancun, spend $35 and a couple of
>hours on the bus and ferry, and go to Cozumel.
>
>Gordon in Austin

grandma Rosalie

Chip wrote:

> Thanks for all the replies from everyone. The prices around Oregon where I
> am, are approximately $285-$350 for the open water certification. I have
> been finding the average cost in Cozumel, and Cancun to be around $350. To
> do the classroom and pool work, and the check out dives in Mexico will be
> about $400 total cost. Therefore, it seems smart to just do the entire class
> down there.

Because you think it will be $50 cheaper? You may have a week of timeshare to use or
lose, but IMHO losing several days of vacation costs a lot more than $50 even if the
vacation is "free". Also, is there any chance that any of the courses at home include
diving a drysuit? You can dive the Pacific northwest in a wetsuit, but I think most
people prefer a drysuit. If there's any chance that's included in an OW course I
think it would easily justify a somewhat higher cost. Even if you have no intention
of doing cold water diving after you're certified, I think the extra work you'd get
on buoyancy control would be well worth it.



> am looking at Cancun even though Cozumel is rated so much higher- the cost
> of the flight will be around $450 vs $700. Stupid airline industry....

Yeah, the airlines are definitely stupid, but the demand for Coz apparently justifies
a higher fare. I'd suggest that it may not be really smart to go to an inferior
destination just because it will be a bit cheaper. You could save a lot more by
staying at Motel 6 and diving the local quarry, too, but I'll bet that isn't on your
list of options. BTW, have you checked airfares for weekday flights? You may well
save $100 or more.

If you really want to go to Maui, maybe it helps that for about the same airfare as
Coz you'll get more frequent flier miles towards a future trip by going to Hawaii.
Just for fun I checked Continental's website and as of now I can fly from Newark to
HNL for $479 (Man, I'll bet that pisses you off, living 2000 miles closer to HNL than
I do) and get nearly 10,000 FF miles, or pay $808 for Grand Cayman and only get 3100
miles. At least in theory, I could fly to HNL 4 times *and* earn a free trip to GC
for slightly more than twice the cost of one flight to GC. Sometime's you can use
airline stupidity to your advantage.

--
Steve

The above can be construed as personal opinion in the absence of a reasonable
belief that it was intended as a statement of fact.

If you want a reply to reach me, remove the SPAMTRAP from the address.

"rwjg40" <identity.available@upon.request> wrote in message
news:41C1AAD6.7103D6B6@upon.request...

> My $0.02 is that you should do your cert dives in conditions that are
> less ideal than those you will encounter in the Caribbean. If you are
> trained to handle yourself in 10 feet of viz in a full wetsuit, then
> diving in warm clear water will be well within your limits, and you can
> concentrate more on looking for critters and enjoying the experience.
>
> Also, if you do your cert dives in a Caribbean resort, you'll spend a
> lot of your valuable vacation time doing "baby" dives. In a week on
> Cozumel, you'll most likely only have 5 dive days. By the time you're
> just getting comfortable, it'll be time to leave.
>
> Gordon in Austin

Again, thanks for all the excellent advice from everyone here. Although 4 to
5 hours for four days wouldn't be bad, I am afraid that I would have to
spend the evenings and such studying- that I don't want to do!

So, due to the overwhelming consensus, I will look to doing the classroom
work before I leave, and the ow portion either in Cancun or Cozumel. For
those who mentioned it, I really don't plan to do any diving here in the
pacific NW. It is just too damn cold. The whole attraction to diving is the
warm water aspect; at least for me it is. Plus it gives me a great excuse to
travel each year.

So, the final question is where to do the ow certification. As mentioned, I
will most likely be staying at Cancun, as the flights are about $325 less
per person over Cozumel. I figure that I could easily take the bus/ferry
over as others mention. Any last pressing thoughts over doing the
certification dives in Cozumel or Cancun?

Thanks!