MSD "vacation"

Hi all. I'm new to diving and to this board. I just got my OW certification last week in Acapulco (with 8 logged dives) and let's just say I am totally hooked. So hooked, in fact, that I am considering a long scuba vacation when I transition between jobs at the end of September. The following is what I am thinking of doing, any suggestions on where I could do this and/or who to contact would be greatly appreciated.

- Go somewhere warm for a month that has a variety of great diving locations. Ideally this place is sort of off the beaten path -- a small city/town/village etc. -- I'm not much into the nightlife / city scene. (I'm thinking Costa Rica possibly, but am certainly open to other places).

- Do enough courses and dives with one dive shop, to bring me up to the master scuba diver level. I.e., AOW, EFT/Rescue, 5 specialty dives, + approximately 25-30 more rec. dives that I would need to bring me to the needed 50 dives.

- I'd like to be with a small group / friendly, laid-back people.

- I'd like to do all of the courses / diving in a package deal so that it comes out less than if I were to do everything over time with different shops. I talked to one dive shop in Costa Rica who was more than happy to put together this sort of deal, but would charge me full prices for all of their individual courses with only a minimal discount on the extra rec dives.

- I could either rent my equipment or purchase it if it was discounted as part of a package.

- I'd rent accomodations at one place for the duration. Ideally there would be inexpensive food nearby.

- High-speed internet access is a must.

I haven't come across too many places that offer such a package deal. The couple I have seen seem to churn through diver trainees. Yes, there are numerous that do these sorts of deals for becoming a DM, but I have no desire to become a DM (at least not at this point).

Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I would ask you why is MSD the big goal here?

I'm going for MSD but I'd already decided that I was going to do several specialties before realizing that I would qualify for MSD by the end of the season (actually by the end of August).

See below for a self-quote from another thread outlining my diving past thus far.

Are there even 5 Specialties that you want to take? When I did my AOW I had trouble picking the 3 Adventure Dives because I didn't know what I was interested in. I went with Wreck (which has become a primary interest), Night & Boat. The boat dive was admittedly just to meet the requirement of a fifth adventure dive, in retrospect PPD would have been a better choice and I have since completed the PPB Specialty.

I guess what I'm saying is maybe you should approach it like a Drift Dive, slip/sliding through the things that interest you. Use AOW to sample 3 Specialties and then follow the courses that grab your interest.

Taking a laid back path will get you there and you'll probably enjoy the journey even more.

kyphur:

I too am a Newbie with ambitions of becoming an Instructor someday.

I first got wet October 4th of 2008, completed my OW Cert on October 12th of 2008.

In 10 months I've:

Logged 54 dives.
Have a 57 minute dive (that was heavenly).
Have been to 130ft (that was dark & cold).
Seen a 10ft Bull Shark at 85ft!
Went Wreck Diving in the Philippines (Subic Bay).
Purchased all of my gear (and outfitted my Wife & Daughter) including 4 tanks.
Completed AOW (Jan/09), Rescue (May/09) & 3 Specialties (Nitrox, Equipment & PPD).
Am half way through 2 more specialties (Deep & Wreck).
Overcome Claustrophobia.
Met many really cool people.
Met a few who shouldn't be diving.
Watched both my Wife & Daughter get certified.
Started thinking about the next step, DM!

I'm not rushing anything. As long as I end next season (Fall 2010) with the DM stuff submitted to PADI I'll be happy.

I'm hoping to do AI in 2011 & Instructor in 2012.

Some will say newbie to instructor in 3 years is quick but its the natural pace for me.

Click to expand...

Why bother with MSD on the trip?

Just pick someplace and go and dive! Do the kinds of dives you want to do and explore. See what sorts of diving interest you, without layering classes on top of it.

Maybe do AOW to get some varied experiences to see what you like and get some dives with an instructor, but I wouldn't bother doing EFR, Rescue, etc. Who wants that kind of "work" while on a vacation? You'll have much more flexibility for the amount and types of diving you can do if you "just go dive" than if you take a bunch of classes. (ie: why bother doing a "Search and Recovery" course when you could be cruising a reef or checking out whale sharks somewhere.)

My two cents...

RJP:

Why bother with MSD on the trip?

Just pick someplace and go and dive! Do the kinds of dives you want to do and explore. See what sorts of diving interest you, without layering classes on top of it.

Maybe do AOW to get some varied experiences to see what you like and get some dives with an instructor, but I wouldn't bother doing EFR, Rescue, etc. Who wants that kind of "work" while on a vacation? You'll have much more flexibility for the amount and types of diving you can do if you "just go dive" than if you take a bunch of classes. (ie: why bother doing a "Search and Recovery" course when you could be cruising a reef or checking out whale sharks somewhere.)

My two cents...

Click to expand...

I changed the color, but EFR and rescue are 2 of the most useful classes to take!!!!

Rescue is a lot of work, I do not see how you can be laid back putting that everything into your vacation I would just take an AOW and then just dive for fun.

dwhthediver:

I changed the color, but EFR and rescue are 2 of the most useful classes to take!!!!

Click to expand...

I didn't say "don't TAKE THEM..."

I said "don't take them ON VACATION..."

Thanks for the replies -- I had a feeling I was going to get the "why the MSD" and "why not just take a vacation" questions. I should have put something in my first post.

Basically, my reasoning is this:

--I won't have another opportunity to take 4-6 weeks off from work to go to a tropical location in a long time and I want to become a better diver and learn as much about diving as possible during that time, rather than simply take a leisurely month long vacation.

--The only real "work" time involved I see is the EFR/Rescue diver portion, and that is something I want to do anyway in order to gain confidence and to learn the skills I really should know as a diver. Sure, there will be a little bit of studying with the AOW and specialty dive portions, but those seem mostly to involve diving in a variety of forms/locations.

--Besides, even doing all of the course work, there will be plenty of rec diving to be had.

--As for which specialty courses to do, I'm pretty certain that I want to stick with the basics as opposed to the "fluffier" stuff: (1) deep, (2) nitrox, (3) underwater navigation, (4) night, and (5) peak performance buoyancy.

--Also, I know the MSD certificate doesn't really mean anything and a lot of people view it simply as a way for PADI to get the bucks, but I guess I'm a little goal-oriented and see it as a nice way to structure a trip in which I will have a lot of fun and become a safer and more skilled diver along the way. (I had a similar break a few years ago and took that opportunity to take a 2 week mountaineering course. I enjoyed that much more than simply taking a long camping/backpacking trip.)

--Finally, part of my reasoning has to do with budgeting -- I figure I can get more bang for my buck doing it this way -- i.e., saving money by staying in one place long term and by (hopefully) getting a nice discount from a dive shop.

So... with that all said, does anybody have any recommendations or suggestions...???

I hope you get the answers you want but the problem may be that many people wouldn't be doing things as you plan to do them and therefore don't have suggestions.

You can take Rescue and EFR where ever you live as long as there is a lake nearby. I also think you get much more out of it if you already have some experience as a diver in the first place. If you're going to be there for a month I'd take AOW with Nitrox, most of the rest is fluff, and take Rescue at some other time back home.

The more diving you can do outside of a class situation is probably a better way to use your long vacation. If you're stuck with a lake locally you might as well be taking classes. If you're in a great tropical location...why take so many classes? You will gain more experience outside of a class.

Costa Rica probably meets many of your requirements...I don't know about internet connection. Regarding discounts...most classes are cheap to begin with so I doubt if you are going to get much in the way of a discount.

Purchasing all your equipment from a LDS in Costa Rica might not be the best way to go either.

My rescue was 4 full class sessions 2 hour long. And a lot of home hours of reading. 3 hours in the pool and 5 hours in the lake approx. During those hours you do not really dive. So you will spend a lot of your precious vacation time doing it. Why not do just diving there and Rescue back home during nights and weekends.

Or at least take an EFR course at home. It's all class time and would save you a day of vacation .

Rescue and EFR alone if done properly would take 4-5 days. That's 15-20 dives that you could make

You can do AOW and other 5 in water certs on vacation, dive as much as you can, enjoy the warm water and leave the class work for home.

As for equipment, I see you live in D.C. so there is a chance you will eventually dive cold water. I'm not sure if LDS in Costa Rica would have a nice choice of cold water regs, I doubt. Get yourself a good cold water reg which will serve you well in both cold and warm water. As I have also found the equipment outside of the mainland US is usually more expensive and the current exchange rates of USD do not help it. Besides you would most likely have to pay different customs fees if you buy it outside. If I were you I would be buying the equipment in the US.

tacob:

Hi all. I'm new to diving and to this board. I just got my OW certification last week in Acapulco (with 8 logged dives) and let's just say I am totally hooked. So hooked, in fact, that I am considering a long scuba vacation when I transition between jobs at the end of September. The following is what I am thinking of doing, any suggestions on where I could do this and/or who to contact would be greatly appreciated.

- Go somewhere warm for a month that has a variety of great diving locations. Ideally this place is sort of off the beaten path -- a small city/town/village etc. -- I'm not much into the nightlife / city scene. (I'm thinking Costa Rica possibly, but am certainly open to other places).

- Do enough courses and dives with one dive shop, to bring me up to the master scuba diver level. I.e., AOW, EFT/Rescue, 5 specialty dives, + approximately 25-30 more rec. dives that I would need to bring me to the needed 50 dives.

- I'd like to be with a small group / friendly, laid-back people.

- I'd like to do all of the courses / diving in a package deal so that it comes out less than if I were to do everything over time with different shops. I talked to one dive shop in Costa Rica who was more than happy to put together this sort of deal, but would charge me full prices for all of their individual courses with only a minimal discount on the extra rec dives.

- I could either rent my equipment or purchase it if it was discounted as part of a package.

- I'd rent accomodations at one place for the duration. Ideally there would be inexpensive food nearby.

- High-speed internet access is a must.

I haven't come across too many places that offer such a package deal. The couple I have seen seem to churn through diver trainees. Yes, there are numerous that do these sorts of deals for becoming a DM, but I have no desire to become a DM (at least not at this point).

Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

At the end of a class, you may called a Master SCUBA diver, but it doesn't mean you are. The only thing that makes you a Master SCUBA diver is experience diving!!!!!!! And, one dive filled vacation right after certification is not enough experience for anyone to master this sport.