newbie questions

[tikyo]

Hi PPD,

Newbie here wanting to try the sport out. I need to ask for your guidance

• Should I try the intro course first then the Open water? Just to try it out if I will love it.
• Is it safe to be a family “thing that we do together” activity?
• I went to Scuba world Makati and found out that the instructor is a Dutch national. Is he good?
• Questions to ask the instructor to find out if he is good enough.
• Any suggestions where to enroll? Eg dive buddies , scuba world, scuba1
• I have no active diver friends, is this the right place to start making one?
• Estimate total cost?

Thanks a lot!

 

[jonix]

hi tikyo welcome to the board. i'll assume you're pinoy because of your handle. anyways, to answer your queries...

* Should I try the intro course first then the Open water? Just to try it out if I will love it.
* Is it safe to be a family “thing that we do together” activity?
* I went to Scuba world Makati and found out that the instructor is a Dutch national. Is he good?
* Questions to ask the instructor to find out if he is good enough.
* Any suggestions where to enroll? Eg dive buddies , scuba world, scuba1
* I have no active diver friends, is this the right place to start making one?
* Estimate total cost?

intro? if you're not that sure yet, why not it gets credited if you do OW certification anyways.

instructors - there are a lot of good instructors. try to pm axua (jai) he's an instructor as well and does his class sessions at scuba world. i'm sure he'll be able to answer your concerns.

friends - you've come to the right place?

btw, you know how to cook?

 

[iris_ice]

Should I try the intro course first then the Open water? Just to try it out if I will love it.

i'd say go straight ahead with the OW course if you're already comfortable being in the water

Is it safe to be a family “thing that we do together” activity?

i've met some diver families and the parents seems to think its safe enough. how old are your children, anyway?

Questions to ask the instructor to find out if he is good enough.

ask other people first what they think of that instructor, much like what you did the previous question

Any suggestions where to enroll? Eg dive buddies, scuba world, scuba1

some instructors you can ask for details on the board:
jai (axua): http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1219391&postcount=9
norman: http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1219391&postcount=9
jong (zylke): http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1443889&postcount=57
paolov: he's pasaway and doesn't have a profile

I have no active diver friends, is this the right place to start making one?

yup. stick around some more and you'll find out for yourself :thumbs-up

Estimate total cost?[/LIST] Thanks a lot!

i can send to you the deals i got when i was fishing for an instructor

 

[Mike Veitch]

i can send to you the deals i got when i was fishing for a husband named Chip...

:mooner: ...................................

 

[clgsamson]

:mooner: ...................................

Mike, you're bad...bwahahahahahahahahaha

 

[Mike Veitch]

Mike, you're bad...bwahahahahahahahahaha

bad, bored... same thing

 

[Jason Ooi]

Welcome to ppd...Tikyo

:wave-smil :wave-smil

 

[Jason Ooi]

:mooner: ...................................

................

 

[Halthron]

Hi PPD,

Newbie here wanting to try the sport out. I need to ask for your guidance

• Should I try the intro course first then the Open water? Just to try it out if I will love it.

Always give something a try before err, diving right in. You may like the concept right now but find out that you have problems.

• Is it safe to be a family “thing that we do together” activity?

Lots of familes dive together. Just realize that kids should be a certain maturity level before doing this, their and your safety depends on it.

• I went to Scuba world Makati and found out that the instructor is a Dutch national. Is he good?
• Questions to ask the instructor to find out if he is good enough.

I'm not fond of this, how would you know the difference between him being wrong or the poster here being wrong? Whenever possible, I prefer who other people recommend. Jai / Axua (mentioned above) was who I selected for my daughter and I think he did a good job.

• Any suggestions where to enroll? Eg dive buddies , scuba world, scuba1
• I have no active diver friends, is this the right place to start making one?

Absolutely not, the people here are grumpy lolo's. :mooner:

This group is pretty active and gets together 4-5 times a year for a big group weekend.

• Estimate total cost?

Depends who you ask and what you mean by "total cost". Total cost for the OW course? For a year of dive rentals? For owning your own gear? For going "all the way?" You can spend a few hundred dollars to get certified, including the dives, then just rent gear a couple of times a year. You can also take many courses and buy a bunch of gear. Heaven help you if you get into tech diving or photography.

Thanks a lot!

You're welcome.

 

[tikyo]

Thanks all, for the welcome and advice! I'll checkout the instructors referred above.