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!