Recommendations for a new diver?

[Scuba_Sweet]

My wife and I along with my 16 year old son, did our checkout OW in playa del Carmen. Honestly can't imagine a better place to do it. Great visibility, great conditions. It really was a great experience all around.

We are heading to the fort Lauderdale area in just a few weeks for some dives. We will see I'm looking forward to it, however my sister , who joined us in PDC said to expect more current.

We are planning to head back to PDC this winter for more dives. Between the cenotes and the reefs the diving options seem plentiful.

If you are considering PDC I would check out good vibes diving. Can't say enough about them.

 

[Litefoot]

I guess it comes down to does your nephew want to just go diving or be a diver?

Such a solid point! Certify at home if he wants become a diver (learn the area, make connections). Certify at a resort if you just want to go diving. BTW, a point I failed to acknowledge.

 

[boulderjohn]

I am a snowbird who has spent several months in South Florida (just north of Fort Lauderdale) every winter for the last 13 years. I have done hundreds of dives there. I do not recommend it for your planned trip.

The weather can be great then, but the weather can be terrible then. The problem is the wind. If the wind is big, the waves are big. You won't like it, and there is a good chance the boats won't go. I once had two tech diving students come down for a week of diving to complete their trimix certification, and we had gale force winds the entire week and couldn't dive. A few years ago, my grandson flew out for three days to complete his OW certification, and we had to go to the Blue Heron Bridge and dive in huge winds because no boats were going out. I certified my Granddaughter this past year. She came out for 3 days of diving, and we managed to dive on the only half day when the winds died down enough to make it possible.

I would choose one of the other recommended locations because of the greater likelihood of good weather.

 

[boulderjohn]

I certified two friends in Akumal, Mexico. I did the pool work at home, and we vacationed together on Akumal Bay. The Bay is so sheltered that the water just gently laps on the shore. The reef is about a 2 minute boat ride out.

The dive shop let me do the instructing for my friends. I would not recommend that they do the instructing for you. Their methods are very old school, with a lot of kneeling in the sand in the bay to teach the skills.

 

[boulderjohn]

Such a solid point! Certify at home if he wants become a diver (learn the area, make connections). Certify at a resort if you just want to go diving. BTW, a point I failed to acknowledge.

I am not sure I agree. I think I became a a dedicated diver because I certified at a resort and did all my early diving at resorts. I did not do a local dive until I had been diving for more than 5 years.

The place I certified (Puerta Vallarta, MX) was OK, but my first real diving was in Cozumel. I was thrilled by the beauty of the coral reef and the fish. In the next couple of years I dived in Fiji, Australia, Florida, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. I was totally hooked.

I did not venture into the murky Colorado waters until I got my Rescue Diver certification, followed immediately by my DM certification and my career as a professional. If I had done my early diving locally, I probably would have quit pretty quickly. Because I was already hooked, I was able to deal with the local conditions.

I mentioned in my post above this that I certified two friends in Akumal. I have since dived with them in Australia, Florida, Bali, Palau, Cozumel, Roatan, and Fiji. They have over 250 dives now, and we are planning our next adventure. They tried diving locally in the San Diego area for a while, but they gave it up a couple years ago. Too cold. visibility too poor.

 

[Litefoot]

I am not sure I agree. I think I became a a dedicated diver because I certified at a resort and did all my early diving at resorts. I did not do a local dive until I had been diving for more than 5 years.

The place I certified (Puerta Vallarta, MX) was OK, but my first real diving was in Cozumel. I was thrilled by the beauty of the coral reef and the fish. In the next couple of years I dived in Fiji, Australia, Florida, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. I was totally hooked.

I did not venture into the murky Colorado waters until I got my Rescue Diver certification, followed immediately by my DM certification and my career as a professional. If I had done my early diving locally, I probably would have quit pretty quickly. Because I was already hooked, I was able to deal with the local conditions.

I mentioned in my post above this that I certified two friends in Akumal. I have since dived with them in Australia, Florida, Bali, Palau, Cozumel, Roatan, and Fiji. They have over 250 dives now, and we are planning our next adventure. They tried diving locally in the San Diego area for a while, but they gave it up a couple years ago. Too cold. visibility too poor.

That totally makes sense. From my perspective, I came home from a great OW cert class in FL totally jazzed about diving only to find absolutely no one to dive with after exploring every avenue. My local diving, as you know, is shore diving a deep cold lake that I'm totally unfamiliar with. If I had certified here, I would have both experience with ,my local diving and I probably would have made some local connections for dive buddies.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That totally makes sense. From my perspective, I came home from a great OW cert class in FL totally jazzed about diving only to find absolutely no one to dive with after exploring every avenue. My local diving, as you know, is shore diving a deep cold lake that I'm totally unfamiliar with. If I had certified here, I would have both experience with ,my local diving and I probably would have made some local connections for dive buddies.

I think I need to clarify my comment. It doesn't matter where your nephew gets certified, it just matters what his goals are. Doesn't matter if he is going to dive locally or only on vacation. If he is serious about it (and it may take his open water class to flush that out), he may want to look long term. If he thinks he may invest in his own equipment, what is the requirements of that equipment? Is he going to backpack and be a bare minimalist in terms of gear (I always recommend traveling with mask, dive computer, and regs at a minimum)? Or is he willing to take additional dive gear (BCD/BP&W, wetsuit, fins, ....)? I'm an advocate of BP&W, but that may not wind up being his preference (in a 5 mil, Deep 6 Eddy fins, SS BP & STA and I'm diving a balanced rig).

If he wants to bob along behind a dive guide looking at fish, as long as he isn't kicking coral, just about any OW course may be good enough. While I advocate for OW courses to be taught neutrally buoyant and trimmed, if your nephew just wants to look at fish once in a while in warm, crystal clear water, then as long as he isn't grossly overweighted, he'll be fine with pretty much any course.

 

[Billg68bg]

Being a relatively new diver myself, I really enjoyed Cozumel and Cancun.

 

[boulderjohn]

Being a relatively new diver myself, I really enjoyed Cozumel and Cancun.

I love Cozumel, and over a quarter century, I have made hundreds of dives there. It was where I did most of my earliest dives, and it was great for that.

It might not be, though.

On an extended family trip to Cozumel years ago, my brother-in-law got so interested in my diving that he got certified before our next extended family trip there. Unfortunately, that was a week with the strongest currents I have ever experienced there. Not only were they strong, they were strangely pushing us off the reef most of the time. It was too much for him. After a few days, he quit, and he never dived again.

 

[vxr1062]

My two cents as a new almost-diver myself. ( Need to finish my two open water dives )

I assume your nephew is looking to get certified and then go scuba diving at tropical locations.

I'd definitely give a look into learning most of the basics locally and then maybe get dive certified at a nice location.

My wife and I had a great experience learning locally. We did it one on one with a dive trainer. We couldn't finish it all before our Hawaii trip but both of us did a discover scuba dive there (which is what your nephew did I assume) and we felt it was a lot more enjoyable since we already knew what to expect.

Doesn't mean getting certified at dive locations is not good, just feel it's easier to get the test stuff out of the way locally.