Hello from freezing Ontario, Canada

[Bryan Cunningham]

Welcome, and I'm right behind you heading South to dive. No holes in the ice for me, even if there is beer down there. But you can do way better than Jamaica for diving. But at least it's warmer.

 

[abnfrog]

Lol.....I used to think like that, right up until I cut my leg off with a chainsaw, carving a hole in the frozen ice to find a bottle of beer I dropped down there in the summer!

well if using a chainsaw is hard you can always get some northern 10 year old kid to do it for you ...

 

[scubadiver888]

I certified way back in 1988 with my sister in Cartegena, Colombia. Unfortunately, I have not been an active diver, I did dive last year in Samana Dominican Republic. I retire in May and want to celebrate by getting my advanced open water certificate. I am thinking of going to Runaway Bay Jamaica. Tripadvisor recommends the dive shop there. So I've decided to get back in the water and get back to the tranquility of scuba.

Welcome, and I'm right behind you heading South to dive. No holes in the ice for me, even if there is beer down there. But you can do way better than Jamaica for diving. But at least it's warmer.

Hey bobbisox,

I got certified in Jamaica over 12 years ago. I was happy I started in Jamaica because as Bryan points out, there are better places than Jamaica to go diving. To get certified (OW or AOW) it will be more about the instructor and less about the location. So any good dive destination will do if you have a good instructor.

Have you considered doing the class and pool work in Ontario and going to the Caribbean to get certified? I was diving for 5 years in the Caribbean and thought I was pretty good. I decided to get AOW certified in Ontario. It was like being an absolute newbie again. By the end of my long weekend I was back to being an okay diver. My next trip to the Caribbean I found it WAY easier to dive in the Caribbean. I also noticed a lot more marine life because the diving seemed so much easier. I attribute this to how good the instructors I had in Ontario were. I have meet a few instructors in Ontario and for the most part they are really good. They have to be because the diving here can be quite challenging.

I have seen two ways to get certified in Ontario and dive in the Caribbean. The first is to do the class and pool work here then get a referral to a shop in the Caribbean for the open water portion. The other is to do the class and pool work here then go on a dive trip with your shop so the same instructor can finish your certification in the Caribbean.