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Open water cert in Bonaire or Aruba


mac66
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Finally got around to taking an open water scuba class but plan on doing the open water certification portion on a cruise to the ABC islands in Feb.  I'm covered for the first two dives in Curacao but need recommendations for either Aruba or Bonair for my second series of dives.

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The first suggestion I have would be to contact the operator you'll be using in Curacao, for their recommendation.  Someone they recommend will have the advantage of knowing the instructor that conducts your first two dives.

 

Another thing you can check with the Curacao operator is this: The standards for Open Water certification dives allow for no more than three of the required four dives to be conducted in one day.  The general way this is accomplished in the world is to do two dives each day.  However, since on Curacao you'll likely be shore diving, ask the operator there if they can conduct the first three instead of the first two.  That instructor could that way sign you off on the bulk of the required skills.  That gives you several advantages, if there's an issue with weather you'll need only one dive to finish.  Second you'll leave Curacao knowing that if you get back underwater once more, you'll come up certified.  This will allow you to leave Curacao with a very comfortable frame of mind. 

 

If the shop in Curacao doesn't have a particular reference for the other islands, I would recommend:

 

Bonaire: VIP Diving (www.vipdiving.com; email: info@vipdiving.com).  They have a pool at their facility, and I've never met or seen anyone on their staff that I wouldn't feel comfortable referring a student to.  They offer port pick-up and return. 

 

Aruba: Happy Divers Aruba (www.happydiversaruba.com; Email: info@happydiversaruba; Phone/WhatsApp: +297 733 65 70).  Jeffrey there will likely be able to help you.  Again they offer port pick-up and return.  They never have large groups, as the max number of divers on the boat there is 6.  The only potential issue I can imagine is if he is already booked that day, and doesn't have one of his other instructors available for you.  As a smaller operator, be aware he'll often take a few days to respond to an email.

 

Congratulations on getting your Open Water class and pool completed.  I know you've done several Discover Scuba Dives that you've talked about here, so this will open the door all the way for you. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

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Mac,

 

One other thing that comes to mind.  Please plan your final certification dives on whichever island you hit next after Curacao.  That way, if there's weather or some other problem you have the third island as a back-up.  If you count on the third island, and something comes up, you can be in something of a pickle, as standards on referral dives (which are what you'll be doing) require they be completed within 6 months of the completion date of your Class/Pool course.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Harris,

 

FYI,  I booked with Happy Divers in Aruba for my second two dives with Bonair as a backup in case weather or something prevents me diving in Aruba.

 

Circumstances/timing prevents me from doing three dives in Curacao

 

I was also able to get back in the pool for some more confined water dives a week ago to refresh. The instructor allows anyone who took his class to come back anytime to refresh at no cost. 

 

Got another cruise booked for April. Looking for a recommendation to dive in St. Martin.

Edited by mac66
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3 hours ago, mac66 said:

Harris,

 

FYI,  I booked with Happy Divers in Aruba for my second two dives with Bonair as a backup in case weather or something prevents me diving in Aruba.

 

Circumstances/timing prevents me from doing three dives in Curacao

 

I was also able to get back in the pool for some more confined water dives a week ago to refresh. The instructor allows anyone who took his class to come back anytime to refresh at no cost. 

 

Got another cruise booked for April. Looking for a recommendation to dive in St. Martin.

Mac,

 

You'll like Jeffrey at Happy Divers, and I know he'll take good care of you. 

 

Since you'll be certified after Aruba, you could book dives with VIP on Bonaire as a certified diver.  That would certainly be a great place for your first two "certified dives".  🙂

 

For St. Maarten, I used to recommend Octopus Diving.  However, they changed ownership after the hurricane, and I had a recent bad experience where, although they sent an email confirming my dives, they had no record of me when I arrived.  If you do go with Octopus, do not rely on the email address on their website.  Apparently they're trying to use a central tour booking outfit to handle their reservation.  Make phone calls, and don't consider yourself booked until you've spoken directly with Leroy, as he is the boat captain, and the guy actually running the shop. 

 

Otherwise, there are a few other operators there on the Dutch side (Phillipsburg).  I would definitely not book with anyone on the French side.  The hassle of getting back and forth is just not worth it. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm certified!

 

I did my referral dives on Curacao with Scubacao.com.  My wife and I did a snorkel tour with them about 5 years ago when they were just starting out. Marc and Anton now have a dive shop.  We also combined my referral dives with a discovery dive with my 3 kids  (all in their late 20's early 30s) as they've been listening to me talk about scuba so we combined the two.

 

Bart, our instructor was very thorough. He checked me off on my PADI skills and then basically taught the kids the basic diver class. We then went diving on the "tugboat/pier" which was shore diving.  The first dive was basically teaching the kids the skills I needed to be checked off on. It was also a good refresher for me.  He kind of went above and beyond the basic "discovery" dive.  He taught them everything I had learned in two days in the pool.  It was pretty cool and my kids all got "scuba diver" certification out of it (for whatever good that will do). The second dive was on the tugboat and then around the pier. The kids loved it and now all want to get OW certs.

 

 My youngest (daughter) was pretty nervous about diving but after Bart's instruction she was very comfortable in the water.  It was a great day diving with my kids.

 

On Aruba, I went with Happy Divers. Jeffery took the 5 of us out. There were two other students and two certified divers.  We went out to a shipwreck. This was my first experience diving off a boat in the open ocean. The first dive was a very good dive and the reason I got certified.  The second dive of the day was in shallower  water where he checked us off on our remaining skills. We then swam around another wreck.

 

 I recommend that if you want to get OW certified you do the the confined/classroom section at home and the open water part in warm water at a resort or on a cruise (which makes sense since this is a cruise forum).  I will say that each of the referral instructors were somewhat tentative in checking off the skills without first going back and rechecking many of the skills I had already been checked off on. I can't blame them. They wanted to make sure I was prepared by my former instructor(s). 

 

 All in all a great experience

Edited by mac66
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As I mentioned before, next cruise is in April. We'll be stopping at Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and Labadee.  It looks like diving in St. Maarten is likely/typically a two tank dive on a reef and a wreck.  Looking forward to it.

 

BTW, the dive in Curacao was at the "Tugboat", the dive in Aruba was on the Antilla wreck.

Edited by mac66
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Congratulations!  Welcome to the madness.  

In my signature is a link to my videos of scuba diving places we have been, mostly Cozumel as it is our favorite Caribbean destination.  The videos might help you decide on future cruises.  

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On 2/20/2019 at 10:27 AM, ABQrobin said:

Congratulations!  Welcome to the madness.  

In my signature is a link to my videos of scuba diving places we have been, mostly Cozumel as it is our favorite Caribbean destination.  The videos might help you decide on future cruises.  

 

  Thank you, I don't see how to access your signature however

 

3 hours ago, cansas.piligrim said:

Congratulations! Welcome to the diver's society!

 

Thank you

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