JohnVranesevich
Registered
One Of The Most Amazing Experiences Of My Life!
Well, I am now officially a PADI Open Water Scuba Diver! I couldn't have done it without everyone here, so a big THANK YOU! (If you didn't read my introduction post, it provides some background)
Not only was I lucky enough to find this board, and spend the last year and a half learning from it, but I was also VERY lucky to find a really really good local dive shop, and a FANTASTIC instructor. Thanks to him, I had one of the most amazing experiences and adventures of my life.
I paid about $600 for my training, which seems like a lot, but it was for one-on-one training, and was ALL inclusive, including all course materials, gear rental, PADI fees, and my dives (which consisted of 3 dives in a spring fed lake, and 2 dives in the Atlantic). The training that I received, and the experience of getting certified in the manner that I did, would have been worth 4x that much.
My instructor really showed me how good this sport can be. He worked with me in a classroom setting to help me become very familiar with all of the knowledge side of the course, and I scored a perfect 100% on all of my quizzes thanks to that..
Once I had been through all of the course material (after several days), he took me down to the local YMCA dive pool (17' deep), and spent an entire day with me, going over all of the different skills. I picked up on most of them very quickly, because I had been practicing them on my own in my pool (mask clearing, etc. etc.).
After a few days, he told me to meet him at the dive shop. He drove me an hour and a half to a spring fed lake, and we spent the day doing 3 different dives. There were little sunken boats in the lake that we got to explore, and I got to feed bass freshwater clams from the bottom. Amazing! After each dive (where I demonstrated the skills that I had learned in the pool), he provided me with pointers and observations to help further improve my diving.
Then, a few days later, and he again told me to meet him down at the local dive shop, this time at 6:30 AM. He drove me 2.5 hours to a placed called Boynton Beach. He had a charter waiting for us, and out we went, into the Ocean!
My first dive down, I had a bit of trouble equalizing my left ear when I got down to about 50 feet. So, I was there with my instructor for several minutes, when I looked up and noticed the dive master from the boat, FREEDIVING 50 FEET down to us to make sure we were OK, since he noticed that the dive flag that my instructor was towing hadn't moved for several minutes. Needless to say, this REALLY helped to relax me, and make me feel safe and comfortable. Before I knew it, I managed to equalize my ears, and I was exploring an amazing reef, seeing amazing things.
My second dive down, I had no trouble with my ears at all, and I was diving with a nurse shark, a HUGE logger head turtle, and tens of thousands of other amazing creatures.
After the day was over, my instructor drove me back to the dive shop, where I met up with the owner, and several others there. All congratulated me, and encouraged me to come along whenever any of them went diving.
The level of professionalism, experience, and knowledge that I encountered from all of those involved was truly astounding. From the dive shop, to my instructor, to the charter crew that they had arranged for me, I couldn't speak more highly.
I bought my instructor a nice bottle of wine to thank him for all of his efforts (which I'm sure were significant compared to how much he was probably paid out of that $600). Not only did I gain a teacher, but a friend.
I know that I sound like a commercial for my local dive shop, ahaha, but I just want to express what a great experience I had, and I hope that everyone else that's new to diving has the opportunity to start out on such a great foot (although I know that's unfortunately not always the case)!
Well, I am now officially a PADI Open Water Scuba Diver! I couldn't have done it without everyone here, so a big THANK YOU! (If you didn't read my introduction post, it provides some background)
Not only was I lucky enough to find this board, and spend the last year and a half learning from it, but I was also VERY lucky to find a really really good local dive shop, and a FANTASTIC instructor. Thanks to him, I had one of the most amazing experiences and adventures of my life.
I paid about $600 for my training, which seems like a lot, but it was for one-on-one training, and was ALL inclusive, including all course materials, gear rental, PADI fees, and my dives (which consisted of 3 dives in a spring fed lake, and 2 dives in the Atlantic). The training that I received, and the experience of getting certified in the manner that I did, would have been worth 4x that much.
My instructor really showed me how good this sport can be. He worked with me in a classroom setting to help me become very familiar with all of the knowledge side of the course, and I scored a perfect 100% on all of my quizzes thanks to that..
Once I had been through all of the course material (after several days), he took me down to the local YMCA dive pool (17' deep), and spent an entire day with me, going over all of the different skills. I picked up on most of them very quickly, because I had been practicing them on my own in my pool (mask clearing, etc. etc.).
After a few days, he told me to meet him at the dive shop. He drove me an hour and a half to a spring fed lake, and we spent the day doing 3 different dives. There were little sunken boats in the lake that we got to explore, and I got to feed bass freshwater clams from the bottom. Amazing! After each dive (where I demonstrated the skills that I had learned in the pool), he provided me with pointers and observations to help further improve my diving.
Then, a few days later, and he again told me to meet him down at the local dive shop, this time at 6:30 AM. He drove me 2.5 hours to a placed called Boynton Beach. He had a charter waiting for us, and out we went, into the Ocean!
My first dive down, I had a bit of trouble equalizing my left ear when I got down to about 50 feet. So, I was there with my instructor for several minutes, when I looked up and noticed the dive master from the boat, FREEDIVING 50 FEET down to us to make sure we were OK, since he noticed that the dive flag that my instructor was towing hadn't moved for several minutes. Needless to say, this REALLY helped to relax me, and make me feel safe and comfortable. Before I knew it, I managed to equalize my ears, and I was exploring an amazing reef, seeing amazing things.
My second dive down, I had no trouble with my ears at all, and I was diving with a nurse shark, a HUGE logger head turtle, and tens of thousands of other amazing creatures.
After the day was over, my instructor drove me back to the dive shop, where I met up with the owner, and several others there. All congratulated me, and encouraged me to come along whenever any of them went diving.
The level of professionalism, experience, and knowledge that I encountered from all of those involved was truly astounding. From the dive shop, to my instructor, to the charter crew that they had arranged for me, I couldn't speak more highly.
I bought my instructor a nice bottle of wine to thank him for all of his efforts (which I'm sure were significant compared to how much he was probably paid out of that $600). Not only did I gain a teacher, but a friend.
I know that I sound like a commercial for my local dive shop, ahaha, but I just want to express what a great experience I had, and I hope that everyone else that's new to diving has the opportunity to start out on such a great foot (although I know that's unfortunately not always the case)!