Newly Certified

[Kristina Kaschke]

I got the same cert in Ocho years ago... it's become a bit of an addiction

Keep diving and keep travelling around the Caribbean! Nothing against my beloved Jamaica but it has the least spectacular diving down there

If that’s the least spectacular, then I can’t wait to see other places. I was very impressed with Jamaica. We’re you able to get IW certified without having to redo everything from the beginning? That seems to be the challenge I’m coming across. Nobody wants to just do the last 2 chapters and 4 dives.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

If that’s the least spectacular, then I can’t wait to see other places. I was very impressed with Jamaica.

It's going to blow your freaking mind.

 

[RJMETZ]

My wife and I did the book/pool work at home with another couple.A coworker knew we were headed to Nassau, Bahamas and recommended we do the open water testing there. The Nassau instructor mostly took us diving, then we did some testing. Visibility was great, water 86 degrees. It was well worth it to get it done in warm clear water. We now have 350 dives under our belt.

 

[formernuke]

Welcome to the underwater world.

It is hard to do OW this time of year up here, some shops will do it if you do private class and drysuit class. If you dont want to do that you can do class with referral where they do your pool and classroom and tell them your going to warm destination they then send the paperwork there and you do your OW dives. Or wait till the spring.

The vis up here is pretty bad but hey gets you wet, there are a few of us that dive up here year round.

Once you and your husband are certified let me know and let's strach the get in the water itch.

 

[Kristina Kaschke]

I got the same cert in Ocho years ago... it's become a bit of an addiction

Keep diving and keep travelling around the Caribbean! Nothing against my beloved Jamaica but it has the least spectacular diving down there

What route did you have to take to get open water certified?

 

[CanadaDan]

What route did you have to take to get open water certified?

On a following trip I did my Open Water (OW) in Mexico. A day reading books and writing exams and then a series of training dives.

After that I got tired of wasting valuable vacation and beach time on texts and training (I also started realizing all facilities and instructors weren't created equal) so I started training here at home. I did my Advanced Open Water (AOW) and Drysuit in the cold dark lakes of the prairies with my local dive shop (LDS). After that I also did my Rescue here at home. Coupled with the Peak Performance Buoyancy course I would have stopped as that would have given me the base skills to become a rather good diver. I've ended up in the Dive Master program but that's definitely not necessary to become a competent diver.

The big thing about getting your AOW is it allows you to do all of the dives offered by most tropical shops. Not absolutely necessary but you will find that with just your OW you will be limited to certain sites and times (two dive packages are usually a deeper dive first followed by a shallower dive). If you just have your OW you may only get to dive after lunch on shallower sites.

Training locally also introduces you to the amazing diving that you can do without travelling south. I dare say you will be surprised at the adventures you can have within a short drive from home. Your LDS will become a source for invaluable advice, gear, camaraderie, dive buddies and further training.

Keep on diving!

 

[CanadaDan]

If that’s the least spectacular, then I can’t wait to see other places. I was very impressed with Jamaica. We’re you able to get IW certified without having to redo everything from the beginning? That seems to be the challenge I’m coming across. Nobody wants to just do the last 2 chapters and 4 dives.

I did redo everything but it was well worth it as my SD course was 12 months earlier and I really needed the brush up. It's not too much work on your part and the instructors need to know that you actually know your stuff. There's also a liability factor for the shop and instructors that needs to be satisfied on their side.

 

[TMHeimer]

CanadaDan, Do you dive locally? Lake Wpg.? I lived in Wpg. 2 years & many up in Thompson (& The Pas). Go Bombers.

 

[CanadaDan]

CanadaDan, Do you dive locally? Lake Wpg.? I lived in Wpg. 2 years & many up in Thompson (& The Pas). Go Bombers.

Most of the training dives (I'm a DiveMaster trainee) happen at West Hawk near the Ontario border. There is a designated and heavily marked dive area there with underwater decks at 35 and 110'. I'll dive anywhere local with something interesting to see lol.

Go Bombers indeed

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Welcome! I have no idea what there is to see in Connecticut, but I advise any diver who lives close to water to invest in equipment for at least monthly dives (preferably biweekly) to maintain/improve skills.