After lurking for a while, I figured that the day after the first classroom session was a good time to start posting.
Anyway, the Wife and I decided to get certified after we started looking at a 2007 trip to Disney and thought that the Divequest program just looked too cool to pass up. I've always sort of wanted to learn to dive anyway, and She's interested in having the certification from a resume perspective (Zoology major - works for a Zoo...).
Anyway, after much reading here, we signed up for classes at the local SSI affiliated shop. They do a 5-6 week program which appeals to us much more than the other LDS's "2-day + quarry" program. Being able to take our time, as well as the promise that their program is "as long as it takes, no extra charge" was a big win for us, as well as them being close by.
We've already managed to commit the first faux pas of course -- after the mediocre sales pitch for the required Boots and Snorkel, and the fairly limited (IMHO) in-store selection of each, we went and ordered these on-line. Figured that warranty wasn't really an issue with these two items, and fit is pretty basic as well (shoe size). We figure we can save a couple of bucks now and be able to use the LDS for the things that really matter like masks and fins...
Oh, and we also like their approach of using the first couple of pool sessions to try out different masks and fins to get an idea what we might want to buy, vs the other LDS simply doing a "well, we have a couple kinds in the bag, so you can sort of try different ones..."
First pool session is Thursday. If I can avoid annoying the Wife with constant "well, I read on scubaboard that..." comments, I thing I'll survive
Anyway, the Wife and I decided to get certified after we started looking at a 2007 trip to Disney and thought that the Divequest program just looked too cool to pass up. I've always sort of wanted to learn to dive anyway, and She's interested in having the certification from a resume perspective (Zoology major - works for a Zoo...).
Anyway, after much reading here, we signed up for classes at the local SSI affiliated shop. They do a 5-6 week program which appeals to us much more than the other LDS's "2-day + quarry" program. Being able to take our time, as well as the promise that their program is "as long as it takes, no extra charge" was a big win for us, as well as them being close by.
We've already managed to commit the first faux pas of course -- after the mediocre sales pitch for the required Boots and Snorkel, and the fairly limited (IMHO) in-store selection of each, we went and ordered these on-line. Figured that warranty wasn't really an issue with these two items, and fit is pretty basic as well (shoe size). We figure we can save a couple of bucks now and be able to use the LDS for the things that really matter like masks and fins...
Oh, and we also like their approach of using the first couple of pool sessions to try out different masks and fins to get an idea what we might want to buy, vs the other LDS simply doing a "well, we have a couple kinds in the bag, so you can sort of try different ones..."
First pool session is Thursday. If I can avoid annoying the Wife with constant "well, I read on scubaboard that..." comments, I thing I'll survive
