New to diving - where to cert?

I live in Ballard and am going to Maui in March for two weeks. I've never dived but would like to try - I fell in love with snorkelling the last time I was there.

Should I get certified here before I go so I don't waste vacation time in Maui? Can I just take the classes here and do indoor dives and then do one open dive in Maui to get certified? I'm kind of chicken (afraid of running into scary things down there!) and am not sure I'd like diving up here in the murky cold water. What am I missing out on - why do you guys like diving up here? Where should I go to get certified in the Seattle area?

Howdy

This is a choice you will have to think about. The real choice depends on what you intend to do in the future. Are you only going to do warm water diving? Diving in the PNW requires you to commit to a lot more equipment and resolve. The PNW has some of the best diving anywhere, but it is always cold and never presents the visability found in most tropical dive sites. If your intent is to only do warm water diving, I would suggest that you do the classes and pool work here and the OW work in Maui. This will give you more time to enjoy your Maui dives and vacation. It will also give you a chance to meet local divers and get to know the staff at the LDS that you choose for your class & pool work. This may help you to decide about future diving in the PNW. If you choose to do all of the OW certification here it will be harder, but at least you will know if you wish to dive here and should give you the added confidence that you have taken your OW certification in some of the toughest conditions, as a "cold water diver." :cold: :stnick:

greasergrrl once bubbled...
Can I just take the classes here and do indoor dives and then do one open dive in Maui to get certified?

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Not sure if this was a typo, but the the typical cert class requires 4-5 OW dives after all the pool dives. If you're looking at something with one dive, that's more like a resort course, which doesn't get you certified.

I got certified in New England and at the time wasn't aware of the idea of doing class/pool one place and OW dives someplace else warm - I think "referrals" either weren't an option yet or weren't very popular at the time. I'm glad I got the cold water experience and I had fun diving up north for a couple years until I got tired of wetsuits, low vis, and other local headaches. (Ok, I got spoiled.) Given the option, I still think I'd do the same thing again as it was good training and I got to know what's down there.

If you really think you'll dislike the experience enough to turn you off or not complete the class, or are sure you never want to try local diving, those are strong arguments for a referral. But you never know, you might find you like it. (Almost anything down there will be more scared of you!)

Starfish Enterprise is right near SPU and offeres great classes.

Talk to Randy Wiliams

Kevin Parkhurst
IDEA Instructor 3402

Seadiver5 once bubbled...
Starfish Enterprise is right near SPU and offeres great classes.

Talk to Randy Wiliams

Kevin Parkhurst
IDEA Instructor 3402

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Thanks Kevin - will do.