Open Water Cert

[Tank601]

Looking for a good deal on a PADI open water cert. Also want small boat - maybe 6 pack and no crowds. Is that too much to ask? LOL Thanks!

 

[large_diver]

Let us know what area of Belize

 

[Downing]

Small country but still a big place. You won't have any trouble picking a dive shop once you know where you're going.

Ambergris Caye is the most popular so it has the most of everything including dive shops. Further south is Hopkins, where I would suggest Hamanasi, although probably not cheap. A little south of that is Placencia, my favorite. If you go there, I highly recommend my friends at Splash Dive Center. I dive with them every year and have seen lots of folks doing their OW dives there. Great instructors. Small boats. And then there are the resorts on the cayes but they would probably be the most expensive.

I suggest you look into doing your classes at home, where you can do the classwork and pool exercises, then do your open water dives in Belize. This will save some vacation time.

 

[Caveeagle]

Why not get certified at home and take full advantage of time at destination. I would not want to be bogged down w confined water drills and skills check outs while in a place like Belize

 

[Caye Caulker Diver B]

Why not get certified at home and take full advantage of time at destination. I would not want to be bogged down w confined water drills and skills check outs while in a place like Belize

That's an option if you live in the southern US. If you live anywhere where it is "winter", open water certification dives don't happen from October/November through April/May, depending on when the "Spring thaw" happens.

Last year, while living in CT (I now reside in Caye Caulker, since 9/30/17) I did my class work & pool excercise in CT in late March, then went to Caye Caulker and did my open water certification with Belize Diving Services. I can't be happier I chose to do it that way.

Yes, having to do your checklist of skills and activities takes a bit of your "free time" away from each dive, but seriously, it didn't affect my ability to see everything around me while waiting for other dive mates to do their checklists. Additionally, the 4 dives we're arranged so that we had 15 - 30 minutes of "exploratory" activity, so we could truly appreciate this incredible underwater environment, while the dive master observed our "skills in practice". We did our cert dives at Turneffe, so we were very fortunate to dive in some of best the Belizian Coral Reef has to offer. In fact, we saw an 8' hammerhead swimming along the ridgeline of one of the cliffs. My dive master hadn't seen one in 3 years, so that was a special notation in my dive journal.

If possible, definitely do the class & pool work at home (much cheaper & time manageable) and do the open water certification dives here in Belize. The only possible caveat being, if you've never dived before, and this will be your first time SCUBAing, it may be difficult to match the experience once you leave Belize and dive elsewhere ;-)

 

[Caveeagle]

That's an option if you live in the southern US. If you live anywhere where it is "winter", open water certification dives don't happen from October/November through April/May, depending on when the "Spring thaw" happens.

Op is from MS? Not too bad of a drive to North Fla. I see groups down here getting trained in the winter all the time.

To each, their own... I would just prefer to show up trained and ready to go dive!

 

[mcohen1021]

In Ambergris, contact reefadventures - Ched Cebral - he's awesome

 

[Aviyes]

Op is from MS? Not too bad of a drive to North Fla. I see groups down here getting trained in the winter all the time.

To each, their own... I would just prefer to show up trained and ready to go dive!

If you are near Biloxi. Adventure Locators in D'Iberville is a good LDS. They offer PADI and added SSI recently I believe. Usually have weekend trips out to Vortex/Morrison for the OW dives, even during the winter months.

 

[Downing]

I wish I had known about the referral path and doing my OW dives elsewhere. My wife and I took the OW class locally in the fall. The dives were in the Puget Sound in November. Truly miserable conditions. Steady downpour. Very low visibility. The only time I was warm that weekend was when I was in the water wearing a Michelin Man 7mm wet suit.

My wife bagged it after the first day, needing only two more dives to get her card. I stuck it out, thinking she was going to have to repeat the class all over again. It wasn't until after I was finished that we found out that you can do the dives elsewhere--she did hers in Mexico the following summer.

 

[Trailboss123]

I wish I had known about the referral path and doing my OW dives elsewhere. My wife and I took the OW class locally in the fall. The dives were in the Puget Sound in November. Truly miserable conditions. Steady downpour. Very low visibility. The only time I was warm that weekend was when I was in the water wearing a Michelin Man 7mm wet suit.

My wife bagged it after the first day, needing only two more dives to get her card. I stuck it out, thinking she was going to have to repeat the class all over again. It wasn't until after I was finished that we found out that you can do the dives elsewhere--she did hers in Mexico the following summer.

@Downing - who did you get certified with? November can be rough going in the Puget Sound or Hood Canal. That's where my wife completed her OW and also around that time of year. Wind was howling, raining sideways, 5 foot viz.