OW Instructor in the Tampa Bay Area for Memorial Day weekend?

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Karen18

Registered
Messages
41
Reaction score
17
Location
St Petersburg
# of dives
50 - 99
A good friend of mine is coming to visit me (in St Petersburg) over Memorial Day weekend and he wants to get OW certification. He's in the Army and is on leave for a few days, so he only has one weekend (3-4 days) to get everything finished. He's been diving a few times before, in Hawaii, a Discover Scuba thing; but that's it.

I don't know of any shops that could schedule him in such a small time, but I thought maybe some private instructors would have some more flexibility/availability. PM me if you know of anyone.

Thanks.

Karen
 
I know, that's what I'm trying to tell him. But I told him I'd ask anyway. :)
 
I am not in your area, but it can be done. Have him complete PADI elearning online, that will save about 5 hours right there. It can be a very effective learning tool. For confined water and ow training dives find a facility that has its own inhouse pool so that scheduling pool time is no issue. OW training dives take 2 days as standards only allow no more than 3 training dives in a day.. On day 1 do confined water (pool) 1-2-3, after module 3 is completed he only needs to do ow training dive #2, if he has documentation of his previous Discover Scuba Diving OW experience as that can count for dive 1. No documentation of discover scuba diving, then do dive #1 and #2.
Now on day 2 he completes module 4 and 5 confined water and in the afternoon ow training dives 3 and 4..He has now completed all requirements for ow certification.
Kind of quick, but can be done , I do not endorse such a schedule for most.
..Can be usually be done if on private basis and he picks thing up easily.
It will cost $$$ as it is private basis and on a holiday..Here in NY at facility I teach out of it would cost $550 for confined water work and additional $1100 for ow dives on a nearby boat as there is no beach access nearby (less than 20 minutes away from pool) to meet the time frame. Boat alone is $700 in that fee..all 4 training dives together normally runs $239 with gear rentals included,but that is in a group schedule. To meet desired time frame and pay instr enough as it is 1 student figure on $400..total comes to $1,100. boat and instr for the 4 training dives alone.. can be alot less if boat is not required and you have beach access in your area.
 
He does pick things up quickly and would probably be able to do it, but I'm not a fan of rushing through the instruction. I told him to get the coursework and pool sessions finished where he is, and to come down with a referral card to do the open water dives.
Thanks for the info.
I just moved down here from NYC, so I'm very familiar with the steep prices up north, especially boat charters. One of the reasons I've been sticking to diving in the springs down here...
 
Contact Birds Underwater in Crystal River. E- learning classroom part ( call for code ), 2 REALLY long days for pool and open water. I think it was 225-250, all gear was included. Only other cost was entry fees for whatever open water dive site the class decided on, usually 46- 58. I think private class was 120 more.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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