Greetings from Central Texas

[Korwen]

Howdy y'all. I've been intrigued by the idea of scuba diving since I was little, and I've always had a love for the water. Later this year I will be getting married in Playa Del Carmen, and my goal is to get certified before then so I can dive with some friends attending my wedding who have been previously certified.

I've had some recommendations for dive shops here in Austin, and I've been looking through these forums on information about diving in Mexico. I've got a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to sponging up as much info as I can.

 

[ibj40]

Have you already committed to PDC, or just the Riviera Maya in general?

Is your SO already certified, or do you plan to get certified together?

 

[Charles2]

One of the best instructors in Austin is Peter Oliver. As a matter of fact, he wrote the book. Locate NAUI Dive Centers | NAUI Worldwide. Dive Safety Through Education

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast Florida....congratulation and good luck on your marriage.

 

[Korwen]

Thanks for the well wishes!

Yes we're committed to a resort in PDC already, although we're there for 10 days and I plan on spending a couple of those waking up early to get to either a shop in PDC or over to Cozumel to dive!

My SO isn't terribly interested in scuba, snorkeling maybe, but she's much more of a "relax on the beach and sip a mojito" kind of lady.

I'm sad to hear that Oak Hill Dive Shop has closed, my searching showed that it was highly regarded for instruction. I'll see about contacting Peter to discuss.

 

[driftwood]

Hi Korwen,

OH was my shop of choice in Austin. Sorry that Mack closed it. A VERY close 2nd would be Tom's Dive and Swim. Warren, the owner, is a super guy who hires good people. Never met one that I didn't like or felt like they didn't know what they were talking about.

If you need, or would like, private lessons then Robert Weiss (owner of Lake Travis Scuba) is an excellent instructor.

One other thing, for my money, I would see about doing my first day of OW dives at Spring Lake in San Marcos and the second day in Lake Travis. Spring Lake is just deep enough to qualify as a training site, but you really need to go deeper and Travis fits the bill.

Edit, being a "newly minted" diver, the dive profiles off PDC might be better suited for you.