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Recommendations for scuba certifications


dshel1217

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My brother did his at Oak Hill Scuba. I already had mine but based on his experience, I would recommend them. It might be a bit far south for you though.

I would do the classes and pool stuff here and do your open water in the actual ocean, which is a really common way to do it. I'm not a fan of the lake travis open water mud cert.

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Are you planning on a trip somewhere? Depending on your destination, it's typically cheaper and probably a way better experience. Eg I got my certifications in Utila, Honduras. Also if you have the time, get your Advanced Open Water cert while you're at it.

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Are you planning on a trip somewhere? Depending on your destination, it's typically cheaper and probably a way better experience. Eg I got my certifications in Utila, Honduras. Also if you have the time, get your Advanced Open Water cert while you're at it.

Yes Im going to Tulum Mexico this summer. Its not a super popular area so I'll have to check to see if I can get my cert while there.

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I went the cheep route back in California when I got mine at sports chalet and was sorry about it after I took a refreasher corse at a real scuba shop years latter. What they don't tell you might kill you lol smile.png

So go and talk to the shops before commiting and also try and work in a "rebate" of some of the class cost on gear you buy from the. Ya scuba shops cost more than online prices but when you need something fixed for a trip you are going on the next day its nice to have a local shop that knows you.

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For open water certification, I recommend getting the book and pool part done first before your trip - find the cheapest shop that will do it in town, call around. Look for some in Groupon etc. Second part is four open water dives. Those can be done at the destination place. Almost every worthwhile scuba trip is gotta be better than lake Travis or some Springs nearby. For a $10-20 more per day, you can do tank dives with the scuba shop and have them finish certifying you - need to tell them you are a referral student to complete certification. The most popular agencies now days are PADI and SSI, but all of them "share" the certification process via a "referral" form your instructors will have to complete in order to send in your certification. If you are planning to dive in Cancun, surely there are dive shops that can certify you. My son recently was certified in Hawaii via the process described above; beats 50F lake Travis water.

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I'm partial to Scubaland here in Austin. They have their North Store on Anderson Lane (by 183 & Lamar) and their Lake Store on 620 just south of Anderson Mill. I've done a bunch of classes with Mike Lutz and a few with Jack Ryan. I really like both of them. The people in those stores are also great about recommending gear that's actually good (not just trying to make a sale because they value repeat customers) and getting you great deals. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them here, by PM or by phone.

Doing your Open Water and Advanced Open Water in Lake Travis is actually a great thing. That's where my wife did all hers and where I did all my advanced. Neither of us are bothered even slightly by silt-outs or loss of visibility, because that's normal in Lake Travis. I've dove with 3 different people who were trained in blue water (ocean) and freaked out when vis dropped due to silt being kicked up. One refused to continue diving she was so freaked.

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I second Scubaland. My husband did his there a few years ago and I did a refresher course through them. Everyone was very professional and thorough. Not sure anyone can even dive in Travis anymore, so I wonder what they're doing for open water dives...

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I second Scubaland. My husband did his there a few years ago and I did a refresher course through them. Everyone was very professional and thorough. Not sure anyone can even dive in Travis anymore, so I wonder what they're doing for open water dives...

It used to be Aquarena Springs (Spring Lake) in winter and Lake Travis in summer, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shut down Spring Lake two years ago (a year behind schedule on reopening). I believe all dives are now done in Travis. Yes, the lake's down 50' making it a hump getting in and out of the water.

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  • 2 months later...


OK,

I'm have a PADI certification and 400+ dives, about half of which were in salt water. I'd personally recommend getting your certification in full here in Austin. I'm a pretty firm believer in training being harder than reality whenever possible. If you're used to dealing with temperatures and visibility here in Travis the diving in
Mexico should be much more relaxing. Typically, from a functionality standpoint the difference between Travis and typical saltwater diving is a huge increase in visibility but, depending in where you dive, current.

Personally as long as you get your open-water, you may as well get your advanced as it gets you several more closely monitored dives.

From an experience standpoint I'd recommend anyone be as self sufficient as possible when diving abroad as the quality of divermasters or other dive support varies greatly between locations. I've had everything from excellent to outright dangerous with benign indifference being about average.

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Hope to have something to post here very shortly about a scuba shop coming on as a sponsor. Our first plan with them will be a discounted certification class for a group of us here to attend together.

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From an experience standpoint I'd recommend anyone be as self sufficient as possible when diving abroad as the quality of divermasters or other dive support varies greatly between locations. I've had everything from excellent to outright dangerous with benign indifference being about average.

+1 on this. There's some downright dangerous stuff that goes on. I intervened one "divemaster" trying to pull my father down when he was having major equalization issues at about 20ft. I think by brother would have harpooned him if he had one on hand wink.png
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I mentioned above that Spring Lake (Aquarena Springs) was closed and winter diving is all in Lakes Travis, Medina and Canyon. Last month they reopened Spring Lake to volunteers for cleaning for Diving for Science divers Monday through Friday only. Scubaland here in Austin switched their winter diving to Reveille Peak Ranch, which is a spring fed quarry lake. Two co-workers are doing their Open Water there now.

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  • 1 month later...

Certifications: My older sister was NAUI, I am PADI and there are a few others out there. It makes a quality difference who trains you, not just the curriculum. But be careful that your certification is accepted in the places you are going.

I'm going with Scubaland for a refresher course. Not that the other ones are bad, I just felt comfortable with their crew and recs from friends.

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From an experience standpoint I'd recommend anyone be as self sufficient as possible when diving abroad as the quality of divermasters or other dive support varies greatly between locations. I've had everything from excellent to outright dangerous with benign indifference being about average.

+1 on this. There's some downright dangerous stuff that goes on. I intervened one "divemaster" trying to pull my father down when he was having major equalization issues at about 20ft. I think by brother would have harpooned him if he had one on hand wink.png

I remember my sister telling me a story about diving in Jamaica and her tank was leaking. Probably an o-ring, but when she mentioned it to the DM his response was " Ah, no worries mon, we all come up in the end, don't we?" Umm...I'd prefer to come up alive so...Yes, make sure you're very self sufficient and comfortable!

Most places I've been diving with have been very professional and supportive which is esp nice because it always takes me awhile to equalize and be able to get to depth. Constant sinus issues. If any of them had grabbed me and pulled me down I'd have beaten them with whatever I had handy! Dive knife probably devil.gif

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  • 2 months later...

In addition to my prior recommendation for experience, as a manner of practicality I'd add that I recommend whenever possible travel and dive with friends or at least with people you are familiar with. There are at least two reasons for this:

First, you will have a supporting network of individuals with mutual interests. People who have at least met each other prior to the trip are much more likely to support / look out for, each other on a trip. While rare people have been left behind on dives before. (even if you end up on a boat / trip where you know no one I STRONGLY recommend making a distinct impression on your fellow travelers. The point is in this situation at least to be someone who is or will be distinctly missed / noticed if something unfortunate happens.

Second, correct or not groups count more than individuals. On my first few Bonaire trips the group I dove with had the numbers to basically direct any dive boat to the dive site we had an interest in. As long as we could come to agreement we had the numbers to successfully request services more specific to our group.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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