Refresher Course?

[undrwater]

A good friend of mine (and his wife) are playing host family to a Norwegian student (17 yrs).

He was certified to dive in 2003 in Norway...learned dry with doubles. He has only been on 2 or 3 dives since he was certified, and is looking for a refresher course to introduce him to California diving (he saw the expression on my face when I was explaining kelp forests).

Anyone have any recomendations on who provides a good refresher course (he's living in Long Beach)? What are the rates here in California? He'll be here for a year...how about equipment? Should he rent, buy used, buy new and sell....?

I look forward to your wise counsel...

Russell

 

[Diver_Jan]

Hi Russell,

I see you are in Cerritos. I did my refresher three years ago with Scuba Toys on Cerritos Ave near Cypress College (NAUI). They were very reasonable at the time, unlike other places that I had checked into that wanted to charge me for the whole course tuition. I basically had to do two class room sessions, and two pool sessions.

I would suggest that he take the refresher before deciding whether to buy gear or not. Let him dive a few times using rental gear to see if he likes beach diving, water temps diving wet and/or dry, ect. Also, depending on how many times he plans to dive, may determine whether to rent or buy. If he likes it enough, I would suggest to at least buy a wet suit, mask, fins, gloves, and booties. He will need this for his refresher anyways.

Other LDS's have refreshers as well. Shop around and see which one meets his needs. Ask questions, ect. He might want to take a Discover Local Diving course since he has never dove Calif before. This will introduce him to beach diving as well.

Best of Luck