Nitrox Cert on Grand Cayman?

[shocked]

Hello,

My gf and I are going to Grand Cayman in mid November.. We are staying at Cobalt Coast and will be diving with DiveTech. We have about 25 dives each and feel comfortable diving (we would dive much more, but we are warm weather divers and we live in the Pacific Northwest).

Anyway, we would like to get our nitrox certification. I went in to our local dive shop (where we got our ow) and they said to just get it (nitrox cert) down at the resort. The thing is, we are going on vacation.. I do not really want to spend my vacation taking classes.. my local dive shop said it was just a couple of hours, and if I took the classes here (local) I would end up paying twice.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thank you

 

[JimmyEis]

I see your from portland also. I have been looking into the same thing for a trip to Thailand me and my wife are making in september.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the PADI nitrox class and I coudn't get the same answer from multiple shops.

But like you ....it is my vacation I don't want to spend any time taking some test .

I found a shop in Vancouver Wa that offers the course monthly. Seven Seas Scuba - Home Page

This is from their website:

Class price is $125 and includes diver manual, enriched air tables, DVD, and PADI certification!! Dives are no longer required for this specialty so certification can be completed in 1 evening with temporary certification issued at the end of the evening! Start diving Nitrox NOW!

Hope that helps and I am curious where you got your OW at?

Jim

 

[Rhone Man]

I wouldn't worry too much about losing your vacation, studying or taking tests. The PADI enriched air course (I assume you weren't talking about technical nitrox courses) can be done in a single day (no tests, just a "knowledge review"), and you can buy the manual before you leave home and read it on the plane.

It is pretty common for people coming down to the Caribbean to slot in a speciality course or two on their vacation to pep up their dives a little bit. Gives you something to do during your surface interval one day.

 

[Alex777]

Further to what RhoneMan says, you could do the whole course on the plane - 2 hours between cocktails should do it. That is, if they were by any chance to serve cocktails. Write the exam when you get here.

 

[fisheyeview]

I agree. Do the cert when you get there. Some of our group did it in the afternoon after the dives were done. We sat at the bar and heckled them, but they still passed.

Check with Dive Tech before you go. Little Cayman Beach Resort threw in free nitrox for the week if you took the class through them. For those that did the class while we were there it came out cheaper than for those of us that just paid for our daily nitrox rentals.

 

[shocked]

Thanks for all the responses. The "nitrox book", where do I get it? At the dive shop? Seems like "JimmyEis"'s shop has tables, dvd, etc.. is that something I should get as well? I will email DiveTech as well

JimmyEis: We got our OW at Under Water Works in Tigard. We REALLY liked the class and instructors. Unfortunately, we got our OW at Octopus Hole in October a few years back and it was so cold.. my gf refuses to even consider any cold water again.. and I am not in a big hurry either.

Rhone Man: We are just looking to get whatever is necessary to use nitrox. Our dive "package" comes with unlimited nitrox diving.. so that seems like a good time to learn about it and get some dives in.

Thanks again

 

[shocked]

One more thing.. DiveTech offers "CCR Rebreather Experience" as well... with 25 dives is it a little to early for us to start playing with that?

Thanks

 

[fisheyeview]

One more thing.. DiveTech offers "CCR Rebreather Experience" as well... with 25 dives is it a little to early for us to start playing with that?

Thanks

I have never dove a reabreather before, but from everything I hear about them from people who do is that they are not for an inexperienced diver.

 

[Maladryne]

I'm sitting in room 5 at Cobalt Coast writing this right now.

Just finished the nitrox cert here with DiveTech, & have no complaints. You should definitely read the book ahead of time, and do the two knowledge reviews. I didn't do that, and so had to read the book the afternoon & evening before the class in between shore dives. No big deal, but I would rather have been doing other things. The instructor will run through a video with you, go over the knowledge reviews, show you how to analyze the tanks, and then let you write the test. Next day you do a couple of nitrox dives off the boat and you're all done.
I'd probably hold off on the rebreather experience until you get more dives under your belt, but I guess that depends on your comfort level, buoyancy control, etc. YMMV.

Anyway, enough surface interval, time to hit the water. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Rhone Man]

One more thing.. DiveTech offers "CCR Rebreather Experience" as well... with 25 dives is it a little to early for us to start playing with that?

Thanks

I have never used CCR either, but I have heard it said (on SB) that 500 - 1,000 dives should be the rule of thumb before trying rebreathers. Maybe a bit extreme, but you see where they are coming from.