PADI certification Florianopolis

[sunny_mel2001]

Hi

I will be on holiday in Florianopolis for a week in April 2011 and I am keen to do my PADI Open Water Course during this time. Does anyone know of a good instructor in Florianopolis?
Most of the websites are in Portugese and unfortunately I cant speak it.

Thanks for your help.!

 

[emoreira]

I don't know about Florianapolis, but Bombinhas is considered the capital city of scuba diving in south Brazil. Bombinhas is something like 80 km north of Florianapolis.
Florianapolis is the capital of the Santa Catarina State and is a huge city. The beach cities normally known are "Ingleses" and "Canasvieras", though diving activities are more frecuent in Bombinhas.
In Bombinhas there are several Dive Operators, some with PADI and some with SSI.
With Padi you can go to HyBrazil and Patadadacobra, and with SSI Submarine.
Those operators can speak Portuguese and Spanish. I think you will have no luck to find an operator that can speak english.
Mergulho em Bombinhas Santa Catarina Brasil :: Curso de mergulho PADI em Bombinhas e Curitiba :: IDC Plano de Carreira GO PRO :: Escola e Operadora de Mergulho :: Turismo de Mergulho
Submarine Escola e Operadora de Mergulho
:: Hybrazil Mergulho ::

Besides, in Canasvieras and in the north litoral of the Floripa Island :
Mergulho | Melhor escola do sul do Brasil | Acquanauta Floripa*
Parcel Dive Center - Operadora de Mergulho em Florianópolis
SEADIVERS - MERGULHO - BUCEO - DIVE - FLORIANÓPOLIS - SANTA CATARINA

No matter if the dive trip is hired in Floripa or Bombinhas, the dive boats go always to the Arvoredo Island, which is equidistant form both Floripa and Bombinhas.
I've dove many, many times in Bombinhas and always with Submarine, as I'm SSI certified.

 

[sunny_mel2001]

thanks Emoreira - I'll check those sites out

 

[Felipe Telles]

I live close to Florianopolis. I did my course with patadacobra and I don't think that they have anyone who speaks english there. How long are you staying in Brazil? How much do you want to dive afterwards? The dives in Floripa are done in the Arvoredo Island. There you have to be lucky to get a good day. It's a very shallow dive (6-8 meters) and viz is not good most of the times (3-5 meters on the average days). If you are really interested, contact me and I may find someone for you to do the course.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

My intended has dove with Capt Julio with Sea Divers. He speaks English, but he splits his year between the US and Brazil. She has always enjoyed diving with them.

 

[emoreira]

I live close to Florianopolis. I did my course with patadacobra and I don't think that they have anyone who speaks english there. How long are you staying in Brazil? How much do you want to dive afterwards? The dives in Floripa are done in the Arvoredo Island. There you have to be lucky to get a good day. It's a very shallow dive (6-8 meters) and viz is not good most of the times (3-5 meters on the average days). If you are really interested, contact me and I may find someone for you to do the course.

I've dived many times in the Arvoredo Island, but with Submarine Scuba from Bombinhas, and yes, vis is normally crap. There are a few places in the island with enough depth to be considered a "deep dive" (I certified there deep diving and reached 22 meters).