<18m diving

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dodgie

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Hi,

My girlfriend and I are thinking on planning a diving holiday later this year. I've got PADI AOW and she has just qualified SSI OW. I'm aware that the basic cert level limits diving to 18m so can anyone recommend any destinations with sufficient <18m diving to justify a whole holiday diving in that location?

Any basic open water certs out there going on diving holidays? Where have you been?

Cheers

Rich
 
I think you will find that most resort dive ops ignore the 18m/60' "limit" for OW certified divers.

If you fill out your profile so your location show, perhaps somebody will jump in with suggestions that are convenient to your location.

OW cert will work fine for Florida Keys (other than for deep wrecks,where most dive ops ask for AOW or deep dives in a logbook), Cozumel, and Maui. Others will have to answer for places like the Red Sea.
 
dodgie:
Hi,

My girlfriend and I are thinking on planning a diving holiday later this year. I've got PADI AOW and she has just qualified SSI OW. I'm aware that the basic cert level limits diving to 18m so can anyone recommend any destinations with sufficient <18m diving to justify a whole holiday diving in that location?

Any basic open water certs out there going on diving holidays? Where have you been?

Cheers

Rich

Why not encourage her to go for the PADI AOW and she can join you on the slightly deeper stuff?

Dom
 
I completed my OW and 3 dives later I was down to 80ft in Cozumel. The 60ft limit in my opinion is BS. Cozumel is so easy to dive, the only thing you have to look out for is not going too deep, because it is so clear. I believe when I asked about the 60ft limit, the DM said "Hey man, It's your life."
 
dodgie:
Hi,

My girlfriend and I are thinking on planning a diving holiday later this year. I've got PADI AOW and she has just qualified SSI OW. I'm aware that the basic cert level limits diving to 18m so can anyone recommend any destinations with sufficient <18m diving to justify a whole holiday diving in that location?

Any basic open water certs out there going on diving holidays? Where have you been?

Cheers

Rich
there are some pretty reefs in ft. lauderdale florida as well as some shallow (70ft wrecks)
 
I have done a couple dozen dives in the Florida Keys, and many were shallower than 60 feet. There were plenty of good dive sites that did not require us to go any deeper than that.

However, the dive boats take people to all sorts of places, and a lot of people want deeper and / or more exciting dives. (deeper is not necessarily better or more exciting, but some people seem to think so)

My recommendation is to talk with a couple of dive ops and see what they have to say. The most important thing is to be up front with them at all times. Make sure that they know that you do not want to exceed 18m. I would recommend against allowing anyone to talk you into going to deeper dive sites, and just telling you "well, don't go deeper then". There are plenty of good dive sites in shallow water, and plenty of dive ops to choose from.

In your case, I would try hard to find a dive op that would promise shallow depths, and get it in writing that you will get refunded if the change it. (might not be possible, but who knows until you ask!)

On smaller boats you may have better odds at controlling the locations, but smaller boats tend to cater to more advanced divers (in general). Kind of a double-edged sword.

One side note is that the first people that talk to the Captain can often influence his choices, if there isn't already a committment in place.

When and if your buddy becomes more comfortable, and gets trained for deeper depths, then you can go to deeper sites and enjoy them together.

Just my two cents,


Wristshot
 
dodgie:
Hi,

My girlfriend and I are thinking on planning a diving holiday later this year. I've got PADI AOW and she has just qualified SSI OW. I'm aware that the basic cert level limits diving to 18m so can anyone recommend any destinations with sufficient <18m diving to justify a whole holiday diving in that location?

Any basic open water certs out there going on diving holidays? Where have you been?

Cheers

Rich

At the risk of being flamed by others, I have to agree that if your GF is comfortable and did her certification "easily," you can go to tropical areas and dive deeper than 18m. Belize has wonderful diving where the max depth you need to go to can be as little as 18 meters(except for Blue Hole at 42 meters that SHE SHOULD NOT DIVE until she has more experience, no matter what the resort operator says). I was on a liveaboard in Belize in November, and there was a woman onboard who was also freshly certified, and she had a blast.

During my week, my average maximum depth (excluding Blue Hole) was 20m, and I really did not need to go that deep. Often, I was at least 5m to 10m below the edge of the wall, so there was plenty of diving at 18m.
 
As an aside for those who don't believe in the depth limits on cert-cards.

Do you think your insurance will pay for any treatment if you get injured and have been diving beyond your cert?

Most insurance only covers you to you cert depth.

Recompression therapy is an expensive game folks.

Dom
 
okinawa, japan has a ton of dives in her range, its all tropical diving and the night life is good for the eve. plenty of chances for night dives aswell.
 
dlegros:
As an aside for those who don't believe in the depth limits on cert-cards.

Do you think your insurance will pay for any treatment if you get injured and have been diving beyond your cert?

Most insurance only covers you to you cert depth.

Recompression therapy is an expensive game folks.

Dom

DAN Preferred does. See:
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/insurance/preferredcert.pdf

I don't know about the other DAN policies, but it's easy to find out the facts.
 

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