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Scuba certification - do it now or while on vacation?
Has anyone here gotten their scuba certification?
We're going to the Caribbean and July and want to scuba. Is it better to get the certification taken care of before or can we do on the island (Caribbean - not sure 100% which island yet)?
H got a ballpark figure from a local place for $370. I'm wondering if a place on the island would be cheaper. I'm off to Google, but would appreciate any info/insight if you've done this.
ETA: Also, any thoughts a resort course vs. doing full-blown PADI certification? This isn't going to be a new hobby for us; just something we want to do while on vacation.
Re: Scuba certification - do it now or while on vacation?
My advice is conflicted. Part of me wants to suggest doing it ahead of time. I think that if you get your feet wet first (horrible pun I know) then you will enjoy your dive in the Caribbean more. On the other hand, since you don't plan on making this a new hobby, it is very expensive and,might be more economical to just do the resort course. Chances are, with the resort course, you will spend the morning in the pool and then the afternoon in the water. You will probably stay with the guide/instructor the whole time, which can be really nice because they can point out things you might miss.
If you think you will want to dive again, I would go with either a PADI or NAUI certification, if not I would do the resort course. Some places will allow you to do the class itself at home, and then you do your open water at your destination and then you have your certification. Sometime those courses are cheaper, but you would still have to pay for your dives at your vacation location.
We did all of the classroom work and pool dives at home and then did all of the open water dives in the Caribbean on vacation. This worked out really well for us so we were not wasting vacation time in a classroom, but then we were also able to do open water dives in the sea rather than a lake.
As far as prices go, I know we had a lot more than $370 tied up into the certification. That is what we spent on classroom and pool time at home, then when we got to the Caribbean we paid for the open water dives (4 dives), plus extra because they need extra instructors along to certify you. I think we had close to $1,000 pp into it, but part of that cost was diving in the Caribbean, which we would have paid for either way.
And my 2 cents on doing the resort course vs. the full-blown PADI certification: If you have never done any sort of SCUBA diving before do the resort course. I paid lots of money to be certified and I don't like diving at all-I have not gone since we were certified in 2008. My husband loves it and goes when we are on vacation (a few times a year). If you know that you like it and frequently go on vacation where you can dive I would think the full certification would be worth it for you.
IMHO, full certification ahead of time, hands-down. I personally do not think it is a good idea to scuba-dive if you have not spent the time to get certified, the resort-certs are very quick and you do not learn as much. I would never feel comfortable with letting someone else setup my gear, your life literally depends on it and I think you should know what you are doing in case something goes wrong. Many might thing I am making a big deal out of nothing but it's my thoughts. You could do a full certification on vacation too but that is very time consuming for a vacation.
I have to agree with you on this. I've seen WAY more people injured with just the discovery "certification" than with the actual certification. Yes, with the discovery one you can do stuff and a dive master is with you but they can really only do so much to protect you. Most of the injuries these divers get is because you panic when something goes wrong. Trained divers learn how to control this more and are more comfortably able to handle if a small issue occurs. Yes with more certification you get more comfort and learn more safety but when it comes to diving, it's one of those sports that you can enjoy but to get it's full potential you really have to protect yourself.
Definitely do the full-blown before you leave. I wouldn't want to have to do that stuff while on vacation -- just would want to do the fun stuff. Even if you just do the ocean dives while on vacation, it's still be a time suck.
I doubt that getting certified on the island would be cheaper. I'd guess it'd be pricier...
Diving as a certified diver isn't something you do just once. Between the class and certification dives, it'll run you at least $500-600. There is a lot of information to learn and a fairly significant time commitment. (I wouldn't want to give up several hours for training just to dive once or twice.)
For doing it only once, I'd take a "resort course" when you get to your destination. It's a few hours in the morning in a class/pool, then a depth-limited, highly supervised dive. I believe you can do subsequent dives like this for a week's period.
OR, see if where you're going has SNUBA. It' like SCUBA but the air comes from a smal boat above your through a long tube. You can't go very deep, but it's an option.
DH and I love diving, so of course I recommend full cert. We did our classroom and pool at home and check dives in Belize. PADI calls it a referral course. I think it was about $400 each ($200 at home and $200 in Belize).
I personally recommend the referral course for many reasons. You can get comfortable diving by practicing in a nice heated pool. Some dive shops in the Caribbean make you do the confined dives in a shallow salt water lagoon or some have unheated pools. Also, you get to do your dives in warm tropical water. I dove in CA once- never again. A huge thick wetsuit, cold water, tons of weight because of the suit you have to wear, 20ft of visibility on a good day- all combine for a horrible day. Diving in the Caribbean means a shorty or no wet suit at all and 100+ feet of visibility- talk about amazing!! I think diving in a lake would have turned me off of diving right away. Best of luck whatever you decide. Diving has become an amazing thing for dh and I to do together.