scuba lessons

S

starcrafttom

Active member
Well me and Susan have rescheduled our Cayman vacation for the spring and I need to get scuba certified before we leave. I would like recommendations for local dive shops and classes. I am in the north end of the sound. I work in Everett but anywhere from Edmonds north would be ok.
 
Tom,

I went through Underwater Sports (PADI) in 1986. They were good. Did a bunch of dives around here...then went to Caymen one year. Didnt really have a desire to dive Puget Sound anymore after warm water diving. Few years later, went to the Barrier Reef and dove some more.
 
Hi Tom and Susan. We did the same thing before our honeymoon in 1996. We dove at an old shipwreck near Grand Cayman. The barracuda were a little unnerving! We are a little too far south for you so don't have any recommendations but have fun!

Jeff and Julie
 
Too funny....I had an instructor buddy provide a Discover Scuba course for my gfriend recently. She loved it and decided to get certified for our trip to Grand Cayman in May.

You have several options for certification. You can do your pool and book work at home then complete your certification in Grand Cayman. It would take two weekends of your time at home then 4 open water dives with an instructor in Grand Cayman. You and the Admiral have to read through the Open Water book, watch the video, do the class lectures, then take a final exam. You also need to fill out the medical forms, releases, etc. Once that is done you learn the basics in a swimming pool. Clearing your mask, retrieving your regulator should it fall out of your mouth, basic buoyancy, assembling your gear, safety checks, etc., etc.

If completed successfully your instructor will give you a "Referral" document that you take with you on your vacation. The instructor in Grand Cayman will need this to complete your Open Water certification. You will find dive shops in most every hotel. I did a little research to find an instructor that does the 4 certification dives from shore to save a few dollars. Diving from shore is a little easier than boat diving for novices. You have all the room you need to spread out, you can take your time getting suited up, and you're not intimidated by the more experienced divers on the boat looking to get off and into the water as soon as possible. If you're interested I will pass on my contact information for this instructor I was referred to.

Diving in Grand Cayman is of course world-class. It's like diving in a giant salt water fish tank with 150' of visibility.
 
Right ON !! I am a professional diver...and own a salvage company...where I use my Tug... (22' Sea Horse) I have been diving for about 40 years...did my first dive about 1960 using a fire extinguisher bottle and pumping air from a compressor designed for WW2 bombers.... no wet suits, no buoyancy compensators....
When my wife and kids wanted to learn I had them go to a dive store and take a full class... no quickies... lots of pool time...and open water dives..
I have lots of bad habits learned over the years of diving... and I sure don't want to pass those on... I think most good shops and dive outlets put on a fine program... but the real trick to learning is experience... after the class... you need to dive allot... in whatever you can...pools are just fine... just get time underwater, using the gear...getting used to it... feeling comfortable with it.... it probably takes 100 dives before you get over that fear ...and start to relax...really relax and enjoy being underwater... I breathe much easier underwater than I do on the surface...
It's a great sport...I still dive for pleasure.....and the work I call "Diving for Dollars"

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Tom and Susan, I would second Cap. Matt's recommendations. I got my PADI certification in Bonaire and it worked out great. If your plans include becoming a cold water diver, you could do it here before you go, or get certified on your trip, and then take a cold water course when you return. I think learning the basics of diving in warm, clear water is a real plus.
You are going to love it!!!!!!
Robbi
 
My son and I took the PADI course 2 years ago. We happened to get a great instructor (they'll all good from what I hear), but this one was great. He had over 5,000 dives, he practically breathes underwater without SCUBA gear. He used to dive 800 ft for an oil company years ago, would spend 10 days in the chamber after the dive, not terrible though because at that time (years ago remember), he was making $200/hr. He was very conservative on all aspects he taught, this is important. The PADI course is very methodical and an intuitive learning method.

Like Joel says, time underwater is most important, learning your gear until you don't have to concentrate on it anymore. About my 10th dive, I think it was Catalina, I completely forgot about the gear, computer, depth, compass, bouyancy, etc for a short time. I was free, weightless, relaxed and in total enjoyment. ...I came to my senses a few minutes later of course and at least checked my pressure! Good luck, great sport and really enjoyable to see the 'other half' of the world.
 
Thanks for the ideas. Susan has been qualified for years but has not had the chance to dive in the last 8 years. Her parents got her certified in Hawaii after collage. She has done Hawaii, Cancun, Bahamas’ and Florida. She even tried a shore dive here in the sound but did not like it. Bad location in my opinion, she dove Elliott bay. No vis and nothing to see. I would like to get fully certified before I leave. We are going to Grand Cayman and the Sunset house resort in May or April?? I have to check with the head planner. My other concern is equipment. Renting gear is not cheap and neither is buying it, I don’t know enough yet about the gear to know what to buy yet. I have been looking on line but that is a little over whelming. Now I know how Tim feels in the tackle shop. What do I need and what is over kill? What is good equipment and what will get me laughed off the boat. Our dive plans are a 10 day visit with 6 days diving and two days fishing, one on the flats and one offshore. Two tank boat dives in the mornings and shore diving in the afternoon. We will of course do sting ray city, but I will not do the shark feed under any circumstance what so ever. Just looks like a bad idea, like feeding the bears at the dump. It’s just a matter of time before someone gets nailed. What is the cheapest underwater camera I can get away with? Lots of questions.
 
Tom there used to be a dive shop on E. Casino in Everett.
It would be best to wait until after certified to buy.
Rent from a few shops to see what equipment you like best. Ask the shops what they have for "instructor sales" -- they usually let the instructors get new equipment every couple years and sell their used equipment for a decent price.
When you are looking at the regulator--- be sure it is flexible and able to breath in every position--- some regs seem to close up if upside down---- not fun.
A good resource- diving in depth
Also find a dive club in your area--- lots of fun.
 
I agree it's best to buy after you are certified. You will need to buy mask, fins, and snorkel before you start your courses though.

If you learn to dive where it's cold, diving in the Caribbean will be a piece of cake for you. Particularly where the misses is more partial to diving warm water, it may be more enjoyable for you both to do the Referral route.

Instructor selection is very important, choose an instructor based on reliable referrals from other advanced divers. You can become a PADI instructor with 100 lifetime dives, be weary of those instructors.
 
Tom

Glad to hear your getting into diving. I have been actively diving the northwest for a while now and I am sure you will love it. I got certified through Underwater Sports in Everett they will have the best prices for Open Water certification. They use Forrest park for their pool time and Mukilteo for the open water training.

For class you will have to have the basics like Mask, snorkel, gloves, fins and booties. The rest will be provided by the shop and is included with the class.

A great place to get your gear is online at http://www.leisurepro.com/ you can also print off any item and bring it in to any reputable shop and they will do their best to meet or beat the price shown.

Once you are certified let me know and I'll get you out to some of my favorite sites so you can get a feel for your gear and get comfortable in the water.

Happy Diving
Jeremiah Johnson
on the Sensei
 
I certainly concurr with the group who feel that a good certification program is best before you leave. I had to give up diving when I had my heart attacks--but dove for many years before that. I was also involved in the formation of safety regulations for divers in Los Angeles county--since often I was often the only physician at the Isthmus at Catalina Island on weekends and saw too many tragic diving accidents.

We checked out many resort dive shops and programs in the Caribbean and other parts of the world during our travels there. There were some very good programs, and some not so good programs of instruction.
My feeling is to find a very good program at "home" and complete that before the vacation--that way, the vacation, can be just that--a safe and relitatively carefree time. I agree with SeaPro that the best professional instruction is essential. I had been free diving for 20 years before SCUBA became affordiable and common--I took the best lessons that I could find, even though I was already comfortable underwater. Some of my first dives with air supplied from the surface, involved other kids pumping what were essentiall oversized tire pumps, a diving "helment", made from an old water heater tank, and lead shoes--one jerk on the tending line meant pump harder before the water level rose above the diver's nose!

I would only bring the face plate/snorkel (especially if you have prescription lenses), and fins on the trip--rent the rest of the gear there. Even before you buy the fins and faceplate, try a number of different ones to get the ones you are most comfortable with. Rent for some time before you "invest" in the gear. Of course if you will be diving in the PNW, the type of wet suit you use in the Caribbean will be quite different. One way around that is to have concentric sized wets suits--for example a shortie with a hood, one piece of 1/8" material, and a full, slightly larger 2 suit of 3/16" material--that gives a versitile mix which can be used in many different waters. In the much colder waters we would use both suits. One could use just the top and a second hood in some intermediate waters. With this combination we have dove from the equator to the North Sea and been reasonably comfortable (but a dry suit would be better in the really cold water)--we also owned a 1/4" wet suit--but that ws harder to use than the combination.

The other issue is conditioning. Many people learn to dive in a pool, where there is no current, and calm surfaces. Many real life dives are staneous and if you are fatigued your risk increases. I really recommend that you get in top shape before a trip--and that would include some serious swimming at the local "Y" or other indoor pool in the PNW.

Enjoy the world wonderful world of diving in the Caribbean--hard to beat!
 
thataway":1fy9bvqd said:
<Stuff clipped>

Some of my first dives with air supplied from the surface, involved other kids pumping what were essentiall oversized tire pumps, a diving "helment", made from an old water heater tank, and lead shoes--one jerk on the tending line meant pump harder before the water level rose above the diver's nose!
Click to expand...

Bob-

PRICELESS!!!

Life has been good with memories like these!

Joe. :thup
 
Tom,
You been getting good advise from a number of individuals but I'll throw in my point of view as well. As a background- I've been active in diving since 1978 including both warm water destinations and the cold water of Puget Sound and BC. In fact, I talked my fiance' (then) now wife into certifying in Puget Sound prior to our wedding/honeymoon in the Caymans. Diane fell in love with the sport and continued on to get her divemaster.

A few things previously mentioned that I agree with:
- Take the course here. You obviously love the Sound and will probably be a great fit for diving here. Your training will be more thorough as well. That said, cold water diving is not for the meek.
- Don't look for a cheap certification class. Find the most intensive and lengthy class you can. Lot of pool work! Most of the major local dive shops (like Underwater Sports) should have good programs, however a lot of the enjoyment of your experience may depend more on the instructor. Some are great, some are not so.
- Don't buy equipment now. Don't even buy the mask/fins/snorkel until you've talked to someone in the know. Everything need to fit perfectly and you don't want to have to repurchase this stuff. Definitely don't try to buy any scuba gear until you've completed a class. Too much to learn first.
- Get Susan to take a refresher course in the pool. She can probably do this while your taking your course. Eight years is too long to go without diving without practicing your skills. It doesn't matter how experienced a diver is- if you've been away from it for a while, you need to retrain your body to be comfortable again.

I could go on and on on this subject but it's time for bed.
Diving is a great sport. Especially for couples. IMO

Good Luck!
 
Here's a site that's a serious time-waster for divers http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/matrix/
One note of caution: While there is a lot of good information, the site is not as "friendly" as this one. Lots of people trying to pee in each others Cheerios. I usually just use the search in the main forums, or page through the old posts. No matter what question you have, it has been asked and answered a hundred times. The sub-forums , especially the travel and destination are usually mellower, and you can get good information from a post. You should be able to find some specific info on dive facilities for your destination.

Don't get sucked in by a dive shop or training facility into buying a lot of expensive gear right off the bat. Dive shops are the kings of hard sell. You don't know what you are going to need or want until you have been diving a while. Buy the minimum to get through your training, and rent until you know diving is for you. There are hundreds of complete diving gear sets on e-bay, most with less then a dozen dives on them originally purchased by people who thought diving was for them.

If you do all right, and decide to buy gear check these guys out http://www.scubatoys.com They do a great job, stand behind their business, and can help you select what is right for you. They are authorized dealers for the brands they carry, and offer full warranties in spite of what your local dive shop will tell you. They also have an online forum which is much friendlier then scubaboard (though much smaller)

We had zero interest in cold water diving. We did our classroom and pool training locally, and did a referral with a shop in Cozumel on one of our vacations. It worked out very well for us, and 100' vis in 82f water was way more pleasant then bundling up in a dry suit for 10' vis in 46f water. I seriously doubt I will ever dive in anything heavier then a 3mm wetsuit.

Enjoy
 
Interesting how the back ground and experience of this group have so much in common. Maybe it is because we all have a basic love of the water.
Like a lot of you I stated diving in Northern Minnesota in the late 50's. All fresh water dives rarely below 40 ft. Moving to Montana I was away from diving for about twenty years. I met a lady that started a program called " Edudive " She was a natural biologist. She organized trips for groups like the Scripts organization and others. She had a trip planned to take a group from Texas ( Oil people) to Papua New Guinea. She invited me along. Having no certification back in the early days I had to do a cram course just to get a basic certification. I had no gear. So.... being new to salt water diving. Someone suggested that I needed a wet suit. No time to get one. That same person said panty hose is a good dive suit. It would keep jelly fish and coral stings from getting to you. Well I found a couple pair of ladies panty hose right there in Libby Montana.
They were black and very sheer. Wasn't I lucky?
Needless to say, It was very embarrassing. Although I have nice looking legs. Kind of funny how the guys shy away from me but the girls treated me like their hair dresser. I finally doubled up and wore both at the same time. No more peekaboo.
I thought every thing in the ocean was deadly, and I needed the protection.

Now I want you all to know I don't wear those anymore and have dove at least half the world since. Have shark skins and at least three wet suits. My old BC just wore out and I bought a new ScubaPro.
By the way...... those dive shops will tell you that Scubapro is the only equipment to trust your life too. Most costly as well. Don't' believe it, there is a lot of good gear out there.

Ps: My legs don't look so good anymore in Panty hose. :embarrased Now I only wear them around the house or when I dress up to go out in my pretty red dress. :lol:

Captd
 
Ah....boats and diving is what I love!

I will disagree only slightly with the advice so far. Most any class you enroll in will require you to arrive with mask, snorkel, and fins. They don't want to have to deal with masks not fitting, fin size fitting, etc., etc. It also saves you and the misses time and aggravation trying to find a mask that does not leak, etc. It is really annoying to have a leaking mask and will distract you from things you need to be learning.

If you learn to dive in the PAC NW - everywhere else will be a piece of cake (short of say the North Pole). However, it will require more gear, more lead weight to sink your thick thermal protection, will be less comfortable, and requires more work lugging the gear. Diving in the cold is almost 100% different than diving in the tropics. In the tropics you can wear a t-shirt, bathing suit, BC, tank, reg, mask, snorkel, fins and maybe 15lbs of lead and you're good to go. In the cold you are wearing the above plus double the lead weight (at least), a 7mm suit, a hood, neoprene boots, and 7mm gloves that changes the feel of diving and makes handling your gear more difficult. Think Sleestack hands from that old Saturday morning show...Land of the Lost.

If the misses is used to warm water diving, it may not be the best idea to reintroduce her to diving in cold water initially. Just talking with the boys here...but we know how important it is to create a good experience for the Admiral because this ultimately leads to US having a better time too. Unless you both know you want to dive near home I would suggest the referral program. (Pool book work here, then 4 cert dives in G.C.) If you definitely plan to dive at home, then definitely get your full certification at home. Just keep in mind the dramatic differences in experience for you and the Admiral.
 
Tom,

There is a lot of good advice here, but you were spot- on in trying to locate a reputable dive shop.

I was a part-time SCUBA instructor for about twenty years, from the early 70's to the 90's and was certified by NAUI, PADI and the YMCA U/W Activities Program and know that dive shops vary greatly in their instruction and motivation to sell equipment, regardless of their national affiliation. In fact, in the early '80's I dropped one of my instructorship credentials in protest when one of the big certifying organizations dropped the swimming requirement for their basic class!

It seems that they ran a survey at DEMA (Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association) Show and found that basic students hated swimming laps and loved being on SCUBA.

Well, they dropped the swimming requirement and started losing people in drowning incidents in calm water right next to dive boats! The requirement was quickly reinstated.

I also worked as a salvage diver in Lake Erie for a number of years and ran dive boats for a time in the Keys. I had a 100 ton license at the time.

By all means, take your course at home and then do your check-out down south. However, you will be quickly spoiled by warm, clear water.

I would encourage all people to stay away from resort course, those quick-and-easy-just-off-the-cruise ship disasters found in the tropics. Many people have been injured and killed in accidents in these courses that tend to put profit ahead of safety.

Have a great time!

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Thank you all for the good advice and keep it coming if you have more. I talked to a client of ours that is a instructor at a local shop. Him and another guy teach at the local shop. The other guy, dont remember his name, is a master instructor. They both train the local NOAA crews and some of the lo0cal searcha nd rescue. So I will be training with these guys in jan or feb. I plan to have susan re-cert in the sound at edmonds with a dry suit to see if she likes it. If I am going to get cert then I will want to dive locally once a month at lest. but between fishing, golf, boating, bowling, and now diving I may have to retire just to have time to do all this, susan will have to get a better paying job.
 
Another question. How many of you dive from your c-dory? how many dive from there dory in the sound or san jauns?? what are some good spots to go? How about in canada? if I go up to the islands in the summer where are some good boat dives that a newbie can do? Has any one here dobb narrows? I was told it is fun.
 
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