Best place to get open water certified

I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean location
and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.

Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be the
better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information would
be helpful.

Chip

chip313@hotmail.com

In article <4pCdnWUy7Lz7Q13cRVn-1Q@comcast.com>,
"Chip" <chip313@hotmail.com> wrote:

> I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
> Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
> take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean location
> and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.
>
> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be the
> better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information would
> be helpful.


I just did my open water cert in October for the same reason as you,
going to the BVI in May. I went to Maui Dive Shop on Maui. I was happy
with the course.

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

Thus spake "Chip" <chip313@hotmail.com> :

>I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
>Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
>take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean location
>and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.
>
>Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be the
>better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information would
>be helpful.

Better to do it at home. You will, at the very least, chew up four
complete days of your vacation. Plus, you are likely to pay more for
it.

>
>Chip
>
>chip313@hotmail.com
>

--
dillon

"When the French are against it, you know we can't
be far wrong." - Adm. Bobbie Ray Inman

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

Chip wrote:
> I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
> Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
> take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean location
> and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.
>
> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be the
> better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information would
> be helpful.
>
> Chip
>
> chip313@hotmail.com
>
>

in article 296wd.42321$Jk5.25620@lakeread01, DrYak at DrYak@nospam.com wrote
on 12/15/04 6:11 PM:

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

That is the best advice.

In your hometown in a heated pool somewhere, then do your referral at any
cooperating dive company somewhere WARM. There are 100's within the PADI
organization that will do your requires 2 days of 2 tank dives. I paid
about $250 in the TCI, and $75 here in the states plus the CD ROM
interactive course. Course work goes by fast, so pay attention. Not too
often, but it's life and death down there............

Mtbchip

I agree with the other guys. Do your classwork and pool work at home at
your leisure with plenty of time to absorb it all. Then ask your instructor
and any divers you know for recommendations on where to go and which dive
operator to use for certification. Take plenty of time to think everything
through and practice in the pool if you can so that you can breeze through
the open water dives and really enjoy yourself, feeling safe and
self-reliant all the while.

Jeanne

"Chip" <chip313@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4pCdnWUy7Lz7Q13cRVn-1Q@comcast.com...
> I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
> Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
> take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean
location
> and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.
>
> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be
the
> better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information
would
> be helpful.
>
> Chip
>
> chip313@hotmail.com
>
>

Chip wrote:

> I got to thinking, and figured why not
> take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean location
> and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.
>
> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this?

What are the chances that you'll dive someplace that isn't tropical after you've
gotten certified? There's a reasonable argument that you should do your OW checkout
dives in the kind of place that you will be doing your more challenging post-cert
diving. If you might dive in the northeast or off the west coast of the US you can
make your first 4 dives in those places with an instructor for no extra cost. OTOH,
if you're only planning to dive warm, clear water, then doing the checkout dives as a
referral makes sense. Unless you have lots of time and money, I'd also suggest
doing the course at home.


> Where would be the better places to do this?

Where's home? Hawaii would be a great place to do it (the water may not be as warm as
you think, though), but not if you need to fly from anyplace more than 500 miles west
of the Pacific Ocean. Cozumel could be good, but it's better known for it's
challenging diving than it's easy diving. Grand Cayman isn't the cheapest place, but
has lots of very easy diving. If you have a buddy you can also do lots of east shore
diivng for about $10 per dive. St John would also be a good place, IMHO. I suppose St
Thomas would also be good, except for the staying on St Thomas part. What would you
be looking for besides the diving part?

--
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.

"Chip" wrote

>I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
>Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
>take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean
>location and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.

To get the most bang for your buck, I suggest you take the classroom and
confined water (pool) portions of your course locally, and schedule your
required check out dives for your pre-trip trip.

Cozumel is probably not your best choice. The diving is great, but the
environment is not the best for training dives. Almost any place on the
island that you can get into the water, you'll experience medium to strong
current. That can make stationary training exercises a bit more difficult.
Additionally, the best diving in Cozumel is considered, by most, to be
advanced. It's deeper and includes risks that a new diver may not be ready
to deal with effectively. Personally, I suggest someplace like Grand
Cayman, where there is a lot of very nice diving suitable for newer divers.

Hawaii is not in the Caribbean.

> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be
> the better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information
> would be helpful.

Where are you?

Lee

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.

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....

Thanks again for all the comments!


"Lee Bell" <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:1Gewd.879$Z47.476@newsread2.news.atl.earthlin k.net...
> To get the most bang for your buck, I suggest you take the classroom and
> confined water (pool) portions of your course locally, and schedule your
> required check out dives for your pre-trip trip.
>
> Cozumel is probably not your best choice. The diving is great, but the
> environment is not the best for training dives. Almost any place on the
> island that you can get into the water, you'll experience medium to strong
> current. That can make stationary training exercises a bit more
> difficult. Additionally, the best diving in Cozumel is considered, by
> most, to be advanced. It's deeper and includes risks that a new diver may
> not be ready to deal with effectively. Personally, I suggest someplace
> like Grand Cayman, where there is a lot of very nice diving suitable for
> newer divers.
>
> Hawaii is not in the Caribbean.
>
>> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be
>> the better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any
>> information would be helpful.
>
> Where are you?
>
> Lee
>

Chip wrote:
>
> I have decided to get dive certified before a trip I am taking to the
> Caribbean in September next year. I got to thinking, and figured why not
> take a week off in a place like Cozumel, Hawaii, or other Caribbean location
> and attend a dive certification class there prior to September.
>
> Are there any suggestions or reasons why not to do this? Where would be the
> better places to do this? I am brand new to diving, so any information would
> be helpful.

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