Certification in Curacao and Barbados

[dot73]

I have just finished my PADI scuba course. I will be on a 14-day Caribbean cruise in late January and want to get certified in the warm Caribbean waters. The best islands for me to do this are Curacao (Dive 1 and 2) and Barbados (Dive 3 and 4). I have contacted the following dive companies who offer certification and are price friendly.

 

Curacao - Dive Bus or Ocean Encounters Diving

 

Barbados - Barbados Blue Water Sports (at the Hilton Hotel); they will also register me with PADI and give me a temporary certificate so I can dive during the second week of my cruise.

I would appreciate any comments any of you may have about these dive operations. If you think any other ones would be better on those two islands, please feel free to give me names.

Thank you.

[unavox]

www.padi.com for their 5 star facilities......

[w&k]

On Curacao, you absolutely have to go with Suzy and Mark at The Dive Bus. They are great folks, and the diving is fabulous.

 

On Barbados, I don't know anything about Barbados Blue.

 

We have been diving several times with John Moore of Dive Barbados. http://www.divebarbados.net John knows every nook and cranny of the island, and where all the cool stuff hangs out. His direct E-mail is majo@sunbeach.net.

 

John also works part time with The Dive Shop, as well as on his own. http://www.divebds.com/staff.php

 

Have a great time, and welcome to diving!

 

Wendy

[dot73]

Thank you for the advice, Wendy. The people on this site are so patient and helpful with us newbies.

Yes, I am definitely going with the Dive Bus Curacao. In Barbados, I will go with Scuba Shack as their timing and price was right. They will also pick me up at the cruise terminal and take me back after the dives. As I will be by myself, this is important. They will take care of all the PADI paperwork required and provide me with a temporary certificate. Apparently, they do quite a lot of these certifications for tourists. I have also spoken to someone who works on a cruise ship who has dived with them and he was very impressed with them, although he found diving in Barbados a bit boring compared to other places he's dived. A lot of the cruise officers and crew who dive go there.

I am getting very excited about the trip and the diving. I have arranged a one hour one-on-one pool session with my dive instructor in the middle of January. I want to go over one more time some of the emergency procedures, etc. At my age, I tend to be a little more cautious about things and want to make sure I am comfortable with a couple of the maneouvres.

[w&k]

Please come back and post to let us hear about all your adventures!

 

Also, please tell Suzy and Mark "Hi" from Wendy - we'll be down there on March 3rd.

 

It'a always nice to have options in a port - the more operations that are cruiser-friendly, the better.

 

Have a wonderful time, and don't worry, you're going to do just fine.

 

Wendy