Question How long can I wait before...

[Zef]

OP, it is important to understand that all the recommendations to go dive sooner than later after certification does not necessarily mean go dive with your dive shop....while there is nothing wrong with going out with the shop you are certifying through, they will undoubtedly charge you for the dive. That is ok if you can afford the expense of diving with them....if not, there is nothing wrong with diving with other certified divers that you feel confident in their experience and ability.

The point is, once certified go diving as often as you desire...but it is definitely in the shop's interest for you to pay them for the opportunity for you to dive with them....whether that accounts for your interest as well is a personal decision.

-Z

 

[TMHeimer]

Dive buddies don’t fall ripe from a tree. They are made (groomed?). You need to find someone that has similar goals and interests as a diver. That means experienced divers are out there looking to replace buddies that have gone down a different path or someone that is more available.

You are better off finding a dive buddy with some experience that can show you the ropes, as opposed to insta-buddies who are just as ignorant as you. As long as they are willing to respect your limitations as a new, inexperienced diver, get in as much diving as possible. Shops and instructors have a vested interest in keeping you engaged.

Agree. Especially about the "some experience" part. Final pages of my 2005 PADI OW Manual advises students to get the names & phone #s of fellow students if you're worried about finding a buddy. Maybe that's your only choice depending on your location, but definitely not the advice I gave students. I had no choice but to buddy with a fellow newbie, but we took things very slowly. Ideally a new diver would buddy with someone who at least has Rescue cert.-- not that number of certs. is the beat all-end all of course.

 

[TMHeimer]

OP, it is important to understand that all the recommendations to go dive sooner than later after certification does not necessarily mean go dive with your dive shop....while there is nothing wrong with going out with the shop you are certifying through, there will undoubtedly charge you for the dive. That is ok if you can afford the expense of diving with them....if not, there is nothing wrong with diving with other certified divers that you feel confident in their experience and ability.

The point is, once certified go diving as often as you desire...but it is definitely in the shop's interest for you to pay them for the opportunity for you to dive with them....whether that accounts for your interest as well is a personal decision.

-Z

Agree. Our shop has a dive club which I joined right after my OW cert. in 2005. It was a good time, but my location made it too long a day. For a $35 CAD fee you got free air (but only on club dives, which makes sense). So I buddied with a fellow newbie and did a whole bunch of "benign" if you will shore dives. That's another way to go. At 68 I dive mostly solo-- to those same benign sites....

 

[Mario007]

OP, it is important to understand that all the recommendations to go dive sooner than later after certification does not necessarily mean go dive with your dive shop....while there is nothing wrong with going out with the shop you are certifying through, they will undoubtedly charge you for the dive. That is ok if you can afford the expense of diving with them....if not, there is nothing wrong with diving with other certified divers that you feel confident in their experience and ability.

The point is, once certified go diving as often as you desire...but it is definitely in the shop's interest for you to pay them for the opportunity for you to dive with them....whether that accounts for your interest as well is a personal decision.

-Z

My DS will let you rent out the gear only if you have AOW or equivalent

 

[Zef]

My DS will let you rent out the gear only if you have AOW or equivalent

That is the perfect grounds to find another DS. There should be no reason why you can't rent gear from any shop after obtaining your open water certification.

What dive shop in Malta are you using. We had good experience with the folks at Divemed in Marsaskala.

-Z

 

[Mario007]

That is the perfect grounds to find another DS. There should be no reason why you can't rent gear from any shop after obtaining your open water certification.

What dive shop in Malta are you using. We had good experience with the folks at Divemed in Marsaskala.

-Z

I'm actually in Gozo

 

[Zef]

There is no shortage of dive shops/dive centers on the island of Gozo. You should have no problem finding one that will rent you gear with your OW certification card. There are also plenty if dive clubs in Malta/Gozo...you should have no trouble finding folks and gear to dive with.

-Z

 

[SlugLife]

My DS will let you rent out the gear only if you have AOW or equivalent

That's VERY unusual in my experience. Every dive-shop I've been to just wants to see any dive-cert, for either equipment-rental or air-fills. They may ask for a nitrox or tech card, if I asked for nitrox or other non-air fills. I'd just go find another dive-shop.

They must not want to rent equipment, or it's a ploy to sell classes. By the time someone is AOW, they usually have most of their own equipment, except maybe scuba-tanks. I'm just wondering who dive-shops would rent to if restricted to AOW? Tourists maybe?

 

[Belzelbub]

My DS will let you rent out the gear only if you have AOW or equivalent

That is strange, and lends to other motives for pushing towards the next dive.

They must not want to rent equipment, or it's a ploy to sell classes.

Yeah, definitely strange. Unless, they have enough business in rentals already where each rental unit is being rented, it doesn't make financial sense. Rental dive gear is not making money sitting in the store. I'm thinking the latter makes more sense, and given this strange policy, I would bet that that next fun dive with this shop would be a pushy sales job for more classes. "I noticed your depth were fluctuating quite a bit, our Peak Performance Buoyancy course could help you with that."

By the time someone is AOW, they usually have most of their own equipment, except maybe scuba-tanks.

I'm not sure this is the case so much any more. With lots of divers doing AOW immediately after OW, I doubt many of them buy gear in between.

 

[Mario007]

I just done some digging.
In 2012 the government of Malta make a regulation about diving which state: