Hi; newbie diver just getting my feet wet.

[Rob9876]

1. PADI or SSI? They seem pretty interchangeable and every island I've looked at where I can get my open water certification seems to use both, I've been reading articles online and their home pages and it seems the only major difference is the price, which is pretty much the same.
2. Looking at my family's calendar February is when we have availability to head somewhere warm and for me to do the final leg of getting certified, living in Atlanta getting to the Caribbean is pretty easy but any recommendations on an island for a novice? Anywhere between Miami and Trinidad is reachable.

You are right that you can "use" PADI or SSI (or NAUI, SDI, etc.) pretty much everywhere once you are certified. However, if you are doing your book & pool (confined water) at home and then doing referral/check-out open water dives elsewhere, you may want to decide your check-out location first and make sure there's a dive shop there that is the same agency (PADI, SSI, etc.) as the dive shop that you'll be doing your book & pool work with near home.

While there are ways to mix & match agencies (example: PADI at home, SSI for check-out dives), it is not always consistent between shops and agencies, so easier if both places are with the same agency. Example: I have a friend who did his book & pool work with NAUI, then had trouble finding a NAUI dive op at his vacation location.

Not sure what part of Atlanta you are in, but I will throw in that I've been to the Divers Supply store in Marietta a number of times, and their customer service and prices are great! They were super helpful in helping my son and I find gear that was a good fit for us when we were new divers. I have not taken any classes from them, but I believe they run OW classes pretty frequently, and can also do check-out dives on a weekend trip somewhere closer to you if you wanted to go ahead and knock that out before your actual vacation.

 

[RStenberg]

Thanks all for the fantastic welcome, there's so much information above. I'm gonna re-read everything a few times but it seems like purchasing at least my own mask is a must; thinking about it that makes total sense.

I'm very excited to keep digging in here; Knowing I'm going in February does give me a chance to find where to take the OW cert and contact the dive shops in that area to find the one that fits my needs and look over their reviews to ensure people have been happy with them in the past.

 

[Brett Hatch]

By the way, MAKO makes a few masks and snorkels, my favorite is the Minimus, I've got two of them. Dano, the owner of the shop, guarantees that it will fit, and will give you your money back if you return within 90 days: Minimus (aka Mini) Freedive Mask

They also make other good gear like belts and lead, but it sounds like you're not quite ready for those items. Cheers

 

[Beau Holden]

Remember this (it was a mistake I made), diving and styles of diving will change over time. What you think today you will do will most certainly not be where you end up. Example, I never ever thought I would consider or go cavern or cave diving. Now its my passion. After my open water dives in the cold Gilboa quarry, did I think I would go deep in the Great Lakes, nope. But all this came to pass after hanging around other divers and talking about adventures and memories.

This is from my experience, agency means nothing (in my early time I owned a PADI shop). Through the years I have had training from most of them in one form or the other. However, you do need skin in the game. Start with fins, snorkel, mask, booties. Do not go cheap here. What you buy here can work as you progess. Don't go with flash and bling. My only other recommendation at this point would be to read The Fundamentals of Better Diving, hang around divers that are better than you, get hungry for knowledge and let your course set its self.

 

[hotdive global]

depends on which shop you are going and how's the instructor, the org doesn't really matter that much.

 

[drrich2]

Looking at my family's calendar February is when we have availability to head somewhere warm and for me to do the final leg of getting certified, living in Atlanta getting to the Caribbean is pretty easy but any recommendations on an island for a novice? Anywhere between Miami and Trinidad is reachable.

There are many options. I thought of Key Largo, but I don't know what winter looks like there, and I'm told summer is the best time, so maybe not. Cozumel is a very popular dive destination, but is known for drift diving, which isn't something I'd want to hit on certification dives...though they may well be able to find you training sites without drifting (haven't had to delve into that). Roatan and Belize are popular.

I did my last 2 OW training dives on referral with Admiralty Dive Center in St. Thomas, and my wife and I were very happy with them. While St. Thomas seems to be one of those places people hit on cruise ship stops more so than dedicated dive trips, it's a nice island with a range of options for topside excursions and some nice diving that might be a good match for a beginner. It's a popular cruise ship port, so there are a lot of excursions available to entertain cruisers.

From what I saw in 4 dives over 2 cruise stops, bottom was around 40-feet deep or so and flat, so you're not beside a sloping wall and nearby great depth. Visibility was around 50 feet, not on par with Cozumel or Grand Cayman but fine. I dove at nearby St. Croix on a cruise ship stop in winter once (I think February?) and the water was 76 degrees, so not too chilly.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Whatever you do, don't buy any split fins, those things'll kill you

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Thanks all for the fantastic welcome, there's so much information above. I'm gonna re-read everything a few times but it seems like purchasing at least my own mask is a must; thinking about it that makes total sense.

I'm very excited to keep digging in here; Knowing I'm going in February does give me a chance to find where to take the OW cert and contact the dive shops in that area to find the one that fits my needs and look over their reviews to ensure people have been happy with them in the past.

Having your own computer, has it's advantages. Shearwater Peregrine, would be my recomendation. Great beginner computer, and will allow you to progress in your diving. Much easier to use than any puck computer. Knowing how to use your own computer, will eliminate any confusion on various rentals and how to use them.

 

[FishWatcher747]

Like Marie13 said do your elearning and pool sessions through a scuba shop in your local area and do your checkout dives in February on vacation.

It is easy to find a PADI or SSI shop in the Caribbean to do the checkout dives so I would do the elearning and pool work through one of those agencies.

 

[boulderjohn]

I know this will anger some, but there is one thing I would look for in selecting instruction, and it has nothing to do with the agency.

The last decade has featured a (too) slow but monumental shift in how basic instruction is done. It used to be that diving skills were almost universally taught to students kneeling on the floor of the pool, negatively buoyant and firmly planted there. That is what I did when I started instruction. In the last decade the shift has been to having students neutrally buoyant and in horizontal trim. I made the shift myself, a little at a time, over a dozen years ago, so I have seen the difference. The difference in student skill by the end of the class is simply enormous. Divers finish their initial instructional experiences looking like experienced divers.

Today, some agencies are very close to requiring that classes be done neutral and horizontal, and a number of the big instructor training facilities are training instructors to do it that way exclusively. You still see classes taught on the knees, though. When you talk to those instructors, they will tell you it is important to start students off that way because it is easier for them. (It isn't.) When you hear it, you know they have never even seen it done any other way, and they are imagining the difference in a way that fits their prejudice.

So I would start by asking if the instruction will be done on the knees or neutral and horizontal. If you find a local shop--any agency--saying neutral and horizontal, that is where I would go.