Where to do Open Water dive

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risselba

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I live in Michigan and have recently completed the Step 1 (all the academics and classroom work) and Step 2 (all the pool work) at an SSI training facility. I was hoping to complete all my training and become certified before going on a vacation to the Riviera Maya in December.

However, this is Michigan and it gets quite cold here already in October. My instructor has told me that it is unlikely they will be doing any more Open Water dives this year locally. So my question is "Where can I go to do my Open Water training prior to my vacation?". Of course, the closer to Michigan the better it would be. But it also has to be a place where the weather is warm enough to be diving in October.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
The Florida Keys. Key Largo is less than an hour and a half drive from Miami and two hours from Fort Lauderdale. Diving in October is fine, the dive boats aren't that crowded then either. Plenty of dive operators and Molasses reef, a pretty and fairly easy site of check out dives. Lots of affordable lodging. Check out an instructor named Larry Gates (larrygates.com) for affordable one-on-one check out dives (out of Ocean Divers MM 100). I don't know about your situation, but flying from PA to FLA is generally inexpensive (I can get flights for about 150 round trip to Miami, about the cheapest warm weather destination with diving available for me).

Other places along the Florida coast have more current and tend to be drift diving operations.

The downside is that the Florida weather is unpredictable, particularly in winter months. The water temp is usually OK, but the air temp can get low and the winds/seas can kick up making diving difficult for anyone, let alone some one doing check out dives/surface skills. Viz can be great, 100+ ft, or poor (40 ft) depending on the day, but it is always superb compared to quarry conditions. The typical exposure suit this time of year is a 3 mil shorty or fullsuit. However, I was there two weeks ago and dove in a swimsuit because the Keys ocean temps have been unusually high.
Check out the molasses reef buoy on-line for current reef conditions (available as a link from larry gates' site.

Caribbean weather is more dependable, particularly in the ABC islands like Aruba which are below the hurricane belt. Diving there is dependably easy, but the flights are longer and more expensive. I hear that places like bermuda and the bahamas don't offer much weather advantage over the Keys this time of year. The Caymans are also always nice, but for warm water checkouts coming from the North or Northeast at this time of year, Key Largo would seem to be the best diving per dollar deal.
 
I would have to agree with Shakey.....

We have been blown out a couple times down here in the Keys lately (too windy/rough to go out). If you decide to come down here, find a dive shop you are comfortable with. We recently had an incident that a dive provider was telling their divers that it was only 2-3 ft waves when the winds were at 20knot+. Needless to say, when they got back--they confirmed that the waves were more like 5- 7 footers!
Soooooooooooooo......find a dive provider that matches your personality and you feel you can trust!

Good luck on your check out dives! :)

Pat
 
Check with other shops. Your going blind with the referral anyhow.

Freshwater here in Maine is 60F at OW certification depths. You might hit 50F going to 40-50 feet for some deeper experience but it's only a visit to that temperature. I can't imagine it's that much colder we're at the same lattitude. Modern exposure protection is amazing stuff.

Get it done locally and you can enjoy your vacation and be oriented for local diving in the spring.

Pete
 
It's still warm enough to dive in Ohio. Get ahold of Seaquatics in Midland MI, I think they are running an open water checkout at Gilboa Oct. 27 (Fri) and 28 (Sat) so the new students can participate in Saturday's pumpkin carving.
Ber :lilbunny:
 
risselba:
I was hoping to complete all my training and become certified before going on a vacation to the Riviera Maya in December. However, this is Michigan and it gets quite cold here already in October. My instructor has told me that it is unlikely they will be doing any more Open Water dives this year locally.

In that no course is given that wouldn't include the opportunity for an OW Portion, methinks there's more to this than you're telling us.

If you can do the OW portion up North, by gosh, go and do it. The water really isn't getting all that much colder right now than it was in August. At least one dive you ty should be in heavy rubber. Gives you experience and insight.

Florida and the recommendations you have gotten will work- maybe better yet, get an SSI referral to Mexico. Given the set of facts, getting certified on a quick trip here in the states wouldn't probably be any great advantage over doing it on your vacation. You're really not going to "miss" all that much if you do it while on your vacation.

After the first twenty dives have come, long about the second warm water trip...Then, your dive life will begin. Until then, you'll be very busy diving.
 
Florida springs in the western panhandle, which are 68F year round, might work for you in late Oct or Nov.. I did OW at Morrison and Vortex. Well out in the sticks, but good for checkouts, many of the shops in the area use them for training. Best thing is they're pretty much weather-proof, unlike the Gulf. then you could head down to Destin to the beach.

Or, if you get down quicker, try Destin or Pensacola, water's still pretty warm now.
 
Thanks much for the different replies. My first option is going to be to try to follow the advice of Ber Rabbit and persue the dive in Ohio. I have already made a call to Seaquatics in Midland MI, I hope that I can get in on the OW at Gilboa on Oct. 27 (Fri) and 28 (Sat).
 
Rec Diving in Royal Oak, Michigan (http://www.recdiving.com/) has open waters scheduled at Gilboa next weekend (October 21-22).
 

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