Hello and info needed

[Minnreefer]

Hello, I got to this site from Jason B from tcmas. My wife and I got back a monthago from Hawaii where we scnuba (diving at 20 feet the the tank in a raft above). We both want to get certified soon and begain the process. Any recomendations on where to get the cert? and any deals? We are prob gong to go to PADI but not entirely sure.

Thanks

Jon

[mndolphin]

8) 8)
Welcome to the board for the scuba obsessed!!
There are lots of local places to be certified. I went to Fantasea Scuba in Bville. They have some great instructors.
I have also had dealings with Scuba Dive and Travel, owner Richard is really great. Either of those shops I could recomend.
I would go in to a couple places and talk to people. The instructor really makes the class, so go in and see if you can talk to a few and see what they have to say. I also went PADI and both of these shops are PADI.

There are 2 classes. first you have classroom time, read a book at home and go over some of it in class, then take a fairly easy test. Then you get to get wet!!! You learn to set up your equiptment, and do some skills in the water ussually over the course of 2 days. The second class is open water. In that class you do the same skills as you did in the pool only, you do them at about 20 feet. It is a BLAST!!!



As for cost I'd say it varies but, probably around 300- 350 to get certified.
You can probably get the first class done fairly quickly but, open water dives have to wait for spring thaw.

If you have any more questions, I would be more than happy to answer them.

Welcome to the board.
Lisa

[Minnreefer]

Thanks, I had my classroom up at UMD many years ago but did not have the $$$ to get certified. I figured those are some of the places that we may go thru.

Thanks again

[jasondbaker]

Hi Jon, glad you found the board. I agree with Lisa that the instructors make the biggest difference in the classes. I would start by checking out the dive shops in your immediate area. Along with Lisa's suggestions I also recommend Scuba Center and Going Under Dive Center.

The certification agency isn't a big deal. All of the open water training programs cover the same basic skills. Your certification will be accepted anywhere.

[lrmoll]

Smith diving in Fridley is a NAUI shop. They limit class size to no more than 6. They give you a book and video tape but all the material is also covered in class. After the first class each class has both a classroom and a pool session.

[Chris]

Welcome to the site!

I'll just second what others have said...

Most importantly, be comfortable with the shop you choose. Check out a few close to you first, get a feel for the shop. If none of them make you comfortable, then try some a little farther away.

Make sure you're comfortable asking questions, lots of them! You shouldn't feel pressured either. This is probably a place you will be visiting fairly often for gear, answers to questions and just to talk scuba... you might as well be comfortable there!

[DRE]

If you have been following the board lately you probably noticed the discussions about DIR and Holistic Hogarthian (H2)styles of diving. I would definitely check out the new H2 program at Scuba dive & travel. From talking to Rich and knowing how he runs thing in his tech classes this - as far as I'm concerned - is THE ticket for OW instruction. Feel free to email me at DRE@cavediver.net or to my forum email if you have any questions.