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Scuba Forum / General / August 2005certification vacation
Ive been checking into the various PADI and SSI classes offered in my area, and I've about decided that Id rather just go on one of the vacation packages that offer basic open water certification as part of the package. Has anyone had any recent experiences, or any recommendations of where to go. I can find hundreds of packages advertised but I havnt been able to find anybody who has actually done it, and i really dont want to just take a shot in the dark based on some flashy advertisements. thanks for any suggestions... > Ive been checking into the various PADI and SSI classes offered in my > area, and I've about decided that Id rather just go on one of the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > thanks for any suggestions... I decided to get mine over with in a quarry in NJ. But my husband got his naui certification in Grand Cayman at Parrot's Landing. He thought it was excellent. Very professional. I thought it was great, too. I sat out on the dock on a chair under an umbrella, watched the ocean (and planes doing an unusual turn that is required there for landing -- they seem to come around the corner on the tip of one wing)and had a few drinks while waiting. My time was excellent, too. redcat A common (& good) suggestion is to do the course work at home, and then do the check-out dives in your tropical destination. This is commonly known as a Referral course. It generally costs a little bit more, but the benefits of doing this is (besides getting to know your local diveshop) is that you'll not have to spend your vacation time going through "class work". Plus, since you spread the basic training out over a longer time period, you'll actually learn the material better, and have two instructors checking you over instead of just one. -hh > A common (& good) suggestion is to do the course work at home, and then > do the check-out dives in your tropical destination. This is commonly > known as a Referral course. The disadvantage is that you will be wasting part of your vacation on checkout dives when you could be doing 'real' dives... Also, if you have an ear problem and can't do the dives, you've just wasted the diving part of your vacation... Personally, I think it would be more beneficial for the OP to finish up the cert with the local dive shop so that they already have their C-card with them when they go on vacation... > The disadvantage is that you will be wasting part of your vacation on > checkout dives when you could be doing 'real' dives... True, but it is "less bad" than doing the entire course while on vacation. > Also, if you have an ear problem and can't do the dives, you've > just wasted the diving part of your vacation... Agreed...although if the pool at the Local Dive Shop (LDS) is more than ~8ft deep, it should be enough to get the knack of ear clearing...or at least indicate if its going to likely be a problem or not. > Personally, I think it would be more beneficial for the OP to > finish up the cert with the local dive shop so that they already > have their C-card with them when they go on vacation... Yes, doing it 100% local is the generally preferred approach, but the trade-off can include how cold & turbid the local waters are that can make this less than optimally pleasant (I know that I'll never get my wife into a local coldwater quarry). This rationale wasn't stated in the OP's inquiry, but I am assuming that it is implied by the OP's choice of subject line. -hh >>A common (& good) suggestion is to do the course work at home, and then >>do the check-out dives in your tropical destination. This is commonly [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > to finish up the cert with the local dive shop so that they already have > their C-card with them when they go on vacation... Plus, depending on where you are, those who learn in cold, low visibility conditions tend to learn a lot more than warm water only divers. Of course, I think it tends to freak warm water only buddies out a bit when I never move more than about a metre away from them... >> A common (& good) suggestion is to do the course work at home, and then >> do the check-out dives in your tropical destination. This is commonly [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >to finish up the cert with the local dive shop so that they already have >their C-card with them when they go on vacation... Agree entirely. That said, I have taken students to Cozumel for their cert dives. We did the first two on arrival day and the second two after I got back from my first day of boat diving. The minus side for the students is that they miss a day of boat diving. I also don't think they'll be equiped to dive in Travis. It's always easy to go from crap to wonderful, but the other direction can be pretty rough. If you only plan to do vacation diving, this may be okay, but you'll always be playing catch up with your skills.  Signaturedillon Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid" > I also don't think they'll be equiped to dive in Travis. It's always > easy to go from crap to wonderful, but the other direction can be > pretty rough. If you only plan to do vacation diving, this may be > okay, but you'll always be playing catch up with your skills. What? No one schedules a vacation dive trip to Lake Travis? Damn, I wonder why? <snicker> So, when the students do their checkout dives at Travis, do they stay above the thermoclime? Nothing quite like cold and dark... >> I also don't think they'll be equiped to dive in Travis. It's always >> easy to go from crap to wonderful, but the other direction can be [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >So, when the students do their checkout dives at Travis, do they stay >above the thermoclime? Nothing quite like cold and dark... The platforms are nominally at 30-45 feet depending on lake level. On Sunday morning we take them to 60 for a "deep experience". I'm normally down there for 50-60 minutes. I chose warm. Or dry. I actually had someone tell me that it wasn't professional to dive dry while the students were in wet suits. I was teaching two OW classes and an AOW class that weekend, in early May. Signaturedillon Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid" >>I also don't think they'll be equiped to dive in Travis. It's always >>easy to go from crap to wonderful, but the other direction can be [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > So, when the students do their checkout dives at Travis, do they stay > above the thermoclime? Nothing quite like cold and dark... I dove Travis. Guiding students. I was terrified. > I dove Travis. > > Guiding students. > > I was terrified. Yeah, once you get down past the thermoclime into the dead trees, it's 'interesting'... >> I dove Travis. >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Yeah, once you get down past the thermoclime into the dead trees, it's >'interesting'... 100ft in the trees. That's where I can get "creepy" narced. Signaturedillon Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid" > 100ft in the trees. That's where I can get "creepy" narced. You should come up here and dive Lake Cushman. They filled a valley to make a dam, and after it got about a hundred feet deep, they went along with chainsaws in boats and topped them all at one level, which nowdays is about 80 feet deep. You float along at 80 feet or so, and look down onto a forest of old growth Doug fir with flat tops. Some places, where the tops sunk, it looks like thousands of Lincoln logs all stacked up on each other randomly as they slowly fell. Even on helium at 200 feet, its creepy. >> 100ft in the trees. That's where I can get "creepy" narced. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Even on helium at 200 feet, its creepy. Gotta love 50 year old man made lakes. Signaturedillon Pain is Nature's way of saying "that was stupid" >> 100ft in the trees. That's where I can get "creepy" narced. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Even on helium at 200 feet, its creepy. Now that's an interesting sounding lake dive. Let me know when it'll be above 76degrees and I'm in. LD. > 100ft in the trees. That's where I can get "creepy" narced. Everything in shades of black and grey... Kind of like a scene out of the "Night of the Living Dead" movie... Nothing quite like following a boat anchor line down through the forest of dead trees, working your way through the branches since your line goes straight through them and if you let go of the line, you'll lose it after a few feet... Yep, an interesting dive... > A common (& good) suggestion is to do the course work at home, and then > do the check-out dives in your tropical destination. This is commonly [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > period, you'll actually learn the material better, and have two > instructors checking you over instead of just one. Good advice. Better to get the class and pool work at home, and spend the vacation in the water getting experience. >> A common (& good) suggestion is to do the course work at home, and then >> do the check-out dives in your tropical destination. This is commonly [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Better to get the class and pool work at home, and spend the >vacation in the water getting experience. If the weather's lousy at home, get a referral to a nice warm place for the check dives only. I think you can still do that. JF "What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but an absence of self-criticism." - G.K.Chesterton > >Better to get the class and pool work at home, and spend the > >vacation in the water getting experience. > > If the weather's lousy at home, get a referral to a nice warm place > for the check dives only. I think you can still do that. John, you probably should read the threads all the way through. :^) >> >Better to get the class and pool work at home, and spend the >> >vacation in the water getting experience. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >John, you probably should read the threads all the way through. :^) Probably. Sorry if I restated the obvious. 8) JF "What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but an absence of self-criticism." - G.K.Chesterton |
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