How Did You Find Your First Scuba Class?

[Chavodel8en]

I had always been intrigued by scuba diving documentaries, but aside from this, I had zero exposure to scuba diving. Nobody I knew scuba dived. Went on vacation -- for some reason my then wife chose a Cancun/Cozumel trip. Went snorkeling at Chakanab, loved it, saw scuba divers there, thought how much cooler it would be to be closer to the fish.

Still took awhile until I got certified. But a friend of mentioned a LDS, took the class, dive the OW dives in Monterey and away we go.

 

[runsongas]

groupon while google searching local dive shops

 

[Hoag]

My interest in diving started when I was a teenager and saw the movie "Jaws". While most people were swearing to never go in the water again, I thought "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

The opportunity to learn to dive never really presented itself until about 20 years later though. I was doing some modelling work (No, I wasn't a model, I was part of a team that was modelling the requirements for a new Air Defence System for the RCAF and USAF) at Tyndall AFB in Panama City Florida. I would be traveling to Tyndall a few times for roughly a month each time. There was a dive shop just before the bridge heading into the base, and the sign outside the dive shop gave the dates for upcoming OW courses. One of those just happened to line up beautifully with when the next trip to Tyndall would take place. I signed up, and explained that I didn't live in the area, but I expected to be back on a certain date, and I wanted to take the course.

So, on my next trip to Tyndall, for the first couple weeks, I was helping to develop the model for what the new Air Defence System would require during the day, and at night I was learning to dive.

 

[cneal]

I was taking a vacation in Key West and my wife was back at the hotel recovering from the flu. Wondering down Duval Street athe dive shop looked like ome of the few places I could go in and come out still married.

 

[Bubblesong]

29 years ago my new boyfriend/husband-to-be said to me, "Have you ever thought about diving?" It was the Right time, right guy and absolutely right Dive Shop, since we have gone back and back and our daughter grew up to work there now.

 

[boulderjohn]

My wife and I went on vacation to Hawai'i, and a guy did a try scuba diving session in the pool the first day we were there. I did it, loved it, and signed up for the Discover Scuba lesson offered for the next day. The next day was Easter Sunday, so I was the only one in the class. I took to it all easily, and now that I know the rules, I know how badly we violated them. We did a real dive to 70 feet. I was ready to sign up for certification right then and there. Unfortunately, that afternoon we found a beautiful, deserted beach and went swimming. We discovered a key rule about Hawai'i--if a beautiful beach is deserted, there's a reason. I fought the surf and the surf won--the torn AC joint in my shoulder ended any possibility of scuba instruction.

A couple of decades later, my wife and I were invited to join some friends on a trip to Cozumel. We loved it and decided to return on our own in a couple of years. Not being a sit-on-the-beach kind of guy, when I blundered into an opportunity to go to Puerto Vallarta before that planned trip, I decided to get certified there. I asked for a dive shop recommendation at the hotel and a few days later I was a certified diver.

 

[BoltSnap]

Started snorkeling/ free diving in early 70's practically everyday during the summer school vacation time (4 months) and then started scuba diving in early 70's with my uncle but didn't get certified until I went to the US and took a NAUI entry level course in the early 80's in college. The sport continued to be a passion and an obsession and I eventually went to a NAUI Instructor course in 87 at the UR GSO in RI.


Still a passion and an obsession; happy and proud of it!!

 

[MelasLithos]

A friend and I were turning 30, we wanted to do something special. We booked a trip to Boracay, went to the hotel concierge, told them we wanted to learn how to scuba dive (it took some time for them to understand that we wanted the full thing, not just a DSD), and 1 hour later we were in the classroom of the partner dive shop, working on the theory part of our OW.

 

[Bob DBF]

Well, I had been diving for 17 years and was having issues getting fills outside my local area. I signed up for an OW class with the LDS. The instructor made it very "interesting" for me.

I started diving the summer my dad decided to try SCUBA. He got a kit from Sears and a good diving manual, as opposed to the pamphlet in the box, and taught himself. I was his first, and only, student and I continued to dive even though he lost interest after that summer. I had been snorkeling/freediving since I learned to swim and SCUBA was everything I wished it to be. Been diving ever since.


Bob

 

[jstreetley]

I did a DSD on holiday - hotel had just opened a dive centre and had flyers out for it. Came home and saw flyers at the swimming pool for a local dive school in the UK and did a referral course there before my next holiday (back at the same place I DSD'd).

So chosen on availability rather than merit-although even looking back I continue to be happy with both schools.