New to Scuba, and completely LOST!

[seubank20]

I hope that this is the correct thread to be starting a post in, if not I apologize.

With that, the subject of this post pretty well sums it up. I am completely new to scuba diving, though I am no new to the idea. I have spent countless hours reading and researching the ins and out of scuba diving and have finally decided to go through with getting my certifications and purchasing my own dive equipment. That being said, I have ran into a bit of a problem. My husband who will also be getting his certs with me has a good friend who is currently certified through the I.D.E.A agency and had referred my husband to his instructor for us to get our certs though. Because we are friends with this guy the instructor quotes us at 70$/person to get our open water dive cert. We would be responsible for our own equipment and paying for the charters to do your 4 exit water dives. Though I love the price I am no really sure how I feel about being certified through I.D.E.A. I have read multipul thread on here other sites stating that they have never had an issue dive shops/charters/ect recognizing their certs, but whenever I read anything about getting certified in scuba the only agency that are refered to are ones like P.A.D.I, N.A.U.I, and S.S.I. Eventually I would like to be able to get my Advanced Open Water Cert, Wreck Diver Cert, and maybe even my Rescue Diver Cert but no where on any site have I seen that I.D.E.A offers any course like that. I know that all three of the others previously listed DO in fact offer classes for them. Does anyone know if I would be able to be certified in more than just the Open Water Diver if I go through with the I.D.E.A cert? Most P.A.D.I classes, are about 400$/person which is quite a bit more but if I am going to be able to further my education pretaining to diving then it would be well worth the money. BUT if I can still do that through I.D.E.A then that will probably be the route I go.

Next, I have read that most angency wont let you jump from Cert to Cert with out completely their training. Example: I get my I.D.E.A cert and then decide that I want to be P.A.D.I certified, do I have retake P.A.D.I's course? Or can I like cross certifications?

Thanks in advance for any replys. The more I read this the more it sounds as clear as muddy water.

 

[Steve_C]

Certs are pretty much interchangable at the nonpro level if they are from recognized agencies. On my way to dive master I took classes from SDI, PADI, and SSI. If you go pro it is not so quick but still possible for say a PADi instructor to becomes an SDI isntructor without redoing everything.

I am not familiar with IDEA. The question is if they are one of the recognized agencies.

 

[knotical]

IDEA has been around at least since 1978. Although one of the smaller agencies, they are widely recognized. An open water certification from IDEA should be accepted by all major agencies as a prerequisite for their next level course(s) (e.g. for Advanced Open Water or many specialties).

To be more certain, you might want to contact an instructor or store associated with one of the other agencies and ask if they’ll accept your IDEA open water certification as a sufficient prerequisite for course XX.

 

[seubank20]

Okay, I figured I would ask around here first before I started calling places but I will go ahead and do that tomorrow! Thanks for both of your responses. I was just very unsure because finding information about IDEA certs are hard and the actual IDEA website doesn't shed much light the questions I had.

Next question, I am most likely going to be buying my own mask,snorkel, and fin just to start out and have been looking at AquaLung products, but there are just so many to choose from. Where do you even start? We will most likely be diving in warm water/tropical areas. This may be to hard of a question to even answer since there seems to be a lot to consider but thought I would, again, just ask before we head up to our local dive shop Wednesday.

 

[fnfalman]

I hope that this is the correct thread to be starting a post in, if not I apologize.

With that, the subject of this post pretty well sums it up. I am completely new to scuba diving, though I am no new to the idea. I have spent countless hours reading and researching the ins and out of scuba diving and have finally decided to go through with getting my certifications and purchasing my own dive equipment. That being said, I have ran into a bit of a problem. My husband who will also be getting his certs with me has a good friend who is currently certified through the I.D.E.A agency and had referred my husband to his instructor for us to get our certs though. Because we are friends with this guy the instructor quotes us at 70$/person to get our open water dive cert. We would be responsible for our own equipment and paying for the charters to do your 4 exit water dives. Though I love the price I am no really sure how I feel about being certified through I.D.E.A. I have read multipul thread on here other sites stating that they have never had an issue dive shops/charters/ect recognizing their certs, but whenever I read anything about getting certified in scuba the only agency that are refered to are ones like P.A.D.I, N.A.U.I, and S.S.I. Eventually I would like to be able to get my Advanced Open Water Cert, Wreck Diver Cert, and maybe even my Rescue Diver Cert but no where on any site have I seen that I.D.E.A offers any course like that. I know that all three of the others previously listed DO in fact offer classes for them. Does anyone know if I would be able to be certified in more than just the Open Water Diver if I go through with the I.D.E.A cert? Most P.A.D.I classes, are about 400$/person which is quite a bit more but if I am going to be able to further my education pretaining to diving then it would be well worth the money. BUT if I can still do that through I.D.E.A then that will probably be the route I go.

Next, I have read that most angency wont let you jump from Cert to Cert with out completely their training. Example: I get my I.D.E.A cert and then decide that I want to be P.A.D.I certified, do I have retake P.A.D.I's course? Or can I like cross certifications?

Thanks in advance for any replys. The more I read this the more it sounds as clear as muddy water.

After the Opening Water cert, everything else is just gravy.

I have several different cert cards between PADI and NAUI.

As far as "wreck diver cert" goes, there are two types of wreck divers: the real one and the wannabe.

The real wreck divers are the ones with a lot more advanced training (technical diving) and the wannabe are the typical PADI specialty where you go down to a shallow wreck, look around, maybe stick your head inside it for about 10-ft then you get a cert card.

One of the guys that I dive with has a IDEA Open Water card, then he took AOW and Nitrox with NAUI, then he took Rescue with PADI. Now he's doing deco diving with IANTD.

 

[seubank20]

After the Opening Water cert, everything else is just gravy.

I have several different cert cards between PADI and NAUI.

As far as "wreck diver cert" goes, there are two types of wreck divers: the real one and the wannabe.

The real wreck divers are the ones with a lot more advanced training (technical diving) and the wannabe are the typical PADI specialty where you go down to a shallow wreck, look around, maybe stick your head inside it for about 10-ft then you get a cert card.

One of the guys that I dive with has a IDEA Open Water card, then he took AOW and Nitrox with NAUI, then he took Rescue with PADI. Now he's doing deco diving with IANTD.

I probably would fall into the "wanna be" wreck diver category -lol-! It is good to know that I can go ahead with the IDEA cert and then jump around between agency. I have never actually dove before so I may just get my Open Water and be finished but its good to know where I stand if I decide to go further.

 

[261311]

At least if someone looked at your certification card someone would say you had a decent idea of what you were doing. Ba-dum-tish.

Bad puns aside, while I think looking at and learning about gear is important do not buy it just yet. Hold off for now and rent a few different makes and models from a dive center and see what suits you. Diving is very personal as is the gear and spending hundreds and usually thousands of dollars just to get started could be dangerous and demotivating if you don't buy the right stuff. For now, grab yourself a wetsuit because you might want to practice in your local waters, or if you're only diving tropical maybe a thin full length or a shorty just for some protection. They're highly personal and think of people misusing rental equipment, that's not something you want to wear when others may have peed in it. Other gear however, less personal and more expensive. Aqua lung isn't at all a bad brand and they've been around for quite a while- I'm personally a fan of their products but that's not at all where everything stops so make sure to take a look at everything to make sure they're right for you. Look into your dive future, 5-10 years down the road and not so much in the immediate future. You want gear that is easy to use and learn, but also gear that you'll grow into and still find useful.

 

[DevonDiver]

IDEA is listed as a WRSTC member agency - so no problems with recognition from any of the other main agencies (PADI, SSI etc). Quote the WRSTC membership if a dive pro/center ever shows confusion/reluctance to accept that membership. IDEA is a smaller/less well known agency, but it is legitimate.

There is no need to repeat qualifications specific to an individual agency. You can progress through the main levels (OW-AOW-Rescue etc) using alternative agency training as the necessary pre-requisite.

 

[modustollens]

My OW cert was Idea. That was way back in the early 90's. The only dive shop for miles around was IDEA though now it has switched to PADI.

Never had a problem at a dive shop in several countries or using it when using it as a prerequisite for my PADI advanced.

Good luck.

MT

 

[fnfalman]

One more joke about "wreck diving specialty":

A dive boat charter has three groups of OW students on it with three different agencies: PADI, NAUI and SSI.

On the way back from the trip where everybody already got certified, the captain announced that the boat is sinking and be prepared to abandon ship in 30-minutes. He already put out a Mayday call but nobody will be able to get to the boat before it sinks.

The SSI instructor gathered up the divers and told them to get suited up again and get the gears ready for abandon ship. He said that upon abandoning ship, they will all stay together as a group and tether to each other, deploying SMB, streamer dye and get mirrors ready for attracting airborne rescue vehicles.

The NAUI instructor gathered up the divers and told them to get suited up but leave the BC/tanks behind. Only snorkel, fins, mask and weight belt. Upon abandoning ship, they will all gather up and swim for shore. Along the way, they will practice rescue techniques if somebody were to get cramped.

The PADI instructor gathered up the divers and announced that in 30-minutes there will be a wreck diving specialty course available if they were to want to participate and it'll cost $100 per person.