learning to dive in a week?

[ginai54]

Hello all,

My partner and I have snorkeled for years and would like to try scuba diving. We are looking for suggestions for a very good program somewhere in the Caribbean, probably in November. We are considering Roatan, but are interested in going somewhere fairly close(we live in NYC), that we can fly to within 5-6 hours. Is it possible to do this in a week? Also, we'd prefer to go somewhere we have not been recently, such as Bonaire, which we loved,but would rather go someplace new.
Thanks for all suggestions!

 

[ScubaSteve]

I got certified in DR in a week (might have been 8 days - I do not recall for certain). I did a discover session through the resort and was sold. Every following day I was doing class work as well as confined/open water dives. The days were not terribly full (IIRC about 4-6 hours per day) so I had time to actually study as required. My GF at the time and I had the Instructor to ourselves so we were able to work on things as required and ask questions as needed. The real issue with trying to certify in a week (and I see this now) is that if you have any issues or are slow at mastering a specific task, then you will have spent your week and not gotten certified.....and this is not to mention the pressure you will be putting on yourself to get everything done. Shortcuts are never good in SCUBA Instruction so never consider that an option even if offered.

I always suggest people get certified at home and enjoy their vacation by diving. YMMV

 

[TartanFrog]

An option you might consider is to begin your certification program at home. You could take the course work and even the confined water portions of the course locally. Then you can get a referral to the resort dive center you are going to so you can finish your open water sections in the nice warm water. If that is an approach you decide to take, then you could ask the local dive shop for recommendations regarding where to go to get good training.

Have fun and good luck!!!

 

[DivemasterDennis]

TartanFrog's suggestion is followed by a lot of people. But you can do all the training at a destination in a week. You will take two full days doing class room and pool (or very shallow water) training, and then two additional days for open water dives. You can drop that down to two days of certification training by doing book and pool at home with a local dive shop before heading to your destination site. As far as English language use friendly location, that includes everywhere you might think of going, and all destination are likely to have a dive center that will do your certifications, including renting you the necessary equipment. The Cayman Islands are great, and not as far in miles or time of travel as Roatan of Bonaire. (At least Grand Cayman isn't) I like Sunset Divers there, a resort with an on-site dive center, nice rooms, great location right on the chore, and a fantastic restaurant and bar, that does a lot of new diver certifications, and its also a great place to dive. I am sure other responders will have other suggestions, but based upon the criteria in your question, I think Grand Cayman would be perfect.
DivemasterDennis

 

[ginai54]

I think we probably need to do some more research locally. It sounds like there's alot of reading/studying to do first, which we did not know, so starting the process here makes sense. Thanks for the feedback

 

[ginai54]

This is a good idea and the way we will probably go. Thanks for the suggstion.

 

[ginai54]

As others have suggested, we will probably do the classroom training here in NYC. Any suggestions for this? We have been to the Cayman Islands also- I think we'd like to go someplace we have not been, although the priority would be someplace we can be sure to get good training.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Another option for starting the course at home is to do it online. My wife and I did our PADI OW and AOW classroom training online, then went to Cancun and did all the wet work there.
The advantage to this is convenience. The disadvantage is not having a person there to ask questions of. I googled any questions we came up with. Many of the answers were found here.

 

[snowdog]

I have been on a lot of dive trips over the years, you can (almost) always pick out the resort (slam dunk) divers.

As a few have already indicated, do your classroom and pool tasks before you go. Then get a referral to a LDS at your destination (for your open water dives).

 

[PatW]

I would suggest you do as much as your training as possible at home. You should be able to do all of the classroom work and the pool work at home. Then all you have to do are the check out dives. You can check with the dive operation where you are going if they will do those. Even better, you could do ALL of your certification at home. I understand that given the time of year, doing open water dives might not work in NY. But you might be able to do extra pool work somehow to get your skills honed. The more experienced and prepared diver you are the better when you go to a dive locale. Your time is limited. In my experience, I would prefer doing my pleasure diving at a resort over picking up education. Of course, here in Central FL, there is no shortage of diving operations where I can get trained to my heart's content.