Wait time to start open water dive at shop?

[Whitetofu]

Hello, I was just wondering how long did it took you guys to start your open water dive course after filling up the papers and taking note of your sizes of the gears? I did my Padi eLearning online and I'm trying to do the open water course in person. I've been waiting 3 months so far and I'm wondering why is it taking so long. I tried calling them and they said they would call me back and still waiting.

I'm from Canada and winter is coming soon so I don't think I'll start my course before next year.

 

[Whitetofu]

Mine was many moons ago but I started the course within a few weeks of calling the shop. Really that was my choice so I could sort out travel & hotels. I could've started sooner if I lived closer.

I'd go somewhere else. Three months is long enough to string along a customer that it'll either kill interest or they'll go somewhere else. If that's the amount of concern they have for you now then think about how much concern they'll have for you during and after the course.

Seems like waiting for more than 3 months is unusual for starting the open water dive course. I figured as much. A lot of excuses on their end I've noticed but as soon I look up their FB page, they are doing many courses.

And true I didn't think about that. It's ridiculous that they can't even call me back after the lady on the phone took my name. I'm not very pleased with their customer service

 

[Centrals]

It was back to 1996, my mate and I had a casual talk on learning diving together in Philippines. We looked at my old LP Philippines Survival Kit and picked a dive operator in Moalboal. The rest is history.
We did not have to wait long, probably couple of weeks at most.

 

[lizardland]

Seems like waiting for more than 3 months is unusual for starting the open water dive course. I figured as much. A lot of excuses on their end I've noticed but as soon I look up their FB page, they are doing many courses.

And true I didn't think about that. It's ridiculous that they can't even call me back after the lady on the phone took my name. I'm not very pleased with their customer service

I started learning in a club environment (don't know if that is a thing in North America) and they told me the timespan was three months. Which is fair enough as the teaching was by volunteers and pool availability was only during the club's weekly session. But I remember thinking that that felt like a life sentence. Which is why I went to a PADI school instead.

Stuff like this just makes me think if they can't look after you now, they won't look after you later. Plenty of dive schools out there who will. One of things that often gets overlooked is that the post-certification world can be a lonely place if you don't have a regular partner or doing resort diving. New divers can be really reliant on their training facility for diving opportunities afterwards so you want somewhere that has a horizon that's further out than the end of the open-water course.

 

[halocline]

I did think of going to Mexico during winter and do my certification but from what I discovered, it's not very safe to do so. Many safety drills are skipped and can put my life at risk. I guess all I can do is wait from my local diving shop.

Who told you that, your local shop? It’s BS. There are excellent instructors in Mexico (and some not so good ones) just like anywhere else in the world. Some of the best OW instructors I’ve ever met are in tropical locations where they are constantly training new divers.

You just need to get a good recommendation from someone on this board. It’s been years since I was involved in OW dive training so I’m not the best person to ask. But….if someone I loved was looking for OW instruction, I would ask for a recommendation for an OW instructor from Nat at Under the jungle. She has high standards and knows everyone down there.

I’m sure there are excellent instructors in Cozumel, Bonaire, Roatan. And if you can afford the time, you could stay and dive in clear warm water for a week after your class to practice your new skills in an easy, forgiving environment. That’s the best way to start training IMO. Then, if you want to dive in cold water at home, you can take some further instruction there.

 

[hilljo88]

Take a vacation to Cozumel or Florida ( Fort Lauderdale to Jupiter). Lots of professional, well run dive shops. You deserve better treatment than you are getting from your local shop.

 

[jonhall]

long did it took you guys to start your open water dive course

Like others who took the course before eLearning, the knowledge (bookwork) part and the confined pool work ran concurrently - one night a week for 6 weeks (as I recall.) We would meet at the dive store for the traditional classroom work and then drive to an indoor pool for the pool work. We also had preplanned a trip (Grand Cayman) where we would complete our 4 open water dives to complete our certification - the dive shop helped set this up so the dive sop in GC expected us. Since, I have completed 2 eLearning courses and both of those were concurrent with me being at the place where I could do the water work as I did the bookwork - I did AOW in Mexico.

Did you not have pool sessions through a dive shop set up before completing the eLearning? Again, as others have suggested, I would call other shops in your area and explain that you've completed the eLearning and need to complete the confined pool work. I would also suggest that as you get the confined pool work completed, you also already know where you will complete the 4 open water dives - the dive shop should offer those also - you can decide whether to do those in the conditions where you live or in the conditions of a nice tropical location .

I thought Mexico would be cheaper. Not sure yet if I want to travel and do my certification outside of Canada but I'm running out of patience lol

If Mexico is truly an option (I've met many Canadians in Cozumel, MX in the winter) there is nothing wrong with that. Been to both the east and west coast of Mexico and safety/dive instruction is not an issue. Dive ops there are happy to take your money just like anywhere else - except maybe where you are, lol. Already having the eLearning, you would probably be able to go through the pool/open water pretty easily and be certified after a few days.

It's ridiculous that they can't even call me back after the lady on the phone took my name. I'm not very pleased with their customer service

Patience, but I agree with you!

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Do your elearning through a shop in the Caribbean and then fly down and do your confined and open water dives. The course will be less expensive and you'll be somewhere nice.

 

[Damselfish]

A thing that comes to mind - when you are reading about classes, make sure if they are talking about actual full certification classes and not something like Discover dives, resort courses, or other abbreviated experiences. It can all be good info, but Discover type dives do have a reputation for not always being well done.

I’d also be careful about taking scuba advice from Tripadvisor. Can be a good place for researching resorts and other activities. But it’s not a place where people knowledgable about scuba tend to review courses or dive shops. Often people talking about scuba there don’t seem to know what they’re talking about.

 

[Damselfish]

I thought of booking into all inclusive resorts on Sunwing website but it might not the best apparently? If you have any places in mind in Mexico to get my certification, let me know. I'll definitely start looking into it. I'm very close to ask for a refund at my local diving shop.

I looked briefly at the Sunwing website. I didn’t see a way to filter for resorts with diving, whether included or nearby, but I might have missed it. Lots of the locations aren’t really places well known for scuba diving so if you really want to do a Sunwing package you’ll have to do some digging. Or maybe someone familiar can look at the list and have a suggestion. (I’m not too familiar with Mexico beyond what I read about Cozumel, and have only dove Sea of Cortez.)

AI resorts are a tricky thing for diving.

There are AIs dedicated to diving where you could certainly find a good class and get it done, do some additional non-training dives, and immerse yourself in the experience. They tend to be one offs and not part of chains or offered as charter package deals. And they’re in places with good diving.

Some AIs include diving, but are vacations with some diving, vs dive vacations. Sandals comes to mind, maybe club med, there are others. They can be good for new divers, and may offer certifications. (I think at some you can get a certification good only with their resorts, not what you want.)
(Experienced divers tend to not like diving with these because there are usually a lot of limitations on the diving. Sometimes people even stay at an AI for everything else but do their diving with an outside shop. But you might find one that works for you.)

And many AIs are not useful for diving at all. Like located someplace where there isn’t any decent accessible diving.

 

[Litefoot]

Before considering the alternatives, I would do a face-to-face visit to your local shop(s). I bet you can quickly determine if they’re truly busy or just an unorganized cluster.

If you plan to be a travel diver, then go to Florida and do your OW. But if you think you’ll mostly develop your skills and dive locally, then be patient and do the training at home. As someone else mentioned, you’ll get connected to the local scene to find buddies and experienced divers to help answer questions and take you to good dive spots.