#6403
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You can get the specialty books off of leisurepro.com for as little as $20 and read them in a few hours. They are packed with great information. If you’re inexperienced you’ll learn a lot from the books. You don’t need to waste your money and time on the class. Just go diving. As for the EAN cert it’s almost impossible to get a nitrox fill without the cert. But don’t have high expectations of doing a bunch of nitrox dives and getting more bottom time. The reason is it’s very difficult to find a nitrox certified dive buddy. I did a couple of dives in a nuclear missile silo and nitrox added maybe 5-10 minutes to two 110 feet dives. My big nitrox trip was to the Flower Gardens. It was cold and we froze long before we hit our NDls so it was no advantage. I also did one nitrox dive at Panama city Beach but I had to go solo to get more time on a wreck because my buddy was nitrox certified but dove on an air computer. The captain of the boat was irritated because I had messed up his schedule staying down so long. He was late back to the dock because of me and they sold me the nitrox. Everywhere I’ve been in the caribbean they charged $10-$15 per tank for nitrox. That’s a rip off. The only place reasonable I have seen is Panama City Beach were it was an extra $3 per tank for banked 32. Most boats I have been on in the caribbean have strict schedules. Two tank morning and afternoon dives are the typical. If you dive nitrox in the morning you’ll mess up their afternoon schedule. Also I’ve rarely been on a boat with other divers who actually own their own equipment. Typically it’s rented and doesn’t include a computer. Then they are taken on a dive master led rigid 45 minute dive that will make it very unlikely to for anyone to get bent. If I joined a group like that nitrox would not keep me down any longer. The weakest link on a boat always drags you down to their level. The recreational nitrox technology is great on paper but difficult to put to good use in the real world. In over five years and 253 dives I’ve gained maybe 30 minutes of bottom time.
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