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Josh, in my honest opinion do yourself a favor and get certified at home. You will be 10X the diver being certified in our cold California waters. And that way when you do go somewhere tropical you can relax and enjoy your vacation and diving instead of reading your PADI manual at night and clearing your mask all day while others enjoy the sea life. I’ve evesdropped into many "resort classes" in the pools and in the water where I’ve stayed and they scare the hell out of me. They take shorecuts to make it easier for the vacationers to get certified in relaxation. And since you are lucky enough to live in Santa Ana, CA you will be happy to know our local waters are amazing. In fact, I prefer them to most of my tropical dives. Don’t get me wrong, I like tropical diving. But after a couple weeks in Hawaii or Mexico I’m dreaming of my kelp beds teeming with life at home. I’m not sure which school is nearest to where you live. Most will do shore dives in Laguna Beach or Redondo Beach. I did my classes with Hollywoodivers who do their shore dives at Casino Point on Catalina Island. Guaranteed great visibility and calm conditions. You should consider it. Drop me a line if you need more recomendations.
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Agree with Rich about getting certified at home. It will be a more thorough process at home and probably cheaper.
I LOVE diving Belize. I highly recommend Hopkins Underwater Adventures in Hopkins, Belize. It’s located on the beach, about 5 minutes from the village of Hopkins. Great staff and very reasonable. Not the easiest place to get to though.
3 hour drive from Belize International or you can take a smaller prop plane from Belize International to Dangriga and then get a 30 minute taxi to Hopkins.
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I definitely agree with Rich and Bryan that you should get certified at home. California water is cold but I’m sure there are great instructors in your area. Your instructor will make sure you are dressed appropriately and stay warm. (Some people even learn to dive in a drysuit during open water classes.) The added benefit is that you will also establish a relationship with local dive instructors and you will know who to go to when you are ready to advance in your skills and education. I also agree that a certification is not something you want to rush.
You will also want to learn in local conditions since that is where you will be diving most often. Since you are near cold water, any trip to the tropics will be a treat. I learned to dive in Oklahoma and that made me get used to low vis and hone my navigation skills. As a result, I am super-appreciative when the vis is 15+ ft. I had another acquaintance who learned to dive in Okinawa and was completly spoiled. He is jaded about most dives now.
If you still decide to get certified on vacation, check on the class size before you commit. Sometimes, larger resorts=larger classes. If you do go for a rush job, make sure you at least get individualized attention. I recently dove with Aquamarine Divers in Speyside, Tobago and they are a small and meticulous operation. (The location is remote but worth it.) I also like Southpoint Divers in Key West. I’ve seen how both shops do business and you would be okay to get certified by them.
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I’ve got to add that California waters aren’t cold all year. This month (October) we have been seeing near tropical conditions with temps in the upper 60’s. I dove yesterday in Laguna Beach and the water was 68 :-) But this winter it will creep back into the low 50’s. So go now!
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"near tropical conditions in the upper 60s..."
This Florida girl is laughing (and shivering at the thought).
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Ya I would have to agree and get certd at home. That way you are getting certd in the conditions in which you will be diving the most in. And like Rich said, it’ll just make your nice, clear, blue ocean/vacation dives that much more enjoyable.
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Wow. Thank you guys for the overwhelming response. At the very least I am going to try and do the classroom pool work here before I leave. Time constraints may be prohibitive for us to do it before we leave, and who wants to spend their vacation days in the same old, chilly, wintery, place, even if you are doing something cool like getting certified? Much better to be somewhere warm without cell phone reception (or at least an excuse to turn it off and pretend you don’t).
So conclusion. Home for basic training. Away, far, far away for the dives, I think.
The question now is Bonaire, which seems less vacation-y. Maybe Roatan, found this place called Anthony’s Key Resort (the worry here is rain?).
Or... I was thinking Thailand, if I can swing the airfare.
Thank you all again for the advice!
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From SeaGoat: "near tropical conditions in the upper 60s..." This Florida girl is laughing (and shivering at the thought)....
And when California divers have told me that it was just at the surface BUT California diving is beautiful, I love the colors and I’m a WWW (Warm Water Wuss) however I’ll put up with the Pacific chill for the dive.
Yes, get certified at home and then travel.
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Hey Josh,
I had the same thoughts when getting my certification and I did exactly as you described. I did all of my classwork here in the US - Virginia, and completed my open water dives in Bocas Del Toro, Panama. I wish I had done my certification dives at home... here is why.
Where ever you go there is bound to be an abundance of different dives available to you. Drift, wreck, coral, night, cavern, etc. If you do not have your certification completed you are limited to dives in the 15-30 ft. range and to those that have optimal conditions for a skills dive. I would rather spend my vacation $$ towards a dive of my choice rather than being forced to a dive site because "this is where they certify all divers".
Also, I had trouble with my Panamanian dive outfit. Even though both were from the same certifying agency, they just did not get it. I’m sure there was a bit of a language barrier, but they did not understand that I wanted to complete my open water skills assessment there. What ended up happening is we paid for a discover scuba course and did not get the comforting feeling of knowing we could complete ours skills with proficiency in a real world, open water scenario. The only skills required were buddy air share and taking off our masks in 10ft of water. This may not be an issue for you, but it was for me. Completing your certs with an instructor you trust holds a great value. I ended up spending my next couple of dives at home with my instructor do the open water skills again.
When I came home, the signed log book was not enough for my instructor. He wanted to speak with the Panama Instructors personally. Good thing I had their phone numbers. Getting them on the phone was another story.
Anyways. I hope you will have a better experience should you decide finish your dives somewhere else, but just be aware that this is not the preferred route. You will never get the attention and care that would be provided by a local instructor. The international instructors see you as a one and done customer. You’re local instructor knows that if he/she does their job right you will be a returning customer as you continue to pursue a diving education. In the end, you will be a safer, more effective diver if you choose to complete certification at home.
good luck, dive safe!!
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Oh, yeah. I almost forgot to mention all of the divers I know today who supposedly got certified in Aruba, or Cozumel, or Bonaire, or Curacau.....and their certification documents never made it to the issuing agency, and therefore they had to do the class again. Listen to Jon above. He is right about the sites they will take you to for your cert dives. 25’ sandy bottom boring. Good luck!
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I happen to think Bonaire is plenty vacation-y and definitely where I’ve gotten the most bang for my diving buck. We averaged about 4 to 5 dives per day.
If you are planning to do that much diving, you should ask your instructor to include a nitrox class with your open water class. (Our shop gives a discount if you pay for nitrox and another cert.)
Also, you can rent old beat up pick-ups there for cheap but make sure you and your buddy are both comfortable driving stick.
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I can report a different experience. My wife and I got our classroom/pool training in Northern California, and our open water cert. in La Paz, Mexico. We used Buceo Carey dive shop, and couldn’t have been happier. We had the divemaster all to ourselves for the entire time, and dove with him for a couple of days after certification. He was patient and very helpful. We got our SSI permanent certification card sent to us through the LDS with no problems at all. This was about 12 years ago.
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I got certified at the Oak Bay Resort in Roatan, Honduras in Nov. 2002. It’s run by the divemaster Gary, and he was exceptional. He got my whole family certified, even my Mom, who isn’t a strong swimmer, and was patient and fun. Everything is done on the reef, in about 15 feet of clear water, great conditions to learn in.
Roatan was great that time of year, warm waters, cool breeze, and the occasional mid-afternoon cloud burst, which really didn’t hamper our diving. I highly recommend checking it out; even if you get certified at home, it’s a great spot to dive.
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