Warm water destinations for checkout dives

[VsubT]

I'm looking for a few recommendations for places to go to do the check-out dives for my kids. I'm having trouble finding wetsuits that fit my kids very well and it has been a struggle. They seem to be too skinny and tall for any off the rack wetsuits. So, I'm looking for a good reputable Padi shop (they a Padi class now) for their checkout dives in warm water, accessible for a long-weekend trip leaving from the Washington DC area (we don't have time for multi-stop long layover flights), with relatively protected dive sites. I was planning on taking them to Key Largo over Easter weekend but now I'm worried it will be too cold. I'm trying to make the a pleasant experience for them. Any suggestions?

Sailfish Scuba in Key Largo did a great job with snorkeling and bubble maker for our 8 year old son recently. He sounds like a similar build, and they fit him in a wetsuit with no prob. Water was warm enough for 3mm full suit without boots or gloves a few weeks ago, should be even warmer when you're thinking. My wife gets cold easily and was fine during her OW referral dives and some fun dives after that.

Sailfish is a PADI shop and fun crew. Highly recommend them!

Lance

 

[scubadada]

Has everyone noticed how helpful SB tries to be in helping divers out? I've gotten a lot of useful information from participating here.

 

[SteveInMD]

The logistics of getting to the BVI's make that a little rough since you'd have to fly into St. Thomas from the DC area plus ferry over. The fast ferries run hourly so it's not as bad as it sounds. May not be real warm there yet though next month - the east end of the BVI's is technically in the Atlantic. One other gotcha about the previous suggestion is that DiveBVI is an SSI shop and I don't think PADI will accept a reverse crossover. Otherwise they're a great outfit. But they're on Virgin Gorda which has less ferry service - since you're fighting the clock. If you did want to do the BVI's, I'd go for a PADI shop on Tortola - they're all listed here: bviscuba.org. I suppose St Thomas itself is an option also. It's a little colder there though - currently 79^o. Bolongo Bay/St. Thomas Diving Club is known to work with beginners. And they have a beach there for classes.

I'd look warmer. It may not sound like much but a few degrees might matter if you can't find anything but rental shorties - which is common. Aruba is a 7hr. flight each way from BWI. Water temp is 80^o right now. I used 4/4-4/8 as dates. Nice thing about the return flight is it's at 4:50PM so you can dive all day Mon/Tues.

Grand Cayman looks like about 5.5 hrs. out/ 7+ back total with a stop in MIA - from DCA. for $495. Water temp is 81^o currently. It's pricey there but one advantage is there must be almost 2 dozen PADI shops on the island for cert dives. Save a little money and stay off Seven Mile Beach - Comfort Suites or Sunshine Sutes are options. Ambassador Divers is also at Sunshine Suites - I recommend them regularly.

Also there's several easy entry, excellent shallow shore dives either on the NW side if you have time. If the kids are old enough to leave alone, you could wall dive also. All the shops: Cayman Islands Tourism Association - Things To Do In Cayman, Cayman Culture,Cayman Islands Watersports After the kids are certified they can dive Stingray City (15' deep) or the Kittiwake wreck also. It's a big boat, shallow - 60' tall sitting on a 70' bottom and escorted. Stingray City trips are generally in the afternoon so that may work out also.

I used April 4-8th for this - figuring you may not find much open on Easter so two days for diving. To look at other destinations, use this surfing website for water temperatures. Surf Forecast and Surf Reports Worldwide | Surf-forecast.com

I use Matrix - ITA Software by Google for flights - much of the same data is available on Google Flights - just not as much tweakable detail.

I don't think you're really going to find anything warm in the Keys/SE Florida yet.

---------- Post added March 14th, 2015 at 08:06 AM ----------

Factor in that the better diving is not in San Juan but SE in Fajardo or south in La Parguera(sp?) San Juan is pretty murky at times.

One of the shops does teach at a shallow beach site a little to the east of the cruise port in San Juan. I think there's "Dogs" in the shop name.

Looking at flights Aruba works very good! Can you recommend a Padi dive outfit to use and or where to stay? Thanks!

 

[RJP]

West Palm Beach has the benefit of having the Gulf Stream come the closest to shore of anyplace in the US. So while not as far SOUTH as Key Largo... the water will be just as warm or potentially warmer. I did my checkout dives there the first weekend of February (2006) and the water was in the mid/high 70's. Certainly not "shorts and a t-shirt" warm, but warm enough that even an ill-fitting 3mm suit will probably be fine.

Plus, with multiple airports in Balt/DC area and multiple airports in the West Palm Beach area... there is great availability of frequent, direct, short AND inexpensive flights on almost every domestic airline you'd want to fly.

Florida Springs are certainly a better idea than a quarry in the Northeast US in April. But the water will be far colder - and the diving far more boring - than West Palm, Key Largo, etc. The truth of the matter is that while there's the potential that your kids will be chilly in WPB in 76F water in a less than perfect fitting wetsuit... you have a fairly high chance that they will be MISERABLE in that same wetsuit in 70F water in a Florida spring. In the summer we do OW courses in 70F quarry in PA and skinny kids in 7mm+7mm Farmer Johns (with hood and gloves) are often shivering after 10min in the water.

 

[scubadada]

West Palm Beach has the benefit of having the Gulf Stream come the closest to shore of anyplace in the US. So while not as far SOUTH as Key Largo... the water will be just as warm or potentially warmer. I did my checkout dives there the first weekend of February (2006) and the water was in the mid/high 70's. Certainly not "shorts and a t-shirt" warm, but warm enough that even an ill-fitting 3mm suit will probably be fine.

Plus, with multiple airports in Balt/DC area and multiple airports in the West Palm Beach area... there is great availability of frequent, direct, short AND inexpensive flights on almost every domestic airline you'd want to fly.

Florida Springs are certainly a better idea than a quarry in the Northeast US in April. But the water will be far colder - and the diving far more boring - than West Palm, Key Largo, etc. The truth of the matter is that while there's the potential that your kids will be chilly in WPB in 76F water in a less than perfect fitting wetsuit... you have a fairly high chance that they will be MISERABLE in that same wetsuit in 70F water in a Florida spring. In the summer we do OW courses in 70F quarry in PA and skinny kids in 7mm+7mm Farmer Johns (with hood and gloves) are often shivering after 10min in the water.

I have a home in Hypoluxo and do the majority of my diving in Boynton Beach and Jupiter. Believe me, I'm a huge fan of the area. It might be a bit safer diving in Key Largo as the Winter seas are still calming down in SE FL. As RJP points out, this does offer an alternative to the Keys. Regardless, an operator with a bigger, more stable boat might be a good hedge against bigger seas.

Best of luck, Craig

 

[RJP]

I have a home in Hypoluxo and do the majority of my diving in Boynton Beach and Jupiter. Believe me, I'm a huge fan of the area. It might be a bit safer diving in Key Largo as the Winter seas are still calming down in SE FL. As RJP points out, this does offer an alternative to the Keys. Regardless, an operator with a bigger, more stable boat might be a good hedge against bigger seas.

Best of luck, Craig

You raise a good point about the seas. Regardless of where the OP ends up going for a "long weekend" I would make it a FOUR day weekend and schedule the OW dives for the first two days. That way - if something doesn't work-out weather-wise or diver-wise - you still have day three to give it another try. Fly in Thursday night, schedule dives for Fri/Sat. You'll have Sunday as a backup for the checkout dives, and fly home Monday afternoon. If all goes well on Fri/Sat the OP and kids can do some more diving in Sunday.

 

[SteveInMD]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a dive outfit in Aruba and / or a place to stay?

 

[mselenaous]

I'm looking for a few recommendations for places to go to do the check-out dives for my kids. I'm having trouble finding wetsuits that fit my kids very well and it has been a struggle. They seem to be too skinny and tall for any off the rack wetsuits. So, I'm looking for a good reputable Padi shop (they a Padi class now) for their checkout dives in warm water, accessible for a long-weekend trip leaving from the Washington DC area (we don't have time for multi-stop long layover flights), with relatively protected dive sites. I was planning on taking them to Key Largo over Easter weekend but now I'm worried it will be too cold. I'm trying to make the a pleasant experience for them. Any suggestions?

Welcome to Key Largo, Dive Capital of the World! There is something for everybody here. Most of the diving here is about 30ish ft deep, clear, warm, bright colorful reefs. Perfect for Jr. divers, and new divers. That's why there are about 30 dive operators mostly PADI in the Upper Keys, so you have plenty of choices. KL is about 1 hour form MIA & 1.5 from FLL so you probably find direct flights easily.

About the water temps: The water imho is still chilly-ish in the mid-70's. It will be in the high 70s in May, low 80s in June and mid-high 80s from July through Sept. usually.
Sounds like your kids are long with not much body mass to keep them warm. Consider getting vests or hooded vests to layer with the rental suits that may be too roomy to accommodate their torso length. Another alternative is to layer a shorty with a full jumpsuit so they stave off the chill.

I can recommend experienced PADI instructors to teach your kids if you send me a PM.

If you do come to the Keys, PM to meet up for or just to say hi :wavey:

 

[afdgf]

We dove with Sea Ventures in Fajardo PR and had a much better time than we expected. We were very impressed with their attention to safety. One day it was just my wife and I and a family of discover divers. They had two instructors in the water and one on the boat and took them one at a time to giant stride, go down line, come up line, go back on boat, repeat with next person. You will need to rent a car and drive there. Now DRIVING in PR is definitely NOT safe. If they have any traffic laws in PR, they are sure not in evidence.

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks to those referring Steve to me. I've stopped doing automatic check out dives. Very, very few instructors turn out students to the level I feel good just taking them straight into the ocean without some additional pool work. It's my personal opinion that perfect buoyancy control is far more fun and relaxing for the new diver. I need at least four sessions to accomplish that and depending on the student, I might need more. If you want your kids to be fully competent to dive, then I'm your Huckleberry. If you're looking for quick and not as thourough, then I am obviously not.