Question Options for OW Course

[Scuba Pilot777]

Looking to get open water certified soon.
I primarily want to dive in warmer waters on trips abroad to places such as Florida/Australia/Red Sea/Canary Islands.
Obviously I can do a course in these locations.
Where I live (Scotland, cold water) there is an excellent dive centre.
If I go there, it will be using a drysuit.
Since I'm unlikely to do much diving here is it worth getting certified using a drysuit?
Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[steinbil]

I'm biased since I love diving in cold water, but I would say GIVE IT A GO!

Pros:
- You might like it. Diving locally means you can dive more, for a lot less money
- Even if you want to travel, being able to practice to keep skills sharp locally is always a plus
- If you can dive in cold water with a drysuit, diving warm water in a wetsuit is EASY! The other way around is NOT!

Cons:
- Cost of renting/buying drysuit
- ???

 

[Bowers]

If you have the money then drysuits are awesome even for warmish water. It’s not uncommon for a boat full of wetsuit divers to be huddled down and shivering during the boat tide back to shore in florida, while im still cozy in my drysuit . To be fair i usually go to florida during the winter though.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Cold sucks.

Take a week and non-rev/jump seat somewhere nice and warm where you can knock out complete basic dive cert (OW and AOW) in one go and you're covered... Throw mask and booties - maybe a small reg set like MK11/C370 or APEKS XL4 - in your RON kit and you're good wherever the job takes you. I'm an admitted Shearwater fan, but I understand that Garmin makes an everyday watch that works as a dive computer too. Get the pressure transducer and you eliminate having to carry gauges.

A decent all-inclusive like AKR or Cocoview on Roatan or maybe a semi-inclusive like Buddy Dive or Cap'n Don's on Bonaire. Many other options out there, but those mentioned are kind of turn-key no-worries packages that I've expereinced. Do online eLearning beforehand. If you could do the pool work in a nice heated pool before the trip and get a referral from your local dive center for the open water part, it would maximize actual diving at destination. Probably easier if trainer is PADI/NAUI/SSI/etc for referrals since there are more of those agencies represented in remote locations?

That program would be 3, maybe 4 intensive days of scheduled training dives, but you would also end up with a few days of leisurely diving to round out the week and have 15-20 dives in the log. Important: include Nitrox cert with the training (one or two hours classroom - no dive required).

 

[rick00001967]

for what its worth.....training in a cold water environment is quite different than in warm water. if you receive quality training, you may find once you switch to warm water that it is a cake walk compared to diving cold.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

for what its worth.....training in a cold water environment is quite different than in warm water. if you receive quality training, you may find once you switch to warm water that it is a cake walk compared to diving cold.

Point taken, but ...

Flying helicopters is harder than fixed-wing A/C, but I never, ever, ever want to get on a helicopter (they don't really fly), so why would I train in one if all I ever wanted to fly is fixed-wing AC?

(pendantic curve: "fixed-wing" does not imply that the wings were broken, just that they are fixed in place and don't move much within the flight envelope).

 

[Scuba Pilot777]

Thanks for replies so far.
There is some really good diving round here and I take on board the comments regarding maintaining skills. Currency is important, especially in pursuits that have the potential to kill you .
The price of a drysuit is scary though. I can always hire one from the local centre.
The other consideration is that courses abroad are about 50% of the cost of local, although i know local place is well regarded nationally.
Cheers

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Thanks for replies so far.
There is some really good diving round here and I take on board the comments regarding maintaining skills. Currency is important, especially in pursuits that have the potential to kill you .
The price of a drysuit is scary though. I can always hire one from the local centre.
The other consideration is that courses abroad are about 50% of the cost of local, although i know local place is well regarded nationally.
Cheers

In addition to the cold, Scottish lakes have monsters in them.

 

[arew+4]

If you are not sure you want to dive cold and local, do online followed by pool and check out dives in tropical/sub tropical location. Cheapest and easiest.
If you might want to do local, do in person class and pool work local, you will likely get something a bit more rigorous and above the standard, then get referral for tropic check out.
If you decide to go local do AOW at home, Drysuit-Wreck-Boat-Nav-Bouyancy.

 

[Scuba Pilot777]

Plenty of what looks like Orcas swimming off local beach some mornings

In addition to the cold, Scottish lakes have monsters in them.