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Old 20-12-2017, 08:42   #16
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

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Open Water Cert is a joke, almost all of the Recreational agencies Certs are a joke, having the Cert doesn’t mean much, experience should..
Yet a necessary evil. They are only a joke because the agency allows poor performance from their instructors. There are many very good instructors out there who can provide quality training. You just have to look for them. Most divers ask how much and how long when selecting a dive program believing low numbers on either count to be preferable. Only after they gain experience do they realize the cheapest and shortest course was probably not the best. Find a good instructor (ask your friends that dive for recommendations any instructor will tell you they're best) and don't go with the cheapest. I would suggest a dive shop class is better option because they will have the logistics right there to deal with equipment, sizing, weighting. An independent instructor rarely shows up with good quality rental gear.
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Old 20-12-2017, 08:48   #17
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

We strongly suggest a qualified PADI dive school for the family prior to the trip.

Our tale:

We planned on a month long trip to Australia, main deal was two weeks bare boat sailing the Whitsunday Islands.


Erica said : If we are going to Australia, YOU are going to PADI Certified and we are going to dive the great barrier and the coral sea.

Erica was already PADI certified open water, advanced, and rescue diver, but it had been a while, so we both signed up. I loved it !

Now this no cake walk, it takes study, tests, pool evoltions, open water dives, and passing the checkouts. That means you buckle down and work. Not just blowing bubbles.

However, we had a great time with all of the training, and the study, and the quizes, and the tests, and sdveral days beginning in the pool, the practical checks and open water boat dives off Catalina Island and the final exam.

We then signed on for a four day live aboard luxery dive boat....120 ft Spirit of Freedom ( Cains / Australia ) and my first dives after being certified were the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. The two week sailing the Whitsundays was totally different, actually one bareboat, two week each with the moorings and then sunsai. We also went white water rafting, hiking, amazing snorkeling, and having a grand ol time. Actually on our second trip to Oz, we did another live aboard with Spirit of Freedom, only 3 days and all Great Barrier Reef. Both were above amazing.

Due to the effort that it takes to get a professional training program, very strongly suggest you devote you and your familys efforts toward that goal, well before you head off to your sailing cruise.

Also, you will want to have time to enjoy your vacation, and not be hampered by a full on day after day and additional night study dive course.

I did not read all of the other posts, we are getting ready to go hiking, but it must be stressed that SCUBA diving requires real knowledge, as you are in an alien enviornment, and safety is primary. important .

Have story to back this up....a friend from the mainland, was PADI open water certified, and I told him, after my getting certified was going on to continue on with my advanced certification. He said he and his son did not need that, and I was wasting my time.

We had moved to Kauai Island, and went back to the mainland for a visit.
I ran into him, asked how he was doing. That week his son died, SCUBA diving.

Nuff said.
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Old 20-12-2017, 08:52   #18
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

I'd do it before. It will be a fun family adventure, but it will also get those who are not super comfortable in the water more adjusted to it. They will learn to go under , pull their mask off, and replace it while under water etc. This will help with just swimming in the ocean and snorkeling in general too.
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Old 20-12-2017, 09:03   #19
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

When my wife and I got certified a couple of years ago, we chose a tropical dive shop, and were really glad we did. Much more pleasant/interesting in the ocean than in a pool somewhere. We used Dive Bequia, and can highly recommend them.
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Old 20-12-2017, 09:26   #20
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

I am a certified diver and also a mental health counselor, so have something of a foot in both worlds. I suggest getting certified before you leave. Mainly I think the kids would feel safer learning about scuba in an indoor pool before any open water experience. Also this safety feeling would allow better cognitive attenuating to what is being taught. Of course, I do not know you or your children so I am only speaking generally.
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Old 20-12-2017, 09:45   #21
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

I am a PADI Divemaster, but only an instructor can teach. My opinion. Take courses at home from a local shop. If they can arrange for your open water required dives, do that. Gear for those dives and course should be about $350 each, but try to negotiate a better deal for the family. Buy your own masks, snorkels and fins. Check out your sporting goods shops and you can find good equipment at about half the price of your dive shops. If there are no good required open water dives in your area they can give you some documentation that you can take with you on your trip and get your final certification there. If you and members of your family really like to keep diving, invest in regulators, gauges and computer as your next big purchase. 14 years of age to get Padi, and, or Naui full certification.
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Old 20-12-2017, 10:01   #22
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

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If your leaving from Texas you may be heading towards the Bay Islands. Roatan and Utila are major diving centers in the Western Caribbean. I believe the reef in Roatan is the second largest in the world. Their gear is top notch with excellent instructors and your Open Water Cert is right round $320.00 per person, all gear supplied, instructor and dive boat. The nice thing about the area is that you've got excellent anchorages within 5 minutes of the reef and it allows you to get lots of practice in, which is key to safe diving.
We have dived all over the South Pacific, North Pacific and the Caribbean, in our opinion the South and North Pacific are better than the Caribbean but Bonaire and Roatan are probably the best the Caribbean has to offer. Enjoy your adventure. R
I was just thinking the Bay Islands could be a good fit.

Im still w the do it now crowd, but if they chose to wait, Bay Islands would be a good option.

I think the best option is get certified by a good shop at home, get in at least a few dive trips for exerience, and then dive at will while cruising. Why wait?

Bay Islands, and nearby Cayos Cochinos, are great options for diving once you are there anyway.
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Old 20-12-2017, 10:41   #23
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

I wore a self contained MSA breathing apparatus hundreds of times as a professional fireman in one of the busiest stations in the USA. In spite of every other day usage and constant training, I had several close calls at fires. When living the cruising life for the next 25 years, I used the hookah because I feared scuba mishaps. My best advice is if you scuba be meticulous and beware of long periods without refresher training. Smooth sailing!
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Old 20-12-2017, 10:55   #24
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

I would hunt around for your local PADI dive shop and do it all together as a family. That way everyone gets qualified with the same course, instructor etc. You will know then what gear suits who and USA is best best to buy gear online economically. You may also find out who does not like doing it or has a potential medical issue (eg ears)
If you try and do this en-route you may not like the fees, gear may be hard to acquire for a good price etc etc, being able to take your time over this from home is a better way to go in my opinion.
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Old 20-12-2017, 11:18   #25
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

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I wanted to get the communities opinion on when to get your family along with your kids Scuba certified.
Would it be better to do it before you set off on a cruising journey? Should you try to get certified in a location during the cruise?
For example would it be more or less expensive to have an instructor come out to your boat and do the certification there assuming your in warm waters? Would you just have everyone go to a dive shop even if you have a boat?
I’m happy to hear how others have approached this and any tips you might have. Thanks.
www.scubaethan.com can help you. west coast florida guy. good man
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Old 20-12-2017, 12:11   #26
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

I went and put my wife and kids through the local dive shop.

Living in a cold water area we hear that (from the local shop) learning in cold water is better.

Their reasoning goes something like you get a better understanding of the risks of diving and pay more attention to such details and are a safer diver.

They also talk about warm water only divers who go on trips with them to remote dive sites who "don't live up to their level of experience".

Not sure how true any of this is....

Learn locally is my vote.
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Old 20-12-2017, 12:13   #27
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

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I wanted to get the communities opinion on when to get your family along with your kids Scuba certified...
Like anything else "it depends..." But where your family is concerned I'd set your sights on the instruction that gives the very best SCUBA instruction, not the most convenience. If all you plan to do is inspect the zincs on the propeller shaft that is one thing, but if you intend anything deeper than a dozen feet, get the best instruction you can get... In another life I was a PADI divemaster for some years in a school that ran NC wreck and FL cavern diving (before the cave-diving course existed) and we often had to reteach graduates of the vacation courses before we'd take them offshore. SCUBA is a heck of a lot of fun (as well as useful), but if something goes awry and a diver panics it can turn catastrophic in a hurry -- get the best you can.
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Old 20-12-2017, 12:21   #28
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

Do your children have the same motivation and interest as you? Are they physically fit and mentally mature enough to handle the responsibilities and consequences of SCUBA diving? Since you asked your question on this forum, let's assume "yes" so that we can answer your specific question.

PADI, NAUI and other recreational diving certification agencies offer the ability to perform all of your closed water (e.g., pool) training in one location, obtain a referral from the instructor, and complete your open water certification dives at an authorized training center (or another authorized instructor). This would allow you and your family to familiarize themselves with the theory, tasks, equipment, and basics of breathing, buoyancy control, motion, navigation, etc. in a local classroom and pool/lake/quarry. Upon successfully completing your classroom and closed water training, you can take your referral to any authorized dive center/instructor anywhere in the world to complete your open water (OW) certification dives (there is, of course, a separate fee to be paid for whomever certifies your OW dives). This approach would allow you to answer the questions at the beginning of my response (above) before you commit everyone in your family to what, for some, may be beyond their (current) limits. This would also allow you to dedicate only a day (or two, one for gearing up and a check-out dive with the instructor) of your cruise time for getting your OW cert card.

If you and your family are firmly committed to obtaining your OW cert, then nothing beats an immersive (pun intended) experience in any of the hundreds of warm water dive centers around the world. If you have the time and money to dedicate a pre-cruising family vacation to dive instruction, as others have noted, this is the way to go.
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Old 20-12-2017, 12:59   #29
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

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I tried to teach myself to dive when I was 15. My mom found out about it and tracked down an old WW2 frogman who was a commercial diver. He taught me and a couple of friends the basics. A few years later I needed a phys ed credit in college. I wonder how many colleges offer scuba diving classes? At any rate I got certified and college credit.



My suggestion is just go to the nearest dive shop and do it. The lessons are fun, why wait?


My Parents were self taught in the late 40’s, my Father had to build the gear. Later he bought an underwater 16mm camera from Jack Paar who had the tonight show before Johnny Carson, they ran into him in the keys in I think the early 60’s, but I have somewhere many reels of underwater film of them with interesting gear. My Mother at one time had a full face mask, with the dual hose regulator.
Anyway I dove for a long time uncertified, and finally got certified at Emory University as an elective course, we did all kinds of strange things like doing all tasks with our masks blacked out and breathing directly off a bottle etc.
When I got the kids and Wife certified a few years back that was when I realized how much of a joke Cert cards are now, and PADI and others offering Zombie diver cert cards etc just make it worse.
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Old 20-12-2017, 13:08   #30
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Re: When to get scuba certification for the family?

you can do all the book and pool work where u are then take a vacay to some where that has warm clear water to do the check out dives
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