Discover vs. Certification

[VTSnorkeler]

I have a simple question:

 

Is it worth the time and investment to get a Scuba certification if you only dive once a year?

 

I have done 2 resort dives at 40 feet and they were really amazing (Anse Chastenet in St Lucia was excellent), I am wanting to get certified so I can continue the sport, but my wife brings up the good argument I mention above. Would we be missing out on great dives in places like Cozumel etc if we did Resort courses there instead of a dive with other certified people?

 

My LDS offers classes all summer and I wanted to get some input from some folks here before I made up my mind.

 

Thanks!

[cal2632]

I'd say go for the certification. If you continue only diving on one vacation per year, you can rent equipment. That's the brunt of the cost - getting all your gear. You won't have to keep repeating instruction every time you dive. You'll have a far wider variety of places to dive. For example - if you take the family to Disney World you can dive the Living Seas exhibit at Epcot.

 

Education is never a bad thing. It will make you better, safer divers and you will have more fun on the few dives you get to do. One warning - once you've started, that once a year diving might not be enough. Its an addiction.

[BlueJacketsFan1]

Check with some of the scuba shop in your area, there might be some old rock quarries that you may dive at. There are a several around our state, plus a few other places that divers use.

[VTSnorkeler]

We have Lake Champlain but I am not really interested in the murky waters of the lake after diving the caribbean ;)

[bruce-r]

I have a simple question:

Is it worth the time and investment to get a Scuba certification if you only dive once a year?

I think it would depend on how much you liked it when you did the discover dives and what you can afford. I think you answered the first question yourself.

 

I have done 2 resort dives at 40 feet and they were really amazing (Anse Chastenet in St Lucia was excellent), I am wanting to get certified so I can continue the sport, but my wife brings up the good argument I mention above. Would we be missing out on great dives in places like Cozumel etc if we did Resort courses there instead of a dive with other certified people?

In my opinion, yes you would miss out on some of the better dives in Cozumel and other places. There is supposed to be a depth limit for discover scuba, though I know some instructors ignore this safety issue. The fact is, discover scuba should be limited to 6 meters/20 feet (according to PADI) for their own safety. There just isn't enough information presented in the short instruction time before a discover scuba dive.

 

There are some really good dives you would miss out on in Cozumel by not being certified.

 

Something else to consider. You are thinking that diving is a fun think to do while on a cruise, but the cruise is the main event. I submit to you that once you get certified, the diving will be the main event and you will then plan your vacations with that in mind. Imagine spending a week in Cozumel, you could easily dive 12 dives. For my family of 4, a week in Cozumel at an all inclusive is quite a bit less than the cost of a cruise, and the drinks are included.

 

If you are only going to dive once a year while on a cruise and diving is just a fun shore excursion to do once or twice, it probably doesn't make sense to get certified, but if diving is more than just "fun", get certified.

[divadiverfl]

Get Certified. I have heard some stories on how much these resort classes cost for just the time you are there. Spend the money to get certified and you never lose your certification. Just make sure you can dive at least once during the year at home to keep up with things and to feel comfortable when you do go south. It is worth the time and money to get open water certified.

 

 

 

Drying out from Hurricane Dennis--we got hammered.

[MaraGirl]

There is supposed to be a depth limit for discover scuba, though I know some instructors ignore this safety issue. The fact is, discover scuba should be limited to 6 meters/20 feet (according to PADI) for their own safety. There just isn't enough information presented in the short instruction time before a discover scuba dive.

 

 

Here is where the confusion lies.

 

The Discover Scuba Diving course consists of 3 sections: theory, confined water and an open water dive. The confined water dive has a depth limit of 20ft, typically it is a pool but does not have to be. The open water dive has a depth limit of 40ft.

[bruce-r]

Here is where the confusion lies.

 

The Discover Scuba Diving course consists of 3 sections: theory, confined water and an open water dive. The confined water dive has a depth limit of 20ft, typically it is a pool but does not have to be. The open water dive has a depth limit of 40ft.

Thanks for the correction. Still, 40 feet will limit you to fewer dive sites.

[VTSnorkeler]

Thanks for weighing in guys.

 

We love cruising, and try to make it a point to go every year. Now that we have started a family though I can see Bruce's point about the all inclusives.

 

Bruce - I already am planning this cruise around dive opportunities. We are looking at the Valor's itinerary which includes Coz, Belize, Roatan and GC :)

 

My wife definitely will not be getting certified, but she REALLY enjoyed the discover course (once she got past her initial nervousness). Maybe I can get certified and she can do another discpver course in Coz, so she doesn't have to wander around topside while I'm underwater???

[donna5]

Also if you go to a Sandals resort, scuba is included. If you are certified you normally can do two dives a day(Grande St. Lucia, you might get 3). But if not cert. you have do the resort course (at least a day) and then you only get to do one dive a day(of course the later shallow one). The resort course is only good for that resort. So each time you go on a trip and do a resort course, you are killing a day or several hours. We think it's worth it.

[MikeInPgh]

Yes, the full Certification costs more in time and $$, but the experiences are well worth it. For starters, the C course will cover much more in safety and theory than can ever be covered in a Resort course. Even at 40ft (the resort course max), if something goes wrong, someone could die. The more training and knowledge you have, thebetter off you are. Plus the next 90 feet down open up a whole new world.

 

Mike

[NM_Eman]

When we were teaching in Belize we MUCH preferred to certify folks. We did Discover SCUBA only because we had to and we tended to teach pool skills considerably more stringently than standards required. We had several occasions where we followed strict standards and had unhappy customers because “they took us to 70 feet in the Bahamas”…

 

 

All in all, getting an open water certification is a good minimum to getting starting at a hobby that can change your life. Have a great time.:D

 

Kent

PADI OWSI

[w&k]

Go ahead and get certified. If you do two discover trips, you've already paid more than for your Open Water certification.

 

If you think what you have seen already is cool, just wait till you get OW certified and really get to the good stuff. Get your lady certified too, because there's nothing better than bringing your favorite dive buddy. In 1993, I convinced my new boyfriend to get certified. 200+ dives later, he's my favorite dive buddy, and my husband!

 

Just remember that you want an instructor that makes YOU feel comfortable.

 

Hope you join us in the beautiful underwater world!

 

Wendy