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SCUBA / Diving / Diving license

atoyf

atoyf

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2004
Location
East Bay
Moto(s)
BMW
can anyone recommend where i can learn how to dive and get international diving license?
 
PADI is the most accepted cert. I've never had a problem diving in a few foreign countries with a PADI card. Diver Dan's in Santa Clara was the only 5 star padi shop when I was certified in 97, not sure if that is still true, but great place to get classes.
 
You could check out Wallin's Dive Center in San Carlos; they switched over the PADI and they have a really good rep. PADI is the most common, but certs from any of the major dive organizations like NAUI or SSI are recognized the world over. I got certified by PADI. I liked the training materials, but a having a good instructor is more important than which cert agency you go with. I would suggest checking out the reviews on Yelp and also in the NorCal forum at scubaboard.com. SCUBA diving is awesome and I only wish I could do more. You might also PM DocWong on this forum--beside offering motorcycle clinics, he's an extremely experienced scuba diver.
 
The Sport Chalet in Pleasanton is a PADI dive center, with pool for classes and free rental equipment if you take the classes there. Includes the open water test at Monterey, too. You pay for trans down there and the overnight stays, tho. Good folks, lots of gear to check out. I got a Suunto Vyper gauge with electronic compass for $250, very nice piece of kit. :thumbup
 
DONT GO TO SPORT CHALET! I worked in that scuba dept for 2 years. unless you are going in for gear (which is cheap), the quality of instruction isnt that decent, and they are very lazy when it comes to paperwork. If you are going to come out to the dublin/pleasanton area, there is a shop called dive n trips. although the shop is new, the instructors arent. they used to teach at IDT, and they are very good instructors. Gene Battaglia instructs our county dive team, as well as SFFD and SFPD's dive team.
 
I'll be going to Utila, Honduras in April of next year and we're doing a few days of diving there. I know that PADI is widely accepted, but I'm curious if I should get certified here or there. I have a feeling that since there are about 3+ different places on the Island that you can get certified, that they may just give you all the instruction you NEED and get you out the door. I'd rather spend more $$ and get all the instruciton I can get before I'm out there. Oh, and I don't plan on doing any diving before then (mainly because I don't know people who do dive around here), but if I can swap a few hobbies around, I'd definitely consider it!!

Suggestions?
 
get certified here. The instruction will be better, as it wont be as suited for the tourist. If you get certified overseas, its going to be hit or miss. They know you probably wont come back to that country or shop, so they will probably teach you to the very minimum.
Plus, who wants to spend they vacation in class.

If you get certified out here, and do you open water dives in monterey, you will learn a lot more. There is way more life in the monterey bay, than almost any other warm water dive you will do. I've been to mexico and hawaii, and the diving in monterey trumps all.

Diving in monterey will teach you a lot more with your equipment, and how to get used to diving rough areas. IF you learn to dive in monterey, and you continue to dive here...you can dive anywhere.
 
I got NAUI certified this year. I was very impressed with the level of instruction and the materials used. I had 12 hours of classroom (4 sessions), 4 pool sessions, then dives in Tahoe and Monterey.
 
You could also do a referral program. Do all of your classroom and pool time here and do the open water cert dives there.
 
Totally agree w/ Jorbar. If you have the time, get certified here. The referral program is great, but if you plan to do cold water diving here (and I highly recommend it as there is some great diving here) - you'll want to do the open water dives here. Cold water diving is a bit more difficult due to the thicker wetsuit and the effects on bouyancy of changing depth seem to be more drastic with a thicker suit (at least in my experience).

I was certified in Kauai with a 3mil suit, had no issues with bouyancy then came home and bought a 7 mil suit and had to really focus on it alot more.
 
Volc, another benefit to getting cert'd here is that you don't spend time there getting it, when you could be out diving. (edit: just re-read jorbars post, and he mentioned this too. oops)I knew several people who got cert'd on their trips, and they usually ended up missing the first couple of dives, due to the classes/pool work, or just simply a 'starting easy' approach by the instructors. (the methods desribed varied quite a bit)

And the Monterey bay is a very neat place for the first open water dives! :thumbup
The place I got my padi cert is closed now, so I can't offer any help there.

Man, it's been a long time since I've dived... :(
 
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Anderson's in Pacifica was just 'ok' for us. Wifey was already PADI but hadn't dived since cert and I was Junior cert many moons ago. We both took their course, they gave her a deal and I got a new NAUI cert. We did cold water in Monterey and 1 month later, Great Barrier Reef out of Townsville, AU.

A couple of pics - not even close to doing it justice with just a point and shoot

205.jpg


301.jpg


317.jpg


One of the instructors at Andersons was a real jackass and that's kept us from going on charter boat dives that they've invited us on.

No problem with international diving on either NAUI or PADI.

Diver Alert Network is a good resource.

Our next trip will dual sport moto adventure to Baja Norte and the parts of the Baja 1000 course and diving in Baja Sur round xmas time
 
Are there any benefits to getting NAUI instead PADI? or are they just competitive?
 
Nailed it.

You'll have loads more fun enjoying the diving if you aren't occupied learning to dive...besides, if you know how and get teamed with some hottie who doesn't- you can give "personal instruction".:teeth

jorbar1551 said:
get certified here. The instruction will be better, as it wont be as suited for the tourist. If you get certified overseas, its going to be hit or miss. They know you probably wont come back to that country or shop, so they will probably teach you to the very minimum.
Plus, who wants to spend they vacation in class.

If you get certified out here, and do you open water dives in monterey, you will learn a lot more. There is way more life in the monterey bay, than almost any other warm water dive you will do. I've been to mexico and hawaii, and the diving in monterey trumps all.

Diving in monterey will teach you a lot more with your equipment, and how to get used to diving rough areas. IF you learn to dive in monterey, and you continue to dive here...you can dive anywhere.
Click to expand...
 
NAUI and PADI are competitors. Again, the quality of instructor is more important than the certifying agency. Peep some Yelp reviews of the shops you are thinking about going with, and look for names of instructors that got props and ask for them when you sign up for classes. Or put up a post asking the friendly folks in the NorCal forum of scubaboard.com for instructor recommendations.
 
Volcomism said:
I've read the Yelp reviews, and they're fairly mixed. Here are the SouthBay local shops I've seen:

http://www.anywater.com/index.php
http://www.diverdans.com/
http://www.aquaticdiscovery.com/index.html
http://www.aquasafaris.com/index.php

Anyone have any opinions on these shops and their instructors?

(I'm asking here, because I want to see who else here dives :teeth )
Click to expand...

I like Aquatic Discovery, but haven't done training with them. I'm planning to do my Advanced with them when i get around to it though. The owner is a really cool guy, pretty young, very friendly. They do lots of different dive trips, and he organizes some free dives every now and then just to get people out to new sites.
My buddy did his cert with Diver Dan's, but can't comment on them other than that.
 
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