SCUBA Certification

[HanoverFist]

Anyone here scuba certified??

Me n the misses are looking into getting our PADI open water cert before we head off to get married/honeymoon. Could use some input from experienced divers on what to look for in a trainer, equip, advice, etc. We'll be doing warm water dives around fiji and great barrier reef.

Yeah, webs full of that but i don't know those people and the webs huge.

 

[Idol]

I see your profile says you live in AZ. I would only buy what you need for class. You can't load up in your car and go diving anyplace near there so you'd need to travel. I haven't heard of a single dive trip/dive boat/dive tour/dive shop that won't rent you decent gear. Why pay extra to ship a bunch of stuff to Fiji that you can rent there? And why buy some stuff that will only get used twice a year and sit in your closet the rest of the time?

I'm Open Water certified and live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. I have my own mask, fins, snorkel, and weights as do all my friends who dive. Unless you plan on a career in diving you don't need your own BC, octopus, etc. I have my own tanks and regulators because I do some side work cleaning hulls, repairing rudders, replacing propellers, etc. But all my friends who dive here rent everything. The papers here are full of cheap dive gear because somebody made a mistake and dropped a bunch of money to have all the cool toys for their new hobby.

Spend what you have to for the class; and the class itself is pretty darn fun. Besides, being newlyweds I'm sure you will need that gear money for something else far more important.

Oh yeah, I don't care how warm it is, wear something. Gear will rub and chafe on bare skin. I recommend a skinsuit but wear at least some trunks and a t-shirt (especially for her - bikini diving only looks good in the movies) to protect yourself.

 

[5starGeneralAlphaSnake]

Idol where do you dive off of?
Near clearwater or somewhere else?

 

[DragonD]

I have my advanced open water and am getting ready to get nitrox certified. I've done about 60 dives..everything from local lakes to Cancun to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)..

Some of what Idol says is true. Some is not.

He's correct about (for now) just buying what you need for the class. Rent the rest until you figure out what you really wanna do.

I'm taking my girl friend to Play del Carmon (20 minutes outside of cancun) on June 16th (7 days, all inclusive (including alc drinks)). She got certified this past summer. You can darn tooting we are doing some dives...but...the only gear i'm actually taking is the basics (no bcd, regs, dive computer).

Like Idol says, you can rent all that stuff. Why lug it around, risk it getting stolen/damaged?

Also, always wear some sort of skin protection while doing salt water dives. There is just to many things in there that can scratch/cut you (not even talking about fish). And as you will learn in class, water does suck the heat right out of your body...

Now then..for the "not true" parts.

Since you are taking scuba lessons, I'm going to assume there is someplace near you to dive, probably lots of lakes and even some rivers.

I live south of Houston, right on the gulf of mexico. My house is maybe 500 yard from the gulf of mexico. I launch my jet ski at a marina that is so close, I can see the mast of the sail boats.

Yet most of my dives are freshwater dives....local lakes and stuff.

Assuming you have stuff like that around you also, you will probably have lots of opportunity to dive in the future.

Sooo..as you dive more..and get more experienced, you will figure out if you really like it or not (i LOVE it). If you go enough, your going to want your own your wetsuit and BCD. (note, people DO pee in those rental wet suites...!)

The BCD you will (probably) use for the class and the ones they rent are NOTHING like the "good" ones. Once you try on one of the "nice" ones, with integrated weights and stuff...well, you get the point.

Same with the regulators and dive computers.

It's all going to depend on how often you go diving, if you "keep" with it..and of course your budget.

Like any sport, there is without a doubt a start up fee. (how much is a good set of golf clubs??). But once you buy them, you don't have to do it again for a long time...

My advice is to join a local web forum. You can ask/find a lot of local people who can answer your questions..also about local dive locations.

I'm sure there are a lot of people here who dive also...ask any questions you want.

 

[Idol]

Now then..for the "not true" parts...Since you are taking scuba lessons, I'm going to assume there is someplace near you to dive, probably lots of lakes and even some rivers...Yet most of my dives are freshwater dives....local lakes and stuff...So you will probably have lots of opportunity to dive in the future.

Yeah, good points. I've been around salt water my whole life (except for a minor stint in Kansas) and just naturally associate SCUBA with ocean. My bad.

My point was, and I think DragonD agrees with this, don't run out and buy a bunch of stuff for your new hobby just because it's your new hobby. After the novelty wears off, should you find yourself diving regularly and near the home, by all means get some gear. But by then you'll know what's bling and what's real quality. And you'll know what you like, don't like, and what you need.

5Star, it's all working dives so I dive wherever the boat is. Mostly St Pete beaches Boca Ciega bay area.

 

[Sandman]

Been certified in Florida for about 6 years. Don't worry too much about gear, any dive shop will have rental's you can use, before you dump a lot of money into this hobby (and trust me you can). If you do decide to start getting gear, I know most dive shop owners can go on for hours about recommendations. Most of my dives have been freshwater springs and the like, only had one ocean dive in the keys. I always carry a dry bag onto the boats to make sure my towel and clothes stay dry, the floor of a boat will get very wet. Make sure to leave your phone/wallet/keys in your car, i've seen other dives drop all of them right into the drink once the boat picks up speed.

 

[5starGeneralAlphaSnake]

Make sure to leave your phone/wallet/keys in your car, i've seen other dives drop all of them right into the drink once the boat picks up speed.

Dont put your car keys and lock the door!
So just get one of them floating key chains and put your car keys on there if you loose them they float.

 

[DragonD]

I always carry a dry bag onto the boats to make sure my towel and clothes stay dry, the floor of a boat will get very wet.

Soooo true!!! My first dive log got ruined (water logged) because I kept it in the the bag with the rest of my gear. On most smaller dive boats, the bags get stowed under the seats/benches.

I now keep my dive logged in one of those zip lock bags so it stays dry.