Open Water training

[Bombay High]

A friend of mine from New York would like to do his open water certification. He wants to do it in december and january, so I suggested Florida, because its warm and there are a lot of great divers there.
However, I know no one there, having never been myself. I would appreciate recommendations of good, thorough instructors. Agency does not matter. He has almost no diving experience.

Thank you
BH

 

[TMHeimer]

Consider Scuba New York on Central Ave. in Yonkers and he could do a referral to Florida. I have dealt with them for years and they have a good reputation. They do their checkout dives at Dutch Springs in PA--don't know about in winter.

 

[Thalassamania]

He could come to Hawaii and do the whole shebang here, there are good instructors on every island.

 

[PatW]

Consider Scuba New York on Central Ave. in Yonkers and he could do a referral to Florida. I have dealt with them for years and they have a good reputation. They do their checkout dives at Dutch Springs in PA--don't know about in winter.

I would second this. Your friend can probably do all of his classroom work and pool work locally. Many FL SCUBA operators will do the check out dives to complete someone's certification. In facts, nearly any SCUBA operator in the Carribean will do this also.

It is always best to get as much training as possible locally. Internalizing the training takes some time. Ideally certification is not really about getting operators to let you dive. It is about learning the necessary skill set so you can enjoy diving without injuring and/or killng yourself.

 

[ScubaSam]

Does your friend want to do his referral OW dives in an tropical locale. I did my OW classroom and pool work at Adventure Scuba on York Ave on the upper east side and did a referral dive in a tropical locale.

 

[oly5050user]

Consider Scuba New York on Central Ave. in Yonkers and he could do a referral to Florida. I have dealt with them for years and they have a good reputation. They do their checkout dives at Dutch Springs in PA--don't know about in winter.

Thankyou TMHeimer. I teach out of Scuba NY here in westchester, and also sometimes take on private students on my own. Yes we can get all classroom and confined pool work done here.We have our own heated indoor pool so that gives us ability to schedule any day /time if the need is there for the student.No other LS in the area can offer that.Training dives can be done locally,last dates scheduled for 2011 is last week in November,if the weather holds.I would suggest either taking a referral or joining us on a trip.Trips to Florida Keys being set up now for training dives during the winter and in May I am leading a group to Bonaire. If interested I can reached via a pm here.

 

[mselenaous]

+1
Come to Key Largo!

From full classes to referrals in warm waters.

There are many good instructors in your area as well as in mine. Here's a some good threads to share with your friend on how to find one:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-divers-those-considering-diving/166469-what-consider-new-student-diving.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-divers-those-considering-diving/287780-how-find-excellent-scuba-class.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ering-diving/283566-who-responsible-what.html

 

[Bombay High]

Thank you all for the excellent replies.
I will present him with the options.
I wanted him to have some strong training, because he wants to come out to dive with me and some friends of mine in April . The dives we do are not the most basic, so a good instructor is important.

BTW - Thalassamania, do you teach at a basic level, or do you only do the more advanced instruction ?

 

[Thalassamania]

I teach an "entry level" program designed for non-divers who are good swimmers and very comfortable in the water, but it takes a lot of time, 100 hours, spread over 3 weeks minimum and that's rather a killing pace, a month is optimum. Actually that's the only "canned" teaching I do, everything else is more in the form of intensive mentoring.

 

[AquaticOpsDiving]

BH-
Hi this is Ric from Aquatic Ops Dive Training based in Homestead, Florida typically referred to as gateway to the Florida Keys. If you email me at AquaticOpsDiving@gmail.com we would be more than happy to assist you and your friend in obtaining ow certification. We operate in Biscayne National Park an outstanding venue. Look forward to hearing from you.