Beginner course recommendations?

[jensurber]

Hi,
Any recommendations on a good scuba school in central america?
I want to combine an actual vacation this july with my open water certification. I've got plenty of time.
I see gobs of courses on my online search, but have no idea which are reputable and which are not.

Can anyone offer advice? Even if not in Central Am. Thanks!

 

[scubajcf]

Hi,
Any recommendations on a good scuba school in central america?
I want to combine an actual vacation this july with my open water certification. I've got plenty of time.
I see gobs of courses on my online search, but have no idea which are reputable and which are not.

Can anyone offer advice? Even if not in Central Am. Thanks!

Where in Central America do you want to go.
There are some great places in Panama, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica???

I would recommend doing your class and pool lessons locally. There are many FANTASTIC shops in Denver. They can issue you a referral to do your Open Water Training Dives wherever you go.

Most shops will try to talk/sell you into doing the dives with them locally in one of the quarries/lakes/reservoirs. That is your choice.

 

[Scuba Sciences]

Hi,

I would have to agree with scubajcf and do your courses locally. That way you won't be rushed to complete skills or complete academics.

It may be easier to complete the certifications locally in Colorado then just go diving in Central America.

Where in Central America are you going?

 

[fisherdvm]

Advantages of starting the class locally is that you are guaranteed an instructor who speaks English well. Second, you want to go on vacation to have fun, not to waste 2 or 3 days in a pool.

Advantages of doing it all in a resort shop is that it might cost less to pay for both the confined water training and the openwater check out dives.

You can get the padi online training done, and finish the confined water and openwater down south. That can get the book work out of the way - but it will not save you one penny from taking a full course.

If you call around, you might find a shop in colorado that might be able to get your certification card before you leave. Disadvantage is that diving in a cold mucky puddle with a thick wetsuit, hood, gloves, and boots plus an extra 20 lbs of lead to sink you might turn you off to diving altogether. It is much more enjoyable to dive in a swim suit and barely a few pounds of lead on your waist.

Taking it locally, at least you can get input from other SB'ers on who is a good instructor, and who is not. Which is a good shop, and which is not.

 

[robint]

there are lots of excellent dive shops in Colorado. We got certified when we were living in Col Springs, but Denver are has tons. Find a shop you like, then you can get do classroom and pool at home and do a referral on your vacation for the OW dives. That is what we did to Cozumel 8 yrs ago.

Decide where you want to go also - Belize? Roatan? Utila? All would be good choice for a new diver getting certified. Once you decide where you want to go then you can start contacting dive shops about the referral. Get it all set up before you go.

robin

 

[ligersandtions]

Advantages of starting the class locally is that you are guaranteed an instructor who speaks English well. Second, you want to go on vacation to have fun, not to waste 2 or 3 days in a pool.

Advantages of doing it all in a resort shop is that it might cost less to pay for both the confined water training and the openwater check out dives.

You can get the padi online training done, and finish the confined water and openwater down south. That can get the book work out of the way - but it will not save you one penny from taking a full course.

If you call around, you might find a shop in colorado that might be able to get your certification card before you leave. Disadvantage is that diving in a cold mucky puddle with a thick wetsuit, hood, gloves, and boots plus an extra 20 lbs of lead to sink you might turn you off to diving altogether. It is much more enjoyable to dive in a swim suit and barely a few pounds of lead on your waist.

Taking it locally, at least you can get input from other SB'ers on who is a good instructor, and who is not. Which is a good shop, and which is not.

If you plan to do the coursework and confined water dives locally, then complete your check out dives in Central America, take one bit of advice from me (someone who has had a very frustrating experience): call the instructor you are going to complete your open water dives with, ask for their instructor certification number, and contact the agency (PADI, SSI, NAUI, etc) to ensure that the instructor is still active and is able to complete the certification process.

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

There other advantage to taking the course locally is that you'll save a lot of time and money if you find out diving isn't for you. That's rare, but it happens.