Wannabe Scuba Divers...

[CaribQween]

My husband and I have both always wanted to try scuba diving. This February we'll be on the Carnival Legend going to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. This seems like a really good time to take the plunge. At first, we considered doing the Discover Scuba excursion through the cruiseline. However, after some research, we realized that it would be a 4 hour excursion during which the time would mostly be spent learning to use the equipment and then there would be an actual dive that would be 45-60 minutes but none of this would count towards getting certified. Then, in reading through the website for a local dive shop, we found that you can do the classroom and pool portion at home and then they could possibly help to set you up to do some of your open water dives during a vacation. It says that they will help to set it up through local "resorts" with dive operators. However, we are just a little unsure how all of that could work with a cruise. We don't see any excursions through the cruiseline that seem like they could count towards any of your 4 open water dives needed for certification (it seems like there is only Discover Scuba or dives where your c-card is required), so it would probably have to be done as an independent excursion. So, could anyone tell us how this could possibly work on a cruise? Could we set up something with a local dive shop in one of the ports or would it have to be a resort like Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan which I believe from reading also owns Fins & Flippers? Also, could you tell us, once you finish the classroom and pool portion, is there a certain amount of time within which you need to complete all 4 of your open water dives? And, once you're certified, is that good for a lifetime or do you have to put in a certain number of dives let's say, per year, in order to stay certified? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[jimw]

4 dives over 2 days, so 2 ports and 2 instructors would be needed. Not a problem, as they say!! Your local shop will know dive operators in all the ports. Referrals are common, every store and destination knows about them. You've picked 4 great dive destinations--enjoy!!

[Loves_Dogs]

This is exactly how I got my scuba certification. I took all my book/pool work at my local dive shop and completed the 4 certification dives while on my cruise. It worked out very well.

 

Your local dive shop is very familiar with this and can help you I am sure. After you do your pool work and pass your written test, they can give you a Universal Referral Form to take with you. While on your cruise the dive shops you work with will administer your skill checks and dive tests, signing off on them as they are completed. When you get back home, you take your completed Universal Referral Form back to your local dive shop and they will issue your C-card.

 

Keep in mind that the certifying organizations work together. Just because your local dive shop is one organization, you do not have to find a shop that is the same. For example, I did my pool/book work at a shop that is SSI but the shops I used on my cruise one was PADI and I think the other was NAUI.

 

Well before my cruise I contacted several shops via email and explained to them my situation that I had a Universal Referral Form and was in need of doing my certification dives. The shops in the cruise ports are very familiar with this and most were more than happy to work with me. Hope this helps, safe diving and have a GREAT cruise!

[KJHorton]

Keep in mind that the certifying organizations work together. Just because your local dive shop is one organization, you do not have to find a shop that is the same. For example, I did my pool/book work at a shop that is SSI but the shops I used on my cruise one was PADI and I think the other was NAUI.

 

 

While this may have been your experience, this is not usually the case (although maybe it is for SSI). Each certifying agency has its own standards and requirements. For example, a PADI shop will not/should not certify a diver unless he passes the skills under the direction of a PADI instructor.

[sddiver]

While the plan you envision is possible, it will take a good bit of coordination and effort. It's summer now. Why not just do the required open water dives with your local dive shop? Where in Indiana do they do this? Lakes? Quarries? You have plenty of time, make your life simple and complete the entire course and required dives prior to the cruise. You will end up paying three shops and three instructors to get to the finish line. Referral dives are much more expensive than doing it at home. You'll have a much more fun on the cruise without the complications.

 

Rich

[Scubagal1]

While the plan you envision is possible, it will take a good bit of coordination and effort. It's summer now. Why not just do the required open water dives with your local dive shop? Where in Indiana do they do this? Lakes? Quarries? You have plenty of time, make your life simple and complete the entire course and required dives prior to the cruise. You will end up paying three shops and three instructors to get to the finish line. Referral dives are much more expensive than doing it at home. You'll have a much more fun on the cruise without the complications.

 

Rich

 

I agree with Rich. Complete your open water dives at home. That way you can book your dives and not have to worry about completing skills, etc. And you'll appreciate how clear and blue the ocean is all the more! Great itinerary for diving, by the way. Good luck with your certification!

[sunseeker09]

When I was certified I also went by the referral method, but not on a cruise. I did my class work at home then finished with my OW dives in Australia off a liveaboard on the Great Barrier Reef. For me it was the only way to go. I did so because I did not want to dive the cold murky waters of the Pacific NorthWest. Since then I came back and did try cold water diving and went on all the way to instructor (PADI). But had I done my certification at home in a drysuit in those conditions then.... not sure I would be a diver today. I'm still not a fan of cold water diving or low viz. however hard everyone tries to convince me. It's just nothing like the warm clear waters full of coral and colourful life.

So if you don't mind your local conditions, do it there and same the money and hassle, but if you REALLY do not want to dive cold water and that's all you have (assuming, as I don't know your area) then you certainly should do it by referral. It will cost you more money, but if it's the difference between learning to dive or not, it is worth the extra money and hassle, believe me.

Your dive shop will get all your papaer work together to take to the dive shops you are certified with, but likely they will not arrange any of this, and may or may not even know of shops to referr you to. You will need to do some research to find dive shops who will do this for you. It will take a min. of 2 days, as you can only do 2 in a day. So you will need to line up dive shops 2 ports. If you do this in your first two ports you will be given a temporary card and then you can dive as a certified diver in the remaining ports, if you wish.

To answer another question you had, the certification is good for life. You do not need to dive any min. number of dives in a year or ever. However, if you haven't been diving for awhile (usually a year), then many resorts will get you to do a refresher for them before you go on a dive with them. Refreshers can also be done at home in the pool to go through your skills and, well, refresh your memory.

[CaribQween]

When I was certified I also went by the referral method, but not on a cruise. I did my class work at home then finished with my OW dives in Australia off a liveaboard on the Great Barrier Reef. For me it was the only way to go. I did so because I did not want to dive the cold murky waters of the Pacific NorthWest. Since then I came back and did try cold water diving and went on all the way to instructor (PADI). But had I done my certification at home in a drysuit in those conditions then.... not sure I would be a diver today. I'm still not a fan of cold water diving or low viz. however hard everyone tries to convince me. It's just nothing like the warm clear waters full of coral and colourful life.

So if you don't mind your local conditions, do it there and same the money and hassle, but if you REALLY do not want to dive cold water and that's all you have (assuming, as I don't know your area) then you certainly should do it by referral. It will cost you more money, but if it's the difference between learning to dive or not, it is worth the extra money and hassle, believe me.

Your dive shop will get all your papaer work together to take to the dive shops you are certified with, but likely they will not arrange any of this, and may or may not even know of shops to referr you to. You will need to do some research to find dive shops who will do this for you. It will take a min. of 2 days, as you can only do 2 in a day. So you will need to line up dive shops 2 ports. If you do this in your first two ports you will be given a temporary card and then you can dive as a certified diver in the remaining ports, if you wish.

To answer another question you had, the certification is good for life. You do not need to dive any min. number of dives in a year or ever. However, if you haven't been diving for awhile (usually a year), then many resorts will get you to do a refresher for them before you go on a dive with them. Refreshers can also be done at home in the pool to go through your skills and, well, refresh your memory.

 

I want to thank everyone for their input. I'm happy to have all of the different opinions because it makes me think of things I would have never thought of on my own. So thanks again.

 

We live in Indianapolis so not a lot of opportunity to do the Open Water portion in town. But, I did some research last night and the local dive shops use some quarries that are about an hour or so from here. So it's not too far. But, I absolutely understand what you're saying about not wanting to do the murky waters. I'm extremely nervous about the whole idea of scuba diving and what I'll encounter under the water, but yet I really, really want to do it. I feel such a rush just thinking about doing it in the Caribbean. And my husband feels the same way I do about wanting to scuba dive, so it would be great being able to do this together.

 

We're going to do the Discover Scuba at the local dive shop because it only costs $50 and if you decide to go on to take the class they will apply that money to the class price. I don't think there is any question that we'll love scuba diving, but I have some physical limitations and I'm not sure if they will keep me from being able to do this. I guess it would be better to find out right up front. I just feel so ignorant about the whole subject and have been researching to try to find out as much as possible.

 

And thank you for answering the other questions. I completely understand why you should take a refresher if you haven't been able to dive in a while since knowledge is so crucial with this to keep safe.

[KJHorton]

You have gotten some good advice here. I just want to add one thing. I know that diving in a local quarry is not very appealing and it was definitely something I didn't want to do for my certification. However, I am glad I did.

 

First of all, you are checking out with an instructor that you are familiar with and who is familiar with you.

 

Second, if you can dive in a dark, cold quarry, you can dive just about anywhere. I believe that diving in a quarry helps make you a better diver. After quarry dives, the Caribbean seems like a piece of cake.

 

If I had it to do over, I would definitely get certified in the quarry again.

 

I hope this helps.

[topspot]

We are in the process of taking NAUI scuba classes. We are doing our check out dives in a local lake with our instuctor. Our cruise isn't until Nov., but when the time comes we want to be able to dive, and not have to use precious vacation time to do the check out dives. As KJHorton said, I too like doing the check out dive with the instructor who we have been working with.

 

Hope you have a great time:D:D

[sunseeker09]

I want to thank everyone for their input. I'm happy to have all of the different opinions because it makes me think of things I would have never thought of on my own. So thanks again.

 

We live in Indianapolis so not a lot of opportunity to do the Open Water portion in town. But, I did some research last night and the local dive shops use some quarries that are about an hour or so from here. So it's not too far. But, I absolutely understand what you're saying about not wanting to do the murky waters. I'm extremely nervous about the whole idea of scuba diving and what I'll encounter under the water, but yet I really, really want to do it. I feel such a rush just thinking about doing it in the Caribbean. And my husband feels the same way I do about wanting to scuba dive, so it would be great being able to do this together.

 

We're going to do the Discover Scuba at the local dive shop because it only costs $50 and if you decide to go on to take the class they will apply that money to the class price. I don't think there is any question that we'll love scuba diving, but I have some physical limitations and I'm not sure if they will keep me from being able to do this. I guess it would be better to find out right up front. I just feel so ignorant about the whole subject and have been researching to try to find out as much as possible.

 

And thank you for answering the other questions. I completely understand why you should take a refresher if you haven't been able to dive in a while since knowledge is so crucial with this to keep safe.

 

There is a medical form you have to fill out to even get in a pool, and if you answer yes to any of the questions about a whole variety of medical conditions then you will need a doctor's approval. Hopefully all will be ok.

 

So if you are medically ok to go, then doing the Discover Scuba first is a perfect idea to give you a feeling for diving. However, if you still find you're a little nervous about the whole thing, don't give up right away. I have seen lots of students with varying issues and fears make it through with a great feeling of accomplishment. What it takes is an instructor with patience and understanding (which I'd like to think most have)

 

Cold water and or low visability can make diving more difficult, but it is so true that if you can dive in murky and or cold water, you can dive anywhere.

 

Oh, and don't worry that you don't know much about the subject. Not many people do until they take a course and learn. It is a foreign environment to human beings after all, so we have a lot to learn about it.

 

That "rush" that you have thinking about diving in the Caribbean... that's what I had before diving the Great Barrier Reef... and I got it again before diving in Hawaii... and in the Caribbean... and I still get it to this day. So IF you do find yourself in a quarry thinking "why am I doing this again?" ....just visualize yourself floating along in the beautiful, warm Caribbean waters :)

[Cruisinini]

We are doing our check out dives in a local lake with our instuctor. Our cruise isn't until Nov., but when the time comes we want to be able to dive, and not have to use precious vacation time to do the check out dives. As KJHorton said, I too like doing the check out dive with the instructor who we have been working with.

 

Hope you have a great time:D:D

 

 

Totally agree with this thought process! DH and I just did our certification dives 2 weeks ago and we're looking to go diving at least one more time on our own before our cruise in November. We just really want to use the cruise as vacation fun time to see cool stuff that's not at the bottom of our local quarry and not have to worry about demonstrating skills. Also, it was nice to do the class and dives back to back while everything was fresh and with an instructor you knew what to expect from.

 

Whatever you decide, it will be worth it! I'm very comfortable in water but can be a bit of a control freak so the idea of breathing underwater was scary for me. But, the experience was so awesome because you get taught what to do if something does go wrong so that increased my comfort level a LOT. I like that diving has opened up a whole new world to me. Have fun!!

[CaribQween]

There is a medical form you have to fill out to even get in a pool, and if you answer yes to any of the questions about a whole variety of medical conditions then you will need a doctor's approval. Hopefully all will be ok.

 

So if you are medically ok to go, then doing the Discover Scuba first is a perfect idea to give you a feeling for diving. However, if you still find you're a little nervous about the whole thing, don't give up right away. I have seen lots of students with varying issues and fears make it through with a great feeling of accomplishment. What it takes is an instructor with patience and understanding (which I'd like to think most have)

 

Cold water and or low visability can make diving more difficult, but it is so true that if you can dive in murky and or cold water, you can dive anywhere.

 

Oh, and don't worry that you don't know much about the subject. Not many people do until they take a course and learn. It is a foreign environment to human beings after all, so we have a lot to learn about it.

 

That "rush" that you have thinking about diving in the Caribbean... that's what I had before diving the Great Barrier Reef... and I got it again before diving in Hawaii... and in the Caribbean... and I still get it to this day. So IF you do find yourself in a quarry thinking "why am I doing this again?" ....just visualize yourself floating along in the beautiful, warm Caribbean waters :)

 

I'm sold. We're sold. The "rush" has over-taken any fears of not being able to do it. I called and spoke with the owner of a dive shop and explained everything and he said I should have absolutely no problem. He was really positive and just made that "rush" even stronger. My husband and I went in yesterday and signed up for the Discover Scuba which is only $25 there. We went ahead and bought our masks, snorkels and fins because we knew that we could use them for snorkeling even if we couldn't sucba, but we actually even tried on some wetsuits and decided to go ahead and purchase them (even though he had to order the color we wanted). He did say that if something happened and I found out I just couldn't do it he would let us return the wetsuits and other equipment. But I'm not willing to let anything stop us from doing this. We both want it so bad. He was able to show me that the things that will be the most difficult for me are things that my husband or anyone else can help me with.

 

We're going to take our Discover Scuba on August 12th and our Open Water Diver class starts August 22nd. We've decided to go ahead and do the Open Water dives in the quarries. It's all included in the price of the class and all we have to do is rent the equipment which is $60 for the whole weekend which will cover all 4 dives. Just from reading all the posts on here, we realized that even though the quarry dives may not be great, we would rather do them and get them out of the way so that we're certified when we take our cruise in February, and we can really enjoy our first dives in the Caribbean.

 

I have to say, the owner of the dive shop was really great. And he said that the instructor we're going to have is very patient and will help us get through everything. We were in there when all of the divers who had been at the quarry during the day were coming back to the shop to return equipment. Some of them started talking to us and got us psyched up even more. I was so excited that I felt like I was standing there bouncing up and down going bong, bong, bong. They were laughing with us and said it was great to see how excited we were and that we will have that same feeling every single time we go out for a dive (sounded familiair ;)).

 

Once again, thanks to everyone for their input which helped us decide which way to go. We'll let you know if we make it through Discover Scuba and are able to continue on.

[sunseeker09]

Yeah! This is great news! :)

Please do come back and keep us posted as to how it went.

You absolutely will get to enjoy it more on your cruise to just be able to do your dives that aren't part of your OW class.

You're going to love it! :)

[KJHorton]

Congratulations on your decision! Let us know how the Discover Scuba goes and have fun!

[MPM]

My Wife and I followed almost exactly the same path. We got our open water certification just a month or so before going on our cruise. We have done a lot of snorkeling in the Caribbean, so diving in the pool and local river was less than exciting. In fact, the deepest we ever went in class was about 17 feet. But the classes were intense enough that we would not have had a lot of time to sight see. On our last day, we took an extra class - Peak Performance Buoyancy - I highly recommend it. It kept us from looking like a bunch of newbies bouncing off the bottom, coral, etc. We were complemented by two different dive masters who both said "your instructors really did their job". We did do some additional training on our Caribbean dives, getting our drift diving specialty and boat diver specialty. These were easy to do, we just made prior arrangements, and completed our book work ahead of time. We were already doing the activities, and the cost of the certifications was relatively cheap. Hope you have a great time, I know we have. Now it is my wife who is pestering me about when we are going to go again. This month we are completing our Advanced Open Water prior to our next trip in January.

[CaribQween]

My Wife and I followed almost exactly the same path. We got our open water certification just a month or so before going on our cruise. We have done a lot of snorkeling in the Caribbean, so diving in the pool and local river was less than exciting. In fact, the deepest we ever went in class was about 17 feet. But the classes were intense enough that we would not have had a lot of time to sight see. On our last day, we took an extra class - Peak Performance Buoyancy - I highly recommend it. It kept us from looking like a bunch of newbies bouncing off the bottom, coral, etc. We were complemented by two different dive masters who both said "your instructors really did their job". We did do some additional training on our Caribbean dives, getting our drift diving specialty and boat diver specialty. These were easy to do, we just made prior arrangements, and completed our book work ahead of time. We were already doing the activities, and the cost of the certifications was relatively cheap. Hope you have a great time, I know we have. Now it is my wife who is pestering me about when we are going to go again. This month we are completing our Advanced Open Water prior to our next trip in January.

 

Thanks for the tip. We definitely appreciate any tips we can get. I'll ask my instructor about the Peak Performance Buoyancy. I already have some additional classes in mind that I would like to possibly take before our cruise to the Western Caribbean in February.

 

I have another question for all of you. I guess I could make it a new thread, but you all kind of know our story now.

 

My husband and I are so excited about all of this that we can't stand it. We sat here last night looking at dive pictures and videos from the Caribbean that people have posted on cruise critic and it was just overwhelming. But, with all of this excitement, I have a ton of fear that I don't think my husband feels. It's the fear of the unknown. I pray that it all subsides once we get in the water, but then again I'm afraid it won't. I think one of my biggest fears is going from the safety of being in class with our instructor to our first dive in the Caribbean by ourselves. It's that feeling of wondering if we will be safe out there as newbies. Will we get lost under the water when you're down so far? Will the current be too much if it isn't a completely calm day? Could we get into a situation that is too advanced for us?

 

I sort of feel unsure about the situation with planning a dive in the Carribean. I don't know what exactly it will be like. I don't know if we can find a dive company that can provide someone that would be a guide and stay with us or if they take you out to a certain spot and leave you there or what. I don't know how all of that works. Could you tell me how you planned your dives in the Caribbean? Who did you use and what kind of dive situation was it (did they just take everyone out on a boat and drop you off so you were on your own, or did they provide any guides that dove with you, etc.)? I'm sorry to seem so ignorant, but I want to know all of this before we go so we can absolutely research and plan our dives the right way to have the dives be amazing, but more importantly so we'll stay safe. We were thinking of doing some sort of dive tour/excursion in Roatan and we definitely want to experience the barrier reef. We were thinking about possibly spending one port having a beach day where we could do some swimming, snorkeling, and shore diving (possibly even some parasailing if we continue to feel ambitious :D). We'd like to do something with Stingray City in Grand Cayman, snorkeling/diving and possibly a catamaran sail also. Anything you've experienced or any advice on how to plan a dive would be very helpful. We'll be on Carnival and I believe they use Anthony's Key Resort for dive tours in Roatan. I've heard some really good things about Anthony's Key Resort, but I think you can only book through the cruiseline to use them (which I'm not saying is good or bad).

 

Thanks again to everyone for your help so far. You've taken us from just a thought about doing a Discover Scuba excursion to being on our way to getting our Open Water Diver Certification prior to our cruise and basically making a life long dream come true for my husband. For me it wasn't really something I always wanted to try, it was something that seemed so incredibly amazing but way beyond my possible reach. It was just something you saw people do on T.V. Now realizing I may be able to do it is still completely unfathomable:).

[MPM]

Michele,

First of all, it is perfectly normal to feel some anxiety. I never felt it, but my wife sure did. I have been snorkeling for years, and scuba diving was really more my dream than my wife’s. She will be 50 this year, and is a “full figure” woman. She was concerned about being underwater, and I think to some degree concerned about letting me down. To the extent that I could, I tried to let her know that if she gave it a try that was success in my book. We now have 20 or so dives under our belt, only a couple of those without a dive master or instructor present. It would probably be unwise for us (or anyone diving in a brand new area for that matter) to dive in a new area without a dive master with us. We always let them know our skill level ahead of time, and while they don’t “baby sit” us, they do keep an eye on us. One of the things I learned years ago when getting my pilots license is don’t let pride cause you to overestimate your own abilities or cause you not let others know you could use some help (pretty tough for most of us men). A good dive master will make sure you don’t get in over your head so to speak. As someone mentioned, once you dive in a quarry, diving in the Caribbean is a walk in the park in the right conditions. You typically can see a LONG ways, so it would be difficult to lose sight of your dive master or your partner. I think my wife still feels anxious just before entering the water on just about every dive. Once we are in, and descending though she totally relaxes. When we come up, she is ecstatic. I make sure I stay close at hand, not because she needs me right there, but because it helps her relax. In fact we often hold hands as we dive. There are parts of the training that are a little scary at first. The good news that after training, everything else seems relatively easy!

As far as whom to dive with, cruise critic has always been my source of information. Actually, I use a few other resources as well, but it has been my main source. Like any other privately booked tour, all you have to do is contact the individual operators, let them know what your needs and concerns are, and set it up! For example, we were going to do some drift diving in St Lucia, specifically we were going to dive “superman’s flight”, which sounds pretty intense. It was a drift dive and my wife was very concerned about currents. I contacted the shop owner, let him know our skill level (first salt water dive), and asked his advice. He said, “no worries, I take resort divers on this one”. Again, the dive master was right there with us, and gave a detailed plan prior to entering the water. It turned out to be a great dive, and not intimidating at all. The other divers with a lot of experience kind of did their own thing in the vicinity of the dive master. We stuck by close at hand, and received the benefit of him pointing out a lot of cool stuff to us.

I know this is lengthy, but hopefully it will help ease your concerns. Feel free to contact me directly at mikemenke@yahoo.com, or if you want my wife’s perspective you can email her at marymenke@yahoo.com. I know it is a big step, but in our case it was one we were extremely glad we took.

One last thing. As I mentioned, the training class was probably one of the most intense parts. That being said, it would be hard to fail without just giving up. If you are finding a particular skill challenging, the instructors will take extra time with you to help you get it. In one case, there were a husband and wife in our class, the wife was very nervous and the husband very sure of himself, and somewhat unsympathetic. Once we got to the deep in, they were practicing a skill, and the husband got scarred, and had to leave the water for a period of time to re-collect himself. No one said anything, but I am sure he probably heard about it later at home!

-Mike

[CaribQween]

Michele,

 

First of all, it is perfectly normal to feel some anxiety. I never felt it, but my wife sure did. I have been snorkeling for years, and scuba diving was really more my dream than my wife’s. She will be 50 this year, and is a “full figure” woman. She was concerned about being underwater, and I think to some degree concerned about letting me down. To the extent that I could, I tried to let her know that if she gave it a try that was success in my book. We now have 20 or so dives under our belt, only a couple of those without a dive master or instructor present. It would probably be unwise for us (or anyone diving in a brand new area for that matter) to dive in a new area without a dive master with us. We always let them know our skill level ahead of time, and while they don’t “baby sit” us, they do keep an eye on us. One of the things I learned years ago when getting my pilots license is don’t let pride cause you to overestimate your own abilities or cause you not let others know you could use some help (pretty tough for most of us men). A good dive master will make sure you don’t get in over your head so to speak. As someone mentioned, once you dive in a quarry, diving in the Caribbean is a walk in the park in the right conditions. You typically can see a LONG ways, so it would be difficult to lose sight of your dive master or your partner. I think my wife still feels anxious just before entering the water on just about every dive. Once we are in, and descending though she totally relaxes. When we come up, she is ecstatic. I make sure I stay close at hand, not because she needs me right there, but because it helps her relax. In fact we often hold hands as we dive. There are parts of the training that are a little scary at first. The good news that after training, everything else seems relatively easy!

 

As far as whom to dive with, cruise critic has always been my source of information. Actually, I use a few other resources as well, but it has been my main source. Like any other privately booked tour, all you have to do is contact the individual operators, let them know what your needs and concerns are, and set it up! For example, we were going to do some drift diving in St Lucia, specifically we were going to dive “superman’s flight”, which sounds pretty intense. It was a drift dive and my wife was very concerned about currents. I contacted the shop owner, let him know our skill level (first salt water dive), and asked his advice. He said, “no worries, I take resort divers on this one”. Again, the dive master was right there with us, and gave a detailed plan prior to entering the water. It turned out to be a great dive, and not intimidating at all. The other divers with a lot of experience kind of did their own thing in the vicinity of the dive master. We stuck by close at hand, and received the benefit of him pointing out a lot of cool stuff to us.

 

I know this is lengthy, but hopefully it will help ease your concerns. Feel free to contact me directly at mikemenke@yahoo.com, or if you want my wife’s perspective you can email her at marymenke@yahoo.com. I know it is a big step, but in our case it was one we were extremely glad we took.

 

One last thing. As I mentioned, the training class was probably one of the most intense parts. That being said, it would be hard to fail without just giving up. If you are finding a particular skill challenging, the instructors will take extra time with you to help you get it. In one case, there were a husband and wife in our class, the wife was very nervous and the husband very sure of himself, and somewhat unsympathetic. Once we got to the deep in, they were practicing a skill, and the husband got scarred, and had to leave the water for a period of time to re-collect himself. No one said anything, but I am sure he probably heard about it later at home!

 

-Mike

 

 

Thank you so much. This really helps. It makes sense that dive ops would send a dviemaster or instructor out on dive tours, but it was something I just didn't know for sure. I've read some posts where divers have said they get down to a certain dive position and find that it certainly is not a place where newbies or less experienced divers should be and I just don't want to find us in that position.

 

I can relate to your wife. This is something that my husband says he has thought about all his life and I just don't want to ruin it for him. I have a huge desire to do it also, but, I don't think it is quite as strong as his. We love doing new things together and I think this will be an absolutely amazing experience for the two of us. I'm just afraid of getting under the water and feeling scared to be far away from the surface. We were in the dive shop this weekend and I told the owner about it and he said that they'd try to work with me to help me get through it. I'm just hoping that once I get to class and start understanding more about the equipment and learning how to use it that I will learn to be able to rely on the breathing aparatus and the fear will subside. He didn't seem to think it was something to worry about. I guess he thought I would get past it once I got in there and tried it.

 

I've done quite a bit of reading on cruise critic and found some good recommendations for dive ops in the ports we'll be visiting on our cruise. I've really found that this is a great place for getting information and a lot of times you can learn from other peoples' experiences, good and bad. I'm also hoping that our dive shop may be able to help hook us up with some good dive ops in these ports. The owner was telling us about group dive trips they do several times a year so hopefully they'll have experience in most of these areas.

 

Our Discover Scuba class is this Wednesday night so we'll see how things go. I'm not going to give up easily, I can tell you that. Wish us luck and we'll let you know how it goes :o.

[Roatanfans]

I can honestly say scuba is one of the best things my husband and I have ever done together. I am a full figured woman who is uncoordinated at best, but none of that matters in the water (in fact like other marine mammals I often joke that my extra layer of blubber keeps me warmer and more comfortable in the water!) I find that I am not all that comfortable at the waters surface, but as soon as I get underwater I completly relax- for me it is very calming. Any resort you go to will want to know your skill level and they will plan around that. Don't be afraid to tell your divemaster about any concerns. I hope you enjoy your diving- can't wait to hear about your class experiences!

[CaribQween]

I can honestly say scuba is one of the best things my husband and I have ever done together. I am a full figured woman who is uncoordinated at best, but none of that matters in the water (in fact like other marine mammals I often joke that my extra layer of blubber keeps me warmer and more comfortable in the water!) I find that I am not all that comfortable at the waters surface, but as soon as I get underwater I completly relax- for me it is very calming. Any resort you go to will want to know your skill level and they will plan around that. Don't be afraid to tell your divemaster about any concerns. I hope you enjoy your diving- can't wait to hear about your class experiences!

 

We can't wait to start our classes this Saturday. They've had to postpone them a couple of times for different reasons. We've actually decided to skip the Discover Scuba because it isn't offered again before the Open Water Diver course starts. We really wanted to take the Discover Scuba first, but at this point if we did that, we would have to wait until the middle of September for the start of the next OWD course. There is no question that we really want to do this and I know I can get past any fears I may have. We were so sure about doing this that we actually ordered all of our equipment and wetsuits the very first day we went into the dive shop. I wouldn't normally do something like that, but that's how sure we were about wanting to dive.

 

I absolutely think we'll feel the same way about diving as you do with it being one of the best things you and your husband have ever done together. We felt the same way after we took our first cruise together. And on the first cruise, we did the dolphin swim in Tortola and it was so awesome and my husband said that besides how great it was just for him to do it himself, he actually felt that the best part was watching the joy on my face when I did it. I know that's what it will be like when we're diving together in the Caribbean. We're definitely going to set up a dive for Roatan and we're trying to decide what other ports we want to dive on that cruise also. I would love to do the diving with the dolphins but there are so many things we want to do, we don't know how to squeeze it all in. Of course, any suggestions are welcome ;).

[JayhawkerKC]

My wife and I snorkeled in Antigua while cruising on the Carnival Liberty in April, 2008. We enjoyed it so much that we got certified (open water and advanced) when we returned. I would also recommend that you get certified before you go for all the reasons already stated. If you can work in the Peak Bouyancy Performance speciality before your cruise, it would be highly beneficial. We did our first ocean dive in Cozumel last November while sailing on the Legend. We used Diving with Allison and she is an excellent dive master and keeps a very close eye on inexperienced divers. She's highly recommended on various cruise critic threads. Check out her website at www.scubawithalison.com and good luck with your training. Please keep us posted.

[scuabacruiser]

My wife and I also got certified together after a cruise/snorkel trip to Cozumel. It has been the best thing we have ever done together. She has become the underwater photog diver for the 2 of us. She also was apprehensive about diving, but she liked and trusted our instructor and that made all the difference. We are going on the same cruise in Oct. We have done this cruise about 3 times now because of the ports. This is an awesome cruise for divers. Good luck with your training and have fun. That's what it is all about. Keep us updated. :D

[CaribKng]

We finally started our Scuba classes yesterday and got our first experience in the water with the equipment :D. We skipped the Discover Scuba because it was postponed a couple of times and we really wanted to get started on the classes now so the water won't be so cold when we complete our open water dives for our ceritification.

 

Getting used to the equipment was easier than I expected. I can't wait to get back into the pool and continue on with the training.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice and the information you provided to my wife (CaribQween). It was very, very helpful in making our decision.

[CaribQween]

We finally started our Scuba classes yesterday and got our first experience in the water with the equipment :D. We skipped the Discover Scuba because it was postponed a couple of times and we really wanted to get started on the classes now so the water won't be so cold when we complete our open water dives for our ceritification.

 

Getting used to the equipment was easier than I expected. I can't wait to get back into the pool and continue on with the training.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice and the information you provided to my wife (CaribQween). It was very, very helpful in making our decision.

 

As my husband wrote, we did start our classes yesterday. Even though I wasn't sure at times, I made it through the first day. I'm not going to say it was a piece of cake because it was pretty tough. But, I was able to conquer my fears about breathing under water and realize that I'll be able to do this.

 

Our class had 10 students with one instructor and one assistant instructor who is going through the divemaster program right now and has only been diving a year himself. The assistant was by far the best "teacher" of the two and was right there on top of it when you needed him. Without him, I may not have made it through the first day. The class was mainly made up of police officers and firemen who are looking to be on the scuba teams of their respective departments. I found having all of them in the class to feel kind of intimidating. There was also one female that wasn't police or fire, however, her brother is a fireman. He has been a scuba diver for a long time and she tried her first experience with diving on a cruise and it turned out to be really bad. She said she would never do it again, but gave in once he promised he would come with her and stay close by to make sure she didn't have another bad experience and give up for good. He stayed back throughout the pool session so as to not be intrusive, but was close enough to give her support and also to give it to those of us that were as fearful as his sister.

 

I have to say, I was starting to feel really sick during the classroom portion of the day as I anticipated heading to the pool. I was shaking as they were fitting me for my BCD and I started wondering if I could really bring myself to go through with it. The instructor had said we were going to start with the swimming test which was a 200 meter swim and then 10 minutes of treading water. Once again, it felt sort of intimidating because I knew that with my medical conditions, it would take me longer to finish the 200 meter swim than everyone else. It did, and everyone else got a break while they waited for me. Of course, we went straight into the water treading right after I finished, but I made it through it.

 

And then it was time to suit up.

 

They say that once you have your first underwater breathing experience, you'll never forget it. I think that it very true. I must say, once I stuck the regulator in my mouth and took a few deep breaths through it, I felt myself relax a little bit because it felt comfortable and safe. I did find myself holding my breath somewhat, but I really concentrated on it and got past that pretty quickly. The instructor had made us leave off our masks and go down into the water with just our regulators at first, and of course I sucked water in through my nose and choked a little. But, once we got our masks on and then went under, everything seemed to work pretty well and I felt comfortable breathing underwater.

 

I did have a few problems I have to try to work through. I really thought we might get a little instruction on using our masks, snorkels and fins at the beginning of class, but we didn't. I had never used any of those pieces of equipment before and I struggled quite a bit with those. I never could get my mask and snorkel on properly. My mask was constantly coming off or filling up with water throughout the whole session and it made things very difficult (even though I became pretty efficient at clearing my mask underwater because of it). Once we put on our fins and got to a point where we were swimming around the pool, I felt like I wasn't using the fins properly. I felt my fins coming up out of the water and it seemed like I wasn't able to kick my legs at an even pace. It felt like I was exerting a lot more effort than I assumed it would take and I was getting extremely tired by the end of the day. I had a terrible time with getting weighted properly and they had to fuss with that constantly. They started me off with 14 pounds of weights and they had to continue adding more until I ended up with 24 pounds by the time we finished. I'm sure that caused a large part of my feeling of overexertion. My BCD was completely deflated so I don't know what the problem was with that. There were several people that had a problem with proper wieghting, but they said that we would work on that next week.

 

We worked on using the alternate air source with our buddies yesterday also. We had some trouble with this and had to repeat it several times. We had problems doing this for several reasons. First, the mask problem I was having was a problem my husband was having also. In addition, once we got in the pool, we found that my husband's BCD didn't have several of the hooks that were needed to keep his equipment in the proper place. So, it was difficult getting to his alternate air source, his SPG, one of his BCD deflators, etc. That made things tough also. We were a little disappointed in the fact that the equipment they supplied us with didn't have everything we needed, but we had to do the best we could with what we had.

 

I guess overall, we did pretty well with our first class and considering all of the equipment problems we were struggling with, we probably should be quite proud of ourselves. I can honestly say, I felt pretty overwhelmed by the time we finished up but I'm still ready to go back and try it all again. We've worked on figuring out our masks and snorkels to get them to fit properly and I think that will help us significantly. I think next week when we spend time in the deep end and have time to really work on swimming more than just individual skills in the shallow end, things may seems to come together a little more for me.

 

I really want to thank you all again for your advice and recommendations because it really helped us with our decisions. It may not seem apparent, but after having our first class, I am very glad that we went through with it and I definitely still think it is something my husband and I will enjoy doing together once we master our skills. And that is something that I really want to do prior to taking our cruise because I want us to really be able to enjoy our first dive in the caribbean together. We continue to welcome everyone's advice and comments.