Rec dive shop for AOW classes?

[JudeT-F]

My apologies because this is a _very_ open-ended question, but my GF and I are just recently PADI OW certified, and we're looking to take a dive vacation in a month or so.

We hope to do some AOW dive classes (wreck, night, etc.), and are looking for some suggestions as to a recommended locale and dive shop.

We're fairly open-ended on _where_ to go, with an eye towards the Western Hemisphere. Could be Florida or Central America or wherever. The Caribbean is an option, but we're thinking it might be _too_ hot (it'll be primarily a dive vacation, but it's also a vacation)...

Basically we're looking for some pointers in the right direction - the name of a shop to call to set things in motion so that, well, we can go do some more diving!!

Thanks for any ideas and thoughts!

jtf

 

[dumbbomb]

The caribbean- why not!! it won't be TOO hot this time of the year - a 3mm or 5mm!
There are 4 wrecks i believe. and the night diving is not suppost to be too bad either. I'm going there in a month and hope to do 2 weeks of diving out there! Where in the caribbean would you be looking?

Don't know much about florida and america diving, but as i've noticed already there are a fair few Americans on this site that maybe able to point you in the right direction.

 

[JudeT-F]

Don't have a specific place in the Caribbean... We're looking for ideas of locales as well as dive shops at this point. After looking at some possibilities today we've maybe narrowed things down to St. Lucia and Cozumel. The latter definitely seems to get some good press here on SB.

For rookie divers, who have never been to Cozumel, with the goal of doing AOW, does it make more sense to pick a random small shop (which, I presume, could be totally hit-or-miss), or a big shop? Any recommendations on either/both, as a place to make our Cozumel introduction?

Thanks again!
jtf

 

[Wildcard]

Coz is awsome but we are into hurricane season again. Just something to think about. Have you considered Hawaii? Tell me what kind of things you like to do on vacation and I will tell you which island is best for you.
Pick a shop that is willing to meet your needs. Small tend to be a little better at that.

 

[Scuba-Josh]

If you make it to Oahu, you should give Aarons dive shop a call, there based out of Kailua, Oahu. 20 min or so drive from Honolulu and Waikiki beach. IF your looking for a nice pretty quiet place to stay Kailua is where its at and Lani Kai beach cannot be beat (beautiful!!!!). Also the owner the shop has a small condo built off his house that you can rent for 80 bucks a night. You want anymore info let me know.

 

[TheRedHead]

I dive in Coz a lot and didn't do AOW there. It adds the complications of drift diving and the fact that English is not their primary language, although there are American instructors like Dive with Allison and Christy in Cozumel. I took a tech class in Cozumel and had problems communicating with my instructor. I did my AOW in St. Croix.

 

[andytravboy]

Have you thought about Central America. Check out Utila (Bay Islands Honduras). Deep Blue Divers.com. Its very competitively priced and the water temp about 28 c at the moment. Nice.
Good luck wherever you decide to go.

 

[JudeT-F]

Thanks for all the thoughts!

We finally decided to keep it in the states, figuring that we'd save international travel for after we're AOW. Booked a _sweet_ suite at a fancy place in Key West and plan to do our diving out of Looe Key with biscuit7 and Wreckreation Charters.

Again, thanks for all the responses!

jtf

 

[dl348]

Bermuda would be a good choice, it's not affected by the hurricane season. There's plenty of wrecks and the reefs are the healthiest I've ever seen.

 

[anakin]

Hit Divetech in Grand Cayman or even Ocean Frontiers, they'll treat you nice, and guive you a great AOW experience!