Scuba Certification Trip

[langjosh]

A female-friend and I are looking for a warm and off-the-beaten-path place to get certified in the first couple weeks of December. Thinking Carribean - Mexico, islands, Belize???? Thailand maybe (if we can find reasonable flights)?

Any advice on specific locations, organizations, dive spots? Somewhere low-key with beautiful scenery and awesome dives? Maybe beach bungalos? (trying not to get too picky) A year ago, I did a discovery dive in the Ningaloo Reef in Australia and it was life-altering experience! I can’t wait to get certified and keep up the hobby.

Excuse the specificity of my note, I am really open to anything.


Josh

 

[Lorenzoid]

Are you interested in doing anything else besides diving while you're there? What constitutes "off the beaten path" in your mind? Any place with decent dive instruction will be well traveled.

The island of Utila, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras, is a mecca of dive instruction. Some people have referred to it as a certification mill, but I think that's a bit harsh. Young backpacker types do tend to flow through in a steady stream to get certified, but I've never heard anyone question the quality of instruction. Utila is small, no-frills and oriented toward divers, so you won't see cruise ship people and non-diver vacationers. No beach bungalows as far as I know, though. It's a dive, eat, sleep (punctuated by a bit of partying) kind of place.

 

[chauncy19]

Bonaire would be a great place to learn and practice diving. having said that I do want to go to Utila sometime. have heard great things about it. however i donate blood and honduras will get me banned from donating for a year. a reason i keep going to bonaire besides great Caribbean diving!
if you're on the left coast might be smarter to go the other way to Asia but that's just a guess as I have not been yet. I'd say Bonaire is off the beaten trail except for scuba divers

 

[divezonescuba]

Most people would rather spend their precious vacation time diving rather than learning to dive. That's what I did and I regretted it. Actually it was my honeymoon.

The cost of getting certified is also usually more in remote areas. Lastly, if you have any problems with weather, etc., you may not be able to complete the certification while on vacation. All in all, it makes a lot more sense to do it before you go.

 

[boulderjohn]

Most people would rather spend their precious vacation time diving rather than learning to dive. That's what I did and I regretted it. Actually it was my honeymoon.

The cost of getting certified is also usually more in remote areas. Lastly, if you have any problems with weather, etc., you may not be able to complete the certification while on vacation. All in all, it makes a lot more sense to do it before you go.

If it is not really feasible to get fully certified at home before doing the trip, then consider getting half way there. Lots of places in cold water areas that do not have good places to do the open water dives nearby this time of the year routinely run referral classes. These enable you to complete all the academic work and the pool training before the trip. When you go, you take a certificate that indicates this, and you complete the open water dives on your vacation. These dives are usually the same sort of dives you would be doing if you were already certified, except that you have to perform some skills during the dives. That way you don't spend big parts of your vacation in a classroom and pool.

 

[chauncy19]

december in bonaire you are very unlikely to have any weather that will interfere with certification or diving for that matter. Been in November,March (many times) , May and July. Once in March ran into surge that made shore diving impossible for a couple of days.
You could've done boat dives those days however. many think you should learn in "harder" conditions, its a red herring to me. what's more important is your intentions. would've loved to have been certified in Bonaire instead of Maine but my intention is warm water vacation diving.

 

[boulderjohn]

december in bonaire you are very unlikely to have any weather that will interfere with certification or diving for that matter. Been in November,March (many times) , May and July. Once in March ran into surge that made shore diving impossible for a couple of days.
You could've done boat dives those days however. many think you should learn in "harder" conditions, its a red herring to me. what's more important is your intentions. would've loved to have been certified in Bonaire instead of Maine but my intention is warm water vacation diving.

Perhaps you misunderstood. What I meant was that if the person lives in a cold weather site (like Maine or Cape Cod) which makes getting full certification in the next two months problematic, then a good choice would be to get the academic and pool work done at home and then finish during the vacation. Yes, Bonaire would be a good place to do that, as would a number of other locations.

 

[langjosh]

Thank you for all the fantastic replies! Bonaire sounds great. So does doing the coursework in advance. Two tips I will definitely being going forward with.

 

[chauncy19]

john
right john,sorry wasn't really responding to you. just a more general rant. I am sure the op is getting good info from all respondents.

 

[salth2owannabe]

Which ever location you choose don't sit in a classroom while you could be diving. Do the on line course at a minimum, and better yet get everything done including pool sessions before you go. In most cases it will also be cheaper to do it that way.