First time Scuba?

[robz]

How are the Discover Scuba course? If I like it, I would get certified, but I want to make sure I would enjoy it before taking the class. I will be in Mexico in May and thought I could try it then.
Any suggestions?

 

[MNScuba]

There's really no better way to find out. Most of the time it's free or very low-cost. I'd recommend trying it before you leave for your vacation if possible.

 

[herman]

Hi Rob and welcome to the board. I highly recommend the try scuba dives. It's a real good way to find out if scuba is for you. I am in Raleigh and they run between free and $15 here and even the $15 one is deducted from the price of a scuba course if you go on and take a course. The one I am familiar with consists of about an hour class session followed by a "real" dive in a pool. The dive starts in the shallow end and if you are comfortable, you are taken to the deep end and allowed to play around, all of which is closely supervised. I would also suggest that you consider doing your scuba training at home rather than on vacation. You have more time and better access to your instructors, not to mention you will no doubt meet some new divers from Charlotte. You also have a better oppertunity to check out your instructor. Most of us here on the board feel that selecting a good instructor is very important. You may also consider doing a referal. That's where you do the book and pool work at home and then do your final cert dives at a different location, say Mexico.

 

[DivingGal]

Try the discover scuba before you go. You'll quickly find out if you have any problems with the sensations of breathing underwater. Up here in we only charge $5 or $10 (depends on the LDS).

If you intend to dive at home, take the training at home - support your local LDS. They'll train you in the conditions that you will be diving in.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

PADI instructors can offer two different options: 1)Discover Scuba(DS), or 2) Discover Scuba Diving(DSD).

DS includes some classroom material and a pool dive. DSD is essentially a DS with a dive in the open water added on.

These are the same dives as the first pool dive and first open water dive of the PADI OW course. If you want to continue to a full open water certification, your DS or DSD can be applied toward your OW course.

 

[waterdogs]

Hey RobZ,

Welcome aboard. That makes atleast 3 of us here on the board from the Queen City.

There are a few LDS around here: Divers Supply, Paradise, Open Water Adventures that have all the programs, take a look at each and visit them.

We are just completing our OW and just found out we have a quarry up here on the lake that the LDS use for the summer OWC's. You can join through the LDS and it's $35 per year, not bad.

Good Luck,

waterdogs.

 

[Chillywill]

That's how I got hooked. During my high school senior spring break some of my buddies and I went to Florida. And during my stay there I ran across a dive shop called Pro Dive, went in and then I think it ran me $60.00. The only think I needed was mask and fins. The course was only a few hours long and then a 30 ft dive on a local reef. I didn't want to get out of the water! As soon as I got home I enrolled in a local dive shops scuba course and got certified.

Chillywill

Heres a crappy picture of me after the dive with my discover scuba card

 

[Tavi]

Thats how I got started too!

We were on vacation in Grand Bahama. A discover scuba was offered for free in the pool at the resort we were staying at. I tried that, and then the shallow reef dive after (that part wasn't free). Once I experienced diving in open water I was hooked! I spent the rest of my vacation getting certified.

If you don't try it you'll never know.

Oh yeah, Welcome to the boards

 

[kellydiver]

By all means if you have the opportunity, try it first at home.
Here in Cozumel we offer the Discover Scuba for $60. This 3 hour course includes instruction, gear and a dive from shore. This course is valid for 2 weeks. You may make other dives after the course accompanied by the Instructor.
Welcome to the world of diving.

 

[bgonderi]

As other have suggested, I'd certainly try this at home before your trip. Assuming you like it, you can actually take the classroom and confined water portions of your certification class through your LDS at home, then do your final open water certification dives in Mexico. Your LDS gives you a referral letter(essentially saying that you've completed the first two parts of your training), and then you do your final dives (as well as any "certified" dives after that) on your trip. This way, you don't waste tmie on your vacation sitting around in a class and pool - you can get out and do some real diving. My wife and I got certified in this manner through PADI in Hawaii. I'm not sure if the other certification agencies offer this option, but I'd imagine so. Be sure to check with dive shops in Mexico - we found that cost, dive types, and class sizes varied dramatically.

The big reason w went this route was that we live in Colorado, and had we done our OW certification dives here, we'd have been in a cold, murky lake instead of the warm, clear ocean. If your local diving areas are good dive sites, you might want to just get fully certified before you go. That way, you can fully enjoy your diving in Mexico, instead of having to worry about skills and hanging out in a class.