Thanks for the Cozumel tip. I have considered it. I would like to go to
Belize because I am also scouting it out as a possible place to live for a
while on the cheap.

"None" <non@non.com> pounded away at his keyboard resulting in:

There are those that think that doing crappy cold water low vis dives
should be a pre-requisite for doing nice warm water high vis dives.

But it's probably less expensive, if that matters.

Dan Bracuk
If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure.
The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/

The usual suggestion is to do the book and pool work at home and do the
open water dives some where more interesting.  If you're planning to
spend more than a week or so in Belize, you might as well do the whole
thing there.  As someone else suggested, check out Amigos del Mar.

That and finances.

I certainly enjoyed my OW class, but I think it makes more sense to enjoy it at home
(which is where I did mine). The setting may be nicer on vacation, but the class
won't be inherently more fun as a result. You may also meet future dive buddies by
taking the class at home.

 I also think learning there

You can definitely find places that will get you certified cheaply, but are you sure
you'd want to take the class at those places? Most destination resorts charge more
(sometimes much more) than the local dive shops in most places in the US.
Additionally you'll be paying just to be there. If you use 2 days of a 7 day vacation
to take a class (and you may well have 4 days for the class, meaning about the only
dives of the vacation will be the checkout dives) then the class costs the up front
charge plus the difference between a 5 and 7 night stay. If you're at all worried
about the budget I think it makes much more sense to spend your vacation budget on
the vacation instead of on a chance to sit in a class room (or at a picnic table) in
an exotic location. If you do the class at home and get a referral for the checkout
dives you'll probably pay a little bit more than taking the entire class at a resort,
but you'll only use the mornings of your first and second vacation days, and then you
can spend the entire second afternoon doing recreational dives (assuming you finish
the class and are still ambitious enough to do more diving that day). If you think
you may want to dive whatever waters are available at home sometime in the
not-too-distant future there's a lot to be said for doing the checkout dives at home
even if they aren't quite as much fun. Either way you'll be doing exercises, so you
may as well consider them working dives.

You will have to do some work in a pool or in shallow water in any
case.  That's part of the training.  It is easier to do in a pool, and
if you do it outdoors (either at a pool or beach) you run the risk of
getting sunburned, because of course you can't wear a hat with scuba
equipment very well.  My husband got significant sunburn on his head
when he took his OW course in Cozumel.

So most folks will recommend that you do the pool work at home.  The
reason that my husband did not do that was because he wouldn't take
the time off to do the pool work unless he was far enough away from
the house/boat so as to be free to do something else other than
house/boat/car maintenance.  OTOH, I took the pool work at home and
did the checkout dives in the Virgin Islands.

Some people have other things they want to do with their vacation
other than taking a class.  I'm not sure if I would want to do a class
on vacation.  There is a lot of class work with an OW course.


grandma Rosalie

First, there may be an economy (there may not be also, I'll explain further
down). Second, learning to dive in a more difficult environment will make
you even more prepared to enjoy the Caribbean waters.

That too.  Who wants to waste any vacation time actually studying or sitting
inside taking a class?

It could be, but learning how to dive properly is important and something
that shouldn't be considered as a vacation experience, to my mind.

Potentially, but learning how to dive properly and over a more extended
period than a couple of days, actually instills the knowledge and skills
better than a 2 day course, whether you take that short time course at home
or away.

Now all that said, there are certain places that you can travel to, where if
you take the lessons and stay at the lodging of the operator's choice, you
can get one helluva deal.  The acco can work out to virtually nothing.  In
this regard, I refer to places like Utila and Koh Tao.

How long do you plan to be away?  If only a week or two, and you aren't
leaving right away, I'd take my training at home.  You won't regret that
decision.  If you are going for an extended vacation, then taking your
training in conjunction with getting a real deal on your acco, then, heck .
. why not?