Best place for OW course for my son?

[Rwhiting]

I'm looking at a 5 day/4 night trip next spring for my son to do a full OW certification course and me to do some diving.

I've been quoted a deal with Ocean Frontiers on the East end of Grand Cayman. They offer the full 3 day course plus 2 tanks on the fourth day, 1 BR condo at Compass Point and rental car for $1205 for my son, and 3 four tank days and 1 two tank day for me, for $1025 including condo. Not sure how to squeeze in the 2 tank days when flying out on the 5th day, but this is how they set up the quote. These are high season rates for early April.

This sounds reasonable and gives us what we're looking for - a good dive op from the posts on this board, good diving, relatively short commute to the island (we fly out of Baltimore), nice accomodations, short rides to the dive sites (i.e. more dives per day) and reasonable rates.

Any thoughts on this package/dive op/condos?
Any alternatives worth considering?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[h2odragon1]

look around. take your time. after i was certified in the philippines i looked for a lds so my wife could learn and become my dive buddy. we visited six dive shops in our area, talked to the owners and some instructors, asked about prices etc. some were jerks, some were not very enthusiastic, but we did find one that fit my wife's needs. (good classroom, and poolside instruction) often my wife ended up one-on-one with a poolside instructor. she was never chastised for being afraid of going to the deep end, or getting her hair wet. they have been great with her, and she is doing well, and will soon be certified.
you did not say how old your son is, this is one factor in choosing an open water school. he can take his classes near home, receive a letter to take with to do his OW cert. dives were you are going next spring. trying to learn to dive in four days at a dive resort may be a little taxing.
good luck and good diving

I'm looking at a 5 day/4 night trip next spring for my son to do a full OW certification course and me to do some diving.

I've been quoted a deal with Ocean Frontiers on the East end of Grand Cayman. They offer the full 3 day course plus 2 tanks on the fourth day, 1 BR condo at Compass Point and rental car for $1205 for my son, and 3 four tank days and 1 two tank day for me, for $1025 including condo. Not sure how to squeeze in the 2 tank days when flying out on the 5th day, but this is how they set up the quote. These are high season rates for early April.

This sounds reasonable and gives us what we're looking for - a good dive op from the posts on this board, good diving, relatively short commute to the island (we fly out of Baltimore), nice accomodations, short rides to the dive sites (i.e. more dives per day) and reasonable rates.

Any thoughts on this package/dive op/condos?
Any alternatives worth considering?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[rpodos]

Couldn't agree more... do the classwork and pool stuff at home, and just do the open water dives while on vacation. You're gonna be on vacation, d*mnit!!

 

[Drew Sailbum]

To fit this in on such a short trip I would second the suggestion for your son to complete the classroom and pool work at home. Your schedule allows little time to spare if he has any difficulties at all.

Ocean Frontiers is a fine operation and the Compass Point condos seem to get really nice reviews from guests on our island. Remember that if you take them up on the offer, you really do need the rental car! From East End, it is a long walk to anywhere!

 

[Sue-ba]

We just got back from Utila. Our last little diver, age 10 certified while we were there. Mari at Gunter's did an excellent job with her. The rest of the family (6 of us)would go out on a 2 tank dive each morning while Caitlyn stayed with Mari and did her work. It was so cool to come back in and see them out and around the dock...the water is bathtub clear. A couple of times, we had to hang around the dock and wait for her...not a problem because Gunter's dock is one of the best places to be on the island. Caitlyn would come in and be so excited to tell us all the wildlife she saw right off the dock...such as seahorse, eels. parrotfish, etc. We did a night dive and again, Mari worked with Caitlyn while we dived.
We had planned that we would take turns sitting out a dive to babysit, but Mari completely worked around our dives so Caitlyn would be busy while we were playing and no one had to sit out a single dive. She even went out on the boat with us during her open water dives. We would go off on our dives while Cait and Mari would hang around the shallows. One of my most fond memories now will be hearing Cait shaking Mari's shaker to get our attention. We all finally looked up and there she was, about 30 ft above us shaking the shaker and waving excitedly that she was on the same dive as we were. (I thought she looked like a little butterfly with all her hoses etc outlining her little body and her little arms and legs just working. I actually got emotional...yes, I really am a mom)

I was also amazed while quizzing Caitlyn before her big test at how well she understood the information. I don't think I grasped it all that well in the beginning. I can't sing enough praise for Mari. She is an admirable, super person. Caitlyn loves her.
Even though she is certified now, she will only be joining us on certain dives. We will be very protective of her diving experiences until she is older. I am glad that we chose to do it while in Utila. We stressed about when and where to do it and can't imagine trying to certify her here in the desert where the rest of us did it. Cold, absolutely no viz...

Utila has great diving. The water is warm, clear, the reefs are beautiful, the walls are awesome and you may even see a whale shark, (we didn't this trip). Accomodations there are really cheap, the food is great and cheap...we fed 9 people at one of the best restaurants there for only about $42 one night (We treated Mari and Tex to dinner). And finally, Utila is the capital for diving education. I would definitely recommend doing this there.

 

[Chivas]

I'd second the Utila idea. I'm not familar with Gunters so I can't comment. I am familar with www.Utilalodge.com and the Bay Islands College of Diving. I have seen their operation and dove with DM's they trained. I realize that you are looking for basic certification and maybe AOW so don't let the "College" part of their name scare you off. You will even get an intro to their Hyperberic Chamber and med center that they have on site. Because it is Hondrus it is very reasonable priced.

 

[gasgirl]

Oops! Just noticed the date this thread was posted! When were you thinking of taking your son to Grand Cayman?

Our daughters (ages 10 and 11) were both certified in less than 5 days on Grand Cayman so it is certainly do-able!

If you are still planning the trip, I can give you some more info.