Advice on choosing dive company to get OW Certification

[phy]

I've done several discover scuba courses and have really enjoyed it! So much that i'm planning on getting my OW Certification in December when I'm in Aruba. I've read through a lot of the threads on this forum and it seems like people really speak highly of Clive (Dive Aruba) and JADS. (not to mention, i was really impressed at how everyone in this community is so helpful in terms of giving advice and sharing their experiences! )

My question is, does anyone have any advice or pointers as to who I should go with to get my OW certification? JADS? Dive Aruba? SEAruba Fly n Dive? others?

Do you recommend doing the PADI eLearning course online before I arrive in Aruba to help get me into the water faster?

Thanks in advance! I can't wait to get into the water.

Phy

 

[polyester1970]

Sorry, I don't know the dive shops in Aruba, was in Curacao recently though, but I can give you my thoughts about getting the OW certification in general.

I would strongly recommend doing the OW Referral Program where you do the classroom + pool training at home then just do the 4 ocean dives in Aruba. The OW certification requires quite a lot of reading, a lot of it is really dry actually. The first few chapters goes into painful detais about the equipment. I think it took me 2 fairly complete days to read all of it and I don't think you want to be doing that on your vacation. Then there's about 8 hours of classroom lecture. I've seen some resorts cut that short or just play a video. I don't think that's a great idea since the information is important for you safety and you need some time for Q&A with the instructor. Then there's about 8 hours of pool training - that's at least more fun, but I'd rather be divng in the ocean if I'm in Aruba not diving in a pool.

I recently did my nitrox cert in Curacao. I only had to read a very small book, but it took me almost a week to get it all done. I saved about $100 doing it there rather than at home, but I spent too much time reading when I could be doing something else.

I didn't do the eLearning course but asked about it once and at least at my local dive shop the pool training wasn't included and was extra. I think it ended up costing more than just doing the referral course.

Hopefully you live somewhere with a dive shop, you can always find them on PADI.com or whichever agency you're going with. SSI and NAUI are fine as well. I think it ended up costing me about $50 more doing it this way but considering the time & fun savings - I think it's the only way to go.

 

[Storm]

This may not be the answer that you were looking for, but I would strongly suggest that you completely certify at home, in your local waters especially if you're planning on doing more diving than just vacation diving.

I know in some cercumstances this may not be ideal for some as they might not have access to dive shops and dive sites, but if possible you would be better served by using a local instructor who can teach you the style of diving done in your local area, then adapting that to blue water diving.

Where I live, we dive in the cold, murky green, farily strong currented waters of the St. Lawrence River. If we had trained and certified in the clear, calm water of many ocean sites, we woud have been woefully prepared for where we do most of our diving; here at home..

 

[gustele]

If you want to do your certification in Aruba I would recommend Native Divers (Romeo Croes); website is at Native Divers Aruba Scuba certifications; I did my certification with him in 1994 and I never regretted it. His slogan is correct "Where you come as a guest. And you leave as a friend ...". When I am in Aruba I will be diving with him. Very friendly person, flexible time scheme and a lot of attention for his students. Always small groups.

 

[phy]

Thanks for all the helpful feedback! I'll check out these programs and companies.