Hi from Oregon

[Vandal14]

I joined to learn a little bit about SCUBA Diving. I have wanted to get my diving certificate since I started college, but couldn't fit the class into my schedule.

Now my wife and I will be going on a vacation to Hawaii this summer. I am wondering if we should get our certification before or do a discover dive.

 

[ram04769]

Hi Vandal14 and welcome to SB. I'm still fairly new to diving myself and have only as of yet been diving while on vacations in Florida. I live in the northern part of Maine with the closest dive shop being about 4 hours south of me. I had been wanting to dive for years and finally decided to go for it in March of 2015 and haven't regretted it since.
Personally, in my opinion, I would try to get certified in advance before the vacation. Reason being that depending on how far you want to go with diving, there is so much to learn and practice before becoming proficient with any aspect of diving and feeling really comfortable with it. Every little bit of experience and knowledge you have about the sport before hand will only make your Hawaiian dive experiences that much more enjoyable.
Best wishes to you both and have a great time!
Roger

 

[dmc78]

Welcome Vandal, An option is to do a Discover Scuba at local shop to see if diving is for you and your wife, A few shops that have their own pools offer this in the Portland area. As for certification, you could do your class room and pool dives here and finish your open water dives in Hawaii.

 

[pnwbred]

Welcome Vandal14!

Fellow Oregonian here + new to the sport!

I agree with @ram04769 by starting your open water here vs on vacation in Hawaii. Get more training/exp here, then doing dives in Hawaii where you can enjoy your dives instead of worrying about skills and classroom activities. You can also do most of your training here, and then do the open water portion/skills in Hawaii. The dive shop would just have to call to make arrangements with an instructor/dive shop there.

@dmc78 Makes a good point by trying discovery first, then going for the open water cert. It's a try before you buy and I know of one place that has a pool on-site in the Portland area.

For me, I did all my open water here in Oregon/Washington... check out dives in Pudget sound in a wet suit.. Now just collecting gear and doing more training. I have compass and night diving skills check out dive in about 2 weeks. Looking forward to it!

Take care and welcome to the boards once again!

 

[gr8jab]

Not sure of your tolerance for water temperature. I personally HATE cold water, and won't dive in the Pacific NW any longer. Others don't mind at all, and enjoys some of the great diving around Oregon and Washington. Many here claim that if you get your certification and training in cold water, you are probably a better diver. Not sure if I agree, but I can confirm that it is easier in warm water.

If you or wife are worried about cold water, the previous post about class/pool in Oregon, and finish your certification dives on vacation.

I also vote for discovery dive as a good alternative, if you or wife is not 100% sure about diving.

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida.........if you chose to do the DSD in Hawaii you can use your DSD for the first dive of your open water class....good luck and enjoy what ever method you use.

 

[Debbie Kleier]

I joined to learn a little bit about SCUBA Diving. I have wanted to get my diving certificate since I started college, but couldn't fit the class into my schedule.

Now my wife and I will be going on a vacation to Hawaii this summer. I am wondering if we should get our certification before or do a discover dive.

To get the most out of your trip you can do the classroom, book work and pool sessions at home and do a referral in Hawaii.