Just getting started

[JAFrank]

Hi everyone!
I dove in my teens -before certification was around. My wife & I are relocating from NC to Jax Florida. We have decided that scuba is something that we want to be involved in. We plan to do a lot of travel. We're not certified yet and are struggling with which certification agency to go with. Any help would be appreciated.

[LANCE]

I am new here too every one seems pretty friendly. Nice to meet you.

[The Publisher]

Welcome to the SMN Community!

As to agencies, that is like Ford v Chevy. The tech guys will claim PADI is for the masses, the PADI people say their training was good, SDI will say they are better than TDI, but you know how us fellas are, we fritter away more time on the gear and arguing over who and what is more tech than we sometimes do diving, so my suggestion is, find a local training place associated with a good dive store, get trained, ignore what everyone else says, (unless of course their advice is better than mine! lol) and go have the time of your life, nothing else matters....

[acelockco]

Nice to have you here JAFrank.

I suggest you think about they type of person you are and the type of person your wife is and what you expect before you start your dive training. Some of the dive agencies are going to treat you like you are a 12 year old child trying to spoon feed the answers to you, expecting you are going to puke it back out so they can give you a C-card and collect your money. That may be something you want or like me something you want to stay clear of. The best bet is to take a look at the books before deciding. Some of the scuba texts are written on a 3rd grade reading level where others speak to you as an educated adult.

I personally have had great luck with NAUI and recently made a costly mistake when I signed up for an SSI class and decided it was a waste of my time and was insulted by the remedial book they gave me.

I also think more important than an agency is going to be the actual shop or instructor you choose. If you find an instructor you really like and feel you can learn from, you are more likely to take more classes and get more out of the sport. It is also good to have the same diving goals in mind, no sense in getting involved with a technical cave diving shop if you only plan to dive shallow reefs as you wouldn't feel like you are part of the group, and visa versa.

I find the best bet is to get certified in an area that has the type of diving you intend to do. You mentioned that you plan to travel, a good idea for the two of you might be to get certified while on vacation. There are options where you can do the entire thing on vacation, and you can even take the classroom portion of the class while at home (or even online!!) and then do the pool and open water portions while away. That way you don't have to worry about opening a book while trying to have fun. This may be a bit more costly, but it is also a fun way to learn.

So the short answer is it really depends on you and what you want. Hope that helped and didn't really confuse you more. Let me know what you think.

Ace

[lottie]

Hi JAFrank,
I agree with what Ace and the Publisher have said above, but there is another option - doing a try dive?

If my memory serves me correctly, when I was out in St Lucia, I did the discover scuba course with PADI (the only agency on the island) and did a couple of uncertified dives down to a max depth of 40ft, after that before I took the plunge and did my open-water.

Don't know if it's the same where you are, but worth a try (pardon the pun) with a couple of agencies before you decide which one to go with to do your certification. At least that way you can ascertain how comfortable you feel with the instructors/DMs.

HTH