Getting Certified while on Vacation - Some Questions

[DaCarez]

Hello!
After wanting to try diving for a while, I found out that on the next vacation I'm going on (A Royal Caribbean cruise), they offer PADI Scuba Diver certification. Now before the flames begin, I've read everywhere that Scuba Diver is as good as, if not worse, than nothing at all...which, after reading the rationales, I agree with. Therefore, I would like to get Open Water certified while on vacation. Royal Caribbean offers the Scuba Diver certification, which includes 2 dives at Grand Cayman. In addition, they offer 2 dives at Freeport, Bahamas for 'certified' divers. To complicate matters further, Princess Cruises (I like them too and might eventually go on one of their ships again) offers OW certification without any of these hassles.

Therefore, my questions are:
1) If I do the Scuba Diver certification and then do the 2 dives at Freeport, would that be enough to get Open Water? And if not, what else do I need to do?

2) Can I do the dives at Freeport with only Scuba Diver? (Kinda makes question 1 irrelevant if not)

3) Should I just wait until I get on a Princess ship?

Thanks in advance

 

[dmpaq20]

Hello!
After wanting to try diving for a while, I found out that on the next vacation I'm going on (A Royal Caribbean cruise), they offer PADI Scuba Diver certification. Now before the flames begin, I've read everywhere that Scuba Diver is as good as, if not worse, than nothing at all...which, after reading the rationales, I agree with. Therefore, I would like to get Open Water certified while on vacation. Royal Caribbean offers the Scuba Diver certification, which includes 2 dives at Grand Cayman. In addition, they offer 2 dives at Freeport, Bahamas for 'certified' divers. To complicate matters further, Princess Cruises (I like them too and might eventually go on one of their ships again) offers OW certification without any of these hassles.

Therefore, my questions are:
1) If I do the Scuba Diver certification and then do the 2 dives at Freeport, would that be enough to get Open Water? And if not, what else do I need to do?

2) Can I do the dives at Freeport with only Scuba Diver? (Kinda makes question 1 irrelevant if not)

3) Should I just wait until I get on a Princess ship?

Thanks in advance

Can you get the cert at your local dive shop? I had a friend that did this type of certification as it was called a "resort certification" He felt that he received an overview and was a bit rushed. It was expensive, $350 (in Cancun)

3 years ago I took a 2 day a week for 3 week OW class with (2) 2 tank open water dives at the end. After doing so I felt comfortable about what I had gone through as it was very much in depth. All for $125.00.

I can't answer your question outright but what I can tell you is that you just can't get enough education in this sport. I would advise getting your cert BEFORE (if you can) your go on vacation.

DaveP

 

[DaCarez]

Can you get the cert at your local dive shop? I had a friend that did this type of certification as it was called a "resort certification" He felt that he received an overview and was a bit rushed. It was expensive, $350 (in Cancun)

3 years ago I took a 2 day a week for 3 week OW class with (2) 2 tank open water dives at the end. After doing so I felt comfortable about what I had gone through as it was very much in depth. All for $125.00.

I can't answer your question outright but what I can tell you is that you just can't get enough education in this sport. I would advise getting your cert BEFORE (if you can) your go on vacation.

DaveP

I'm pretty sure this isn't a 'resort certification', I spoke to one of my friends about this before posting here and he mentioned that, I made sure that isn't the case. Royal Caribbean is charging $250 for the Scuba Diver course + $105 for the 2 dives in Freeport. However, this seems very reasonable because I called a couple of local dive shops and they all wanted $500+ a person for an OW certification. Considering that there are three of us involved, that could get quite costly. Also, the LDS do the OW dives over an hour drive away from my house, which would be very inconvenient. Thanks for the advice, though one of the draws to the RC course was that it is/was very convenient and is done while on vacation

 

[HowardE]

PADI certs require confined water dives. If you could complete those before your trip, it would probably save you some time. Your 4 Open water dives should then count towards your OW Cert.

That's how I understand the whole thing...

 

[DaCarez]

PADI certs require confined water dives. If you could complete those before your trip, it would probably save you some time. Your 4 Open water dives should then count towards your OW Cert.

That's how I understand the whole thing...

The RC course includes at least some pool dives, I'm not sure whether OW mandates a different number of pool dives than Scuba Diver does though. If there are any people here intricately familiar with the PADI rules & regulations, please, please post. Thanks

 

[ranger]

I've only been on one cruise, and from an instructors perspective the pools on the cruise ships are too small and shallow for confined water training, which in itself will shortchange you. Go to your LDS and get quality training, you will not regret it.

 

[HowardE]

There is an instructor's forum on scubaboard... You should probably ask there.

 

[lhpdiver]

I'd recommend taking the Scuba Diver training on vacation and upgrading to OW when you get back to Jersey. With Scuba Diver you can dive with a professional - which isn't a bad thing your first few dives anyway. All the stuff you do for scuba diver is applied towards OW, and the instructor who signs off on you back in Jersey verifies the skills you learned on the cruise. You would have to complete ow dives 3 & 4 back home but that gives you the chance to establish a relationship there as well.

oh - and SD requires the first 3 of 4 confined water dives and the first 2 of 4 open water dives. See if you can knock off some of the textbook stuff (knowledge reviews) before getting on the boat.

 

[Juls64]

The PADI Scuba Diver rating is a subset of the PADI Open Water Diver Course. The Open Water Course consists of 5 classroom/pool sessions and 4 open water dives. Divers completing the first 3 classroom/pool sessions and completing 2 of the open water dives, may qualify for the Scuba Diver rating. While an Open Water Diver may dive independently with a buddy, the Scuba Diver must be accompanied by a divemaster, asst. instructor or instructor.

Hope this helps!

Julie

 

[Juls64]

I don't know when your trip is scheduled, but if you have time I would recommend getting certified at home before your trip, for 2 reasons.

1. You can probably do the full Open Warter cert at home for what the Scuba Diver rating will cost you on the cruise.

2. You won't spend your vacation time in a classroom.

Julie