any SCUBA people here?

[ttown]

So... I took an introductory SCUBA session in a pool.

I'm hooked -- and after only spending ~20min in the deep-end of a dive pool.

Question for SCUBA people: Is there any real reason to become certified if all I want to do is go on a couple dives per year?
Can I rent all the needed gear if I'm not certified?

I know it's dangerous -- so that's not what I'm referring to with my question.
I'm talking about wanting to rent gear at some nice warm vacation spot in relatively shallow water -- after I'm very comfortable using everything and have gone through all of the educational materials used in a cert. class.

Anybody?

edit: Has anyone here thought it was cool at first -- did the certification thing -- and then in hindsight felt it was a waste of time / boring / whatever?

tia-
ttown

 

[Quasmo]

You have to be certified to dive and rent gear. Just get certified. I've been certified for about 7 years now, I rarely ever go scuba diving but when I do I love it.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: ttown

So... I took an introductory SCUBA session in a pool.

I'm hooked -- and after only spending ~20min in the deep-end of a dive pool.

Question for SCUBA people: Is there any real reason to become certified if all I want to do is go on a couple dives per year?
Can I rent all the needed gear if I'm not certified?

I know it's dangerous -- so that's not what I'm referring to with my question.
I'm talking about wanting to rent gear at some nice warm vacation spot in relatively shallow water -- after I'm very comfortable using everything and have gone through all of the educational materials used in a cert. class.

Anybody?

tia-
ttown

Get certified. Just do it. It's cheap and you will get a full understanding. You'll go throught drills, etc. Just do it.

This allows you to go anywhere in the world, get gear and dive. But even more than that it teaches you what to do if there is a problem. Almost all dive shops won't give you gear or let you get on the boat if you aren't certified.

Just do it. It's fun, you learn a lot and you can enjoy the "sport".

 

[jimmyjam]

Legit places won't even fill an air tank for you if you aren't certified. Do it, it's worth it. I fell in love with it my first time too and just moved to Key Largo and started an internship to become an instructor. Best decision ever.

 

[ajskydiver]

If you're going to dive in the US and charter a boat, you will have to be certified. For example, some operators in the FL Keys won't take you to the Spiegel Grove, The Eagle, etc. without advanced certification AND a dive computer. Many dive sites in FL, Ginny Springs, Devil's Den won't let you dive without certs either...probably the same throughout the country, I'd imagine.

Many foreign locales have one-day certs and will let you dive and rent gear...the quality of the gear may be good, may not be...when I travel, I bring all my gear except tanks (reg, bcd, computer, etc.) as carry on.

Certification is for life...get it and take a refresher as needed.

 

[ttown]

Thanks for the replies.

I've decided to go with the formal certification as recommended here.

Is it common/possible to start training (classroom + pool) in one location and do the open-water dives elsewhere?

I've found at least one shop that is partnered with training shops in a couple different places -- and even suggests starting the training in WA (local to me) and finishing in HI. (partner locations: WA, CA, HI)

It would be a big selling point to a HI vacation if I could coordinate the ow dives there.

Is that common practice with all trainers? (PADI trainers, specifically)

 

[Mallow]

a lot of places near houston have you do classroom locally and then you go to galveston for the certification. Some places use pools but the ocean is just more fun!

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: ttown

Thanks for the replies.

I've decided to go with the formal certification as recommended here.

Is it common/possible to start training (classroom + pool) in one location and do the open-water dives elsewhere?

I've found at least one shop that is partnered with training shops in a couple different places -- and even suggests starting the training in WA (local to me) and finishing in HI. (partner locations: WA, CA, HI)

It would be a big selling point to a HI vacation if I could coordinate the ow dives there.

Is that common practice with all trainers? (PADI trainers, specifically)

That's what I did, though it was with the same instructor - we just did a field trip a few hundred miles away to Pensacola, FL. Personally I would recommend doing whatever you could to get certified before you go to Hawaii instead of doing half locally and half there...the ow cert dives aren't as fun as free dives, so why waste a day doing the cert dive when you could be enjoying it much more?

 

[911paramedic]

Yes.

You may feel safe in a pool with an instructor by your side, but the ocean is an entirely different thing. (Not to mention you REALLY need to know about diving tables.)

 

[jimmyjam]

PADI has a lot of different options now. The favorite one for most vacationers is to take all of the classes and test online before you arrive at a resort. Then you can spend the first morning doing pool dives, the afternoon doing 2 open water(ocean) dives, the next morning doing pool dives (if you didn't get all 5 done the first morning), and then doing the remaining two open water dives that afternoon. Then you have the rest of your vacation to spend diving if you want.

Here is a full explanation from the resort I just started working at.

 

[johnjbruin]

How does scuba work for people with bad eyesight - like glasses and/or contacts?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Same reason you take the motorcycle safety course before riding a motorcycle. You're less likely to kill yourself if you are certified and know what to do in certain situations.

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: johnjbruin
How does scuba work for people with bad eyesight - like glasses and/or contacts?

you can wear prescription masks, or you can wear contacts (be prepared to lose the contacts, although I've never lost em, but just in case)

 

[alkemyst]

Most boats will not take on the liability to take you out or rent eq to you without certification.

It doesn't take much money or time to be basic certified at least here in florida.

 

[ttown]

Originally posted by: jimmyjam
PADI has a lot of different options now. The favorite one for most vacationers is to take all of the classes and test online before you arrive at a resort. Then you can spend the first morning doing pool dives, the afternoon doing 2 open water(ocean) dives, the next morning doing pool dives (if you didn't get all 5 done the first morning), and then doing the remaining two open water dives that afternoon. Then you have the rest of your vacation to spend diving if you want.

Here is a full explanation from the resort I just started working at.

*rainbowreef.us favorited* -- nice site, thanks

Has anyone here thought it was cool at first -- did the certification thing -- and then in hindsight felt it was a waste of time / boring / whatever?

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: ttown
Has anyone here thought it was cool at first -- did the certification thing -- and then in hindsight felt it was a waste of time / boring / whatever?

Not me, I enjoyed the classes and learning everything. Finding out how to avoid injuring or possibly killing yourself was good too so I'd consider it a pretty worthwhile investment. The instructors will repeatedly drill the really important stuff into you so its harder to forget.

You'll have the opportunity to go on a lot more interesting dives if you are certified. As others have stated, many places wont rent you gear without it.

 

[ttown]

Last chance for people to talk me out of going for certification....

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: ttown
Last chance for people to talk me out of going for certification....

you won't be able to scuba dive without your cert. unless you fill your own tanks and go shore diving

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: ttown

Originally posted by: jimmyjam
PADI has a lot of different options now. The favorite one for most vacationers is to take all of the classes and test online before you arrive at a resort. Then you can spend the first morning doing pool dives, the afternoon doing 2 open water(ocean) dives, the next morning doing pool dives (if you didn't get all 5 done the first morning), and then doing the remaining two open water dives that afternoon. Then you have the rest of your vacation to spend diving if you want.

Here is a full explanation from the resort I just started working at.

*rainbowreef.us favorited* -- nice site, thanks

Has anyone here thought it was cool at first -- did the certification thing -- and then in hindsight felt it was a waste of time / boring / whatever?

Certification is NEVER a waste of time, unless you figure out scuba diving just isn't for you. Nothing about certification is hard - it's a little bit of useful book knowledge and a ton of practical skills.

Just a few of the simple skills you'll learn:

-- How do you clear your mask of water while underwater?
-- What happens if your regulator gets knocked out of your mouth and (in the worst case) it's now behind you? How do you find it and get it back into your mouth? I'll give you a hint: you can't turn around and grab it because it will move when you do (like a puppy chasing it's tail).
-- When returning to the surface, when do you need to do a safety stop, how many do you need to do, and how long to do you need to wait at each one? If you mess this up, you'll end up with the bends.

Once you get your Open Water certification, it's for life. You won't need to get your Advanced Open Water cert unless you want to start doing some deep diving or diving wrecks.

Dave

 

[Specop 007]

Definitely get certified. Diving is alot like driving. You can do it every day for years and never have a problem. The one time things dont go like you expect though you can end up seriously hurt or dead.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: Apathetic
-- What happens if your regulator gets knocked out of your mouth and (in the worst case) it's now behind you? How do you find it and get it back into your mouth? I'll give you a hint: you can't turn around and grab it because it will move when you do (like a puppy chasing it's tail)

This strikes me as an example of things that someone should either know intuitively or deduce with a moment of rational thought as it arose and if it has to be learned then maybe they shouldn't be subjecting themselves to such situation. The reason being that in the moment, recalling some learned procedure is far less than ideal. Memory isn't even learning. Learning is an accumulation of experience and the ability to adapt the core knowledge to different problems/situations. Indeed, I wouldn't even want the "noise" of what not to do in my head -which is sadly often the way things are taught.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Auric

Originally posted by: Apathetic
-- What happens if your regulator gets knocked out of your mouth and (in the worst case) it's now behind you? How do you find it and get it back into your mouth? I'll give you a hint: you can't turn around and grab it because it will move when you do (like a puppy chasing it's tail)

This strikes me as an example of things that someone should either know intuitively or deduce with a moment of rational thought as it arose and if it has to be learned then maybe they shouldn't be subjecting themselves to such situation. The reason being that in the moment, recalling some learned procedure is far less than ideal. Memory isn't even learning. Learning is an accumulation of experience and the ability to adapt the core knowledge to different problems/situations. Indeed, I wouldn't even want the "noise" of what not to do in my head -which is sadly often the way things are taught.

There are a number of things in diving that aren't intuitive, especially to the bulk of the population. Practiced procedure is the best way to drill things home (as with any other training) for the best outcome.

The biggest single thing is remaining calm when something happens. Panic is the best way to get hurt or killed when diving. This is the biggest thing that was stressed during my certification and I can say from experience they are right.

On one dive my dive buddy somehow ran his tank dry and tried to bolt for the surface. We were down around 115 feet at the time and he wasn't going up slowly. I had to grab on and flood my BCD to keep him down in order to give him my spare regulator.

 

[freegeeks]

Get certified, you will never regret it
also be prepared to spend a lot of money on gear

 

[flot]

Just got back from dive #120 or so. Saw a sea turtle, a 5' nurse shark, a couple eels, and the normal assortment of fish, coral, etc. No lobster this trip but maybe next time..

Get certified - even if you only do your 4 cert dives, it's worth it.

 

[Narse]

Originally posted by: johnjbruin
How does scuba work for people with bad eyesight - like glasses and/or contacts?

I wear my contacts when I dive most of the time. You can also purchase prescription dive masks.

You must get certified, and you will need the advanced cert to do some deeper wreck dives. I am just finished my rescue diver cert and plan to get my master diver soon.