Getting Certified in Playa del Carmen?

[matts1w]

Man, that is so weird.......I dove this big thing all covered with coral and fish, and other sea life ten minutes off the coast of Playa Del Carmen. Seeing how there are "no reefs" in Playa Del Carmen, I have no idea what that thing was. Maybe, Neptuno, you could help me out.

 

[ggunn]

neptuno once bubbled...
...Don't worry about using "valuable" vacation time getting certfied either,it only took my husband 3 days,and we dove the rest of the time.

Glad to hear you had so much time there that a mere 3 days didn't seem valuable. I usually only get to stay 10-12 days when I go down there, so each and every day is virtually priceless. YMMV, of course. ;^)

 

[teamheatwave]

I had the same question. I certified originally in the early to mid 80's. That was back when as a teenager I knew it all, had no money or free time. Now that I am older and not as smart but do have a few more bucks in my pocket I got back into diving and I am really excited. I too opted to go through the whole course all over again rather than doing a tuneup. I am glad I did. Some things I remembered and came easily. Others were actually new things I learned all together. I would also suggest doing the training at home before you go. Not because I question the quality of the instructors, but because if time. If you can do the certification dives in the US great, if not at least a lot of the academic and pool work is out of the way.

 

[ggunn]

And I will add that I am in favor of doing your cert dives under more challenging conditions than what you'll find in the Caribbean. If you've been checked out in a full wetsuit and with 10' viz, then you'll be more at ease even in Coz waters.

 

[MAGELLAN]

My wife and I did our OW cert in Playa last summer at Barrakuda Scuba, right next to Allegro resort. Loved it! I would suggest doing the Classroom and pool in the states though, and just doing your open water down there. The Diving is OK, I would suggest that at least one day, you take the ferry over to Cozumel and spend a day diving over there.