scuba excursion question

[flyingandcruising]

Do the cruise lines, particularly RCCL, require that ppl are certified for scuba diving excursions? i am going to take classes however cannot be certified at this time, since winter is comming up and the lakes here are freezing over, so cant go deep diving.

thanx to all that reply.

[cruzegirl]

Yes, the cruise line scuba excursions require that you are certified.. They will check your C-card and you won't be allowed to dive without it.... But if your doing your classes now and just need the dives to get certified, you can do that at the ports... Or you can do a discover scuba program and they give a class and then do a shallow dive with you..... But for check out dives, I'm not sure if you can sign up for a diving excursion for the check out dives with the ship.. You'd have to call them and ask... But if you book privately at a dive shop, you can arrange your checkout dives with them.......Hope that helps......:p

[oldmedic]

I must disagree with the above poster. there are some cruiselines which offer an "introduction to scuba" or "beginners scuba" excursion in which it is not mandatory that the participant be certified. There is a short class and then a realitively shallow dive (@ 30 ft) with a dive master. you do not have to becertifeid for this dive. we did this and then decided we wanted to be ceritified when we returned home. check the website for excursions offered by the cruise line you are traveling on to check and see if this excursion is offered, or you can book the excursion yourself at many places like Chakanaab park or through various dive operators around the Caribbean.

[Dgonza]

I second the above poster. There are discovery classes available through the ship. Also if you take classes and cannot complete your open water dives, you can do a referral dive and get checked out through a dive operator while you are in port.

[gymbumm1]

I agree with the last two posts. I did a discovery scuba in Belize (w/coral breeze limited tours www.Coralbreezelimited.com )this last August - It was awesome. It was a two-tank dive that cost about $150.00. We had a short instructional phase, and then dove in about 10 feet of water for our first dive, then we were to go down to 30 feet but our day had been shortened due to Tropical storm Ernesto so we stuck around the same part of the reef for our second dive also.

 

I am also going to get certified, with my classes starting this January. I have a question to any of you experienced divers out there; I am going on another cruise this February, and was wondering if anyone could refer me to another discovery scuba excursion in either Freeport/Lucaya, Bahamas or Grand Cayman. I am probably not going to do my open water dives for certification on this trip as you need two days, and I would have to split them between two different ports. I would appreciate it if any of you have any suggestions.

 

Thanks!!

[booth22]

Or you can do a discover scuba program and they give a class and then do a shallow dive with you.....

 

 

apparently everyone missed the first post in response where it was said the OP could do the Discover Scuba program.