New to Scuba, and completely LOST!

[oly5050user]

I hope that this is the correct thread to be starting a post in, if not I apologize.

With that, the subject of this post pretty well sums it up. I am completely new to scuba diving, though I am no new to the idea. I have spent countless hours reading and researching the ins and out of scuba diving and have finally decided to go through with getting my certifications and purchasing my own dive equipment. That being said, I have ran into a bit of a problem. My husband who will also be getting his certs with me has a good friend who is currently certified through the I.D.E.A agency and had referred my husband to his instructor for us to get our certs though.

Because we are friends with this guy the instructor quotes us at 70$/person to get our open water dive cert.

We would be responsible for our own equipment and paying for the charters to do your 4 exit water dives. Though I love the price I am no really sure how I feel about being certified through I.D.E.A. I have read multipul thread on here other sites stating that they have never had an issue dive shops/charters/ect recognizing their certs, but whenever I read anything about getting certified in scuba the only agency that are refered to are ones like P.A.D.I, N.A.U.I, and S.S.I. Eventually I would like to be able to get my Advanced Open Water Cert, Wreck Diver Cert, and maybe even my Rescue Diver Cert but no where on any site have I seen that I.D.E.A offers any course like that. I know that all three of the others previously listed DO in fact offer classes for them. Does anyone know if I would be able to be certified in more than just the Open Water Diver if I go through with the I.D.E.A cert? Most P.A.D.I classes, are about 400$/person which is quite a bit more but if I am going to be able to further my education pretaining to diving then it would be well worth the money. BUT if I can still do that through I.D.E.A then that will probably be the route I go.

Next, I have read that most angency wont let you jump from Cert to Cert with out completely their training. Example: I get my I.D.E.A cert and then decide that I want to be P.A.D.I certified, do I have retake P.A.D.I's course? Or can I like cross certifications?

Thanks in advance for any replys. The more I read this the more it sounds as clear as muddy water.

Its all about the instructor.That said , if you are planning to complete the required pool and academics with this "friend" thats all ok, but, are you taking a referral for the ow dives? Be sure there is either an IDEA instructor where you are going , or check if a universal referral would work. Another concern is the price that was quoted..Remember that you usually get what you pay for. If the price is unbelieveably low, as it is,(you wrote $70.) then I would really question it and ask what is missing..remember there are books/video/dive planners etc required as well as classroom academic time and usually a minimum of 7-8 hours of pool time.Even if this guy completes EVERYTHING ,academics-pool-4 training dives in lets say 14 hours,he is making $5. an hour, per person,minus what he pays for pool time,and certification materials..What about his transportation costs, insurance,etc..IT WINDS UP COSTING THIS GUY $$$ TO TEACH YOU..Hell,just the learning materials alone for a PADI ow course that consist of a crew pack that has textbook-log book- eRDPml dive planner and DVD video for cost more (about $105.) than the total what this guy quoted you. Price quoted you is too good to be true, and if it sounds that way,its usually not true and no good.

 

[seubank20]

Thanks so much for all the information!! I think we are going to go ahead with our I.D.E.A certs since I know that we are not going to have a huge issue with them in the future. Its amazing that I looked for several days to get the answer I needed and within a few hours of posting to this forum I know everything that I needed to know! Ya'll are awesome.

In regards to everyone questioning the price of the class. I realized that in my first post I left out a couple things. The 70$ is just what we are playing our friend to teach us and sign us off for our OW. We still have to pay for book, and materials, as well as our charters and gear for our sign off dives. Our friend is an actual instructor and is one of the guys that help certify our local fire department and has came as high recommended from some more people in our area that have taken our class. Typically he charges a lot more but since my husband and him and friends he is going to let us do private lessons. He is just a nice guy so I don't think that we are going to be getting screwed. He is also a full time fire fighter and this is just something he does more as a hobby than as a full time job. I wasn't worried about him as an instructor but as the certification itself. Knowing now that I.D.E.A is legit and will get us into the water I am completely fine with taking this course! It will be the same course that the fire dept. has only it will just be my husband, the instructor, and myself.

I don't plan to go out and buy everything I need to scuba because I do want to get a feel for some different brands but our instructor for our OW requires that we already have our own mask, fins, and snorkel so I am going to go ahead and get that stuff. Anyone care to shed some light on what would be some brands worth checking out, other than the Aqua Lung? Initially I was looking at Aqua Lung just because, and don't laugh, but they have a wide variety of pink diving gear! I don't care to spend more money and get good quality stuff, but since I have been looking at different masks, fins, and snorkels I have realized that a mask is going to cost anythere from 40-1000$ and I just have no idea where to even start looking for things. An since our closest dive shop that has more than just a couple masks and ect. is about 2 hours away I can't really just go and try stuff often. I don't need anything super fancy but would love something that I can continue to use through my dive future so I want something that will last.

 

[Diver Scallop]

I just went through the OW certification process (NAUI). Here's my newbie two bits: when my wife and I signed up for the class, we had no idea about the different agencies, the course was convenient for us because it was offered through our local YMCA. It turns out the LDS running the course is NAUI. As we went through the course, we planned a three day weekend trip to Palm Beach. Since the trip would be right after our course ended, we decided to schedule our OW dives down there (I'm in NYC). By the time we began calling dive shops, the trip was booked. The first place we called was a PADI shop so, we were told, we'd have to spend an extra day and get tested for PADI, on paper and in the pool, before they'd take us out to do our OW dives. We didn't have an extra day. Luckily for us, the next shop we reached out to had a NAUI instructor who took us out (and was awesome). Long story short (too late!), if you're planning to do your OW dives with someone other than the LDS you're taking your course through, you might want to look ahead and make sure that the dive shop you go to for your OW dives can accommodate your certification or that you can budget in the time/effort to meet whatever cross-certification requirements they might have.

 

[fnfalman]

I just went through the OW certification process (NAUI). Here's my newbie two bits: when my wife and I signed up for the class, we had no idea about the different agencies, the course was convenient for us because it was offered through our local YMCA. It turns out the LDS running the course is NAUI. As we went through the course, we planned a three day weekend trip to Palm Beach. Since the trip would be right after our course ended, we decided to schedule our OW dives down there (I'm in NYC). By the time we began calling dive shops, the trip was booked. The first place we called was a PADI shop so, we were told, we'd have to spend an extra day and get tested for PADI, on paper and in the pool, before they'd take us out to do our OW dives. We didn't have an extra day. Luckily for us, the next shop we reached out to had a NAUI instructor who took us out (and was awesome). Long story short (too late!), if you're planning to do your OW dives with someone other than the LDS you're taking your course through, you might want to look ahead and make sure that the dive shop you go to for your OW dives can accommodate your certification or that you can budget in the time/effort to meet whatever cross-certification requirements they might have.

There's no "cross certification requirements". That PADI shop tried you rip you off, pure and simple.

 

[boulderjohn]

There's no "cross certification requirements". That PADI shop tried you rip you off, pure and simple.

Sorry, but you are misinformed.

PADI does not officially participate in the universal referral process. It believes there is a serious liability issue involved when the certifying instructor or agency never sees the diver perform in the open water prior to issuing a certification. It is concerned about liability issues. Under PADI rules, whoever actually sees the diver perform in the open water and determines that the diver is fit to dive is the certifying agency and instructor. It therefore advises PADI shops to go through a full process to cross the student over to a PADI certification when in this situation.

It does, however, allow shops to participate in the universal referral program at their discretion. This shop chose not to participate.

If you want to use the universal referral program, you need to go through agencies that participate in it. PADI does not.

The fault lies with the referring operation that did not make sure that the diver used a participating operation.

 

[flots am]

Thanks in advance for any replys. The more I read this the more it sounds as clear as muddy water.

I'll make it easy: "Whatever card you come up with will work just fine for getting you on a dive boat"

Unless it's clearly from a bogus agency, it's extremely unlikely that any dive operator will refuse you because of the agency that produced your card.

For future training, any agency I'm aware of will accept you for specialty classes, regardless of who did your open water certification. For example, I work for an SSI shop and we do Stress & Rescue, Navigation, Night & Low Vis, etc. for PADI Open Water divers all the time. It's never been a problem and no special paperwork is necessary.

If you find a shop that doesn't want to train you, all you need to do is find a different shop.

I'll also answer the question you didn't ask . . .

Price is secondary. What's at stake here is nothing less than your life. You need sufficient training to make sure that you are fully capable of safely executing a dive, start to finish. Whatever happens, make sure that your $70 bargain doesn't mean you get cheated out of class or pool time and that when you get done, the thought of demonstrating your skills on your Open Water dives fills you with excitement, not dread. Just so you know, $70 will just about cover the cost of the air in your tanks and a slice of pizza for the instructor, for the number of pool sessions I'd consider to be the bare minimum. It's really low and I'm not sure how it's actually possible. While "expensive" doesn't guarantee quality, "cheap" almost always means something is getting cut somewhere.

flots.

 

[fnfalman]

My bad. I thought that Diver Scallop had already gotten OW certs and just wanted to charter a dive through a PADI and was told that some sort of cross certification is required.

After re-reading the post, it looks like that Diver Scallop went through NAUI classroom and pool sessions and wanted to do OW checkout dives through a PADI shop. It's entirely understandable for the PADI shop to want to confirm that Diver Scallop's NAUI education to date is compatible with PADI's program.

Sorry, but you are misinformed.

PADI does not officially participate in the universal referral process. It believes there is a serious liability issue involved when the certifying instructor or agency never sees the diver perform in the open water prior to issuing a certification. It is concerned about liability issues. Under PADI rules, whoever actually sees the diver perform in the open water and determines that the diver is fit to dive is the certifying agency and instructor. It therefore advises PADI shops to go through a full process to cross the student over to a PADI certification when in this situation.

It does, however, allow shops to participate in the universal referral program at their discretion. This shop chose not to participate.

If you want to use the universal referral program, you need to go through agencies that participate in it. PADI does not.

The fault lies with the referring operation that did not make sure that the diver used a participating operation.

 

[seubank20]

After reading all your comments I am going to have my husband talk to this guy a bit more and such because I agree, 70/person, just sounds way to low for something like this! Maybe he is just being nice and trying to help my husband out, I don't know but I want to make sure that I am COMPLETELY knowledgeable about anything and everything before actually diving on my own. Thanks again for everyones advice!

 

[LowDrag]

Sounds like a lot of good info for you. One thing that comes to mind is stay away from a dive operation that takes you right to the expensive gear. You don't need a $45 snorkel or a $200 pair of fins. You sound like a person that likes to research things before jumping in feet first. Keep that up and pay attention to what people here are saying and you will do fine. Also, take it from one who didn't particularly like his instructor and found a new one that I do like. It is very important to like and feel comfortable with your instructor, someone you can build a good repore with. Good luck, I hope your OW goes well for you.

 

[oly5050user]

There's no "cross certification requirements". That PADI shop tried you rip you off, pure and simple.

You are so so wrong.. To get a PADI intructor to do the 4 dives it requires a student to pass the ow written exam and it is strongly recommended for the instructor to get them in confined water to be sure he/she can do the skills. There is no "rip of" here and it seems you have an issue with an instructor/facility doing the right thing and being absolutely sure a person they are taking diving knows what they are doing.