Hawaii PADI Open Water Diver course with confined dives in non-chlorinated water?

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atomicsuz

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Hello
Does anyone know of dive centres in Hawaii (either Oahu or Maui) that offer a PADI Open Water Diver course in which the confined "pool" dives take place in non-chlorinated water?
Thanks!
Suz
 
Took my OW Cert in Maui with Scuba Gods.....the "confined" dives were done in a calm section of the Pacific Ocean. Not too much chlorination. :D
 
We did our OW (and AOW) with Lahaina Divers. The "confined" portion of our training was in the ocean in 15' of water in a very calm area. One thing we really loved about going with Lahaina Divers was the ability to do our 4 open water dives off of their boat. On all 4 dives we were required to do our skills, but then we got to actually dive afterward and explore while practicing our bouyancy skills. We also had a fantastic instructor who we're still friends with 7 years later. :)

I know Maui Dreams in Kihei also does all of their OW training in the ocean as well. And honestly I think unless you do your training through a resort affiliated operator, most (if not all) do their training in the ocean as well.
 
Just for information, not necessarily a recommendation; the Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Wailea both have salt water swimming pools, and the Grand Wailea probably has the only "designed for scuba training pool" in the entire State of Hawaii.

My short stint as instructor/guide at the Grand left me with very fond memories of that training pool. My last "class" was a couple weeks ago, and all my normal "confined water" was too turbulent (due to big south swell), so all the water work was conducted from shore in Kapalua Bay. Good thing those kids were experienced ocean snorkelers!
 
Can I ask, what does a pool designed for scuba training have that a regular swimming pool does not have?
 
@ oahu_diver: I'm guessing the water is deeper than the 4' pools that you'll generally find at just about any hotel or resort.

BTW (to the OP), I was certified through Waikiki diving a few years ago, and the confiined dive was at Waikiki beach.
 
I'm not sure about "just about any hotel or resort" pool, but I have taught scuba at Turtle Bay Oahu, Wailea Marriott, Renaissance Wailea, Kea Lani and the Grand Wailea, as well as being a guest a many other Hawaii resorts, and the Kea Lani's large but no deeper than 6' is the shallowest I've encountered (and worked).

Turtle Bay was the worst; it was deep enough and big enough but there is no heater and only in August did guests not turn blue from the cold.

The Grand's "scuba only" pool has a shallow enough to stand, level area, for initial skills, and a larger, flat bottom deep area where an entire class is easily able to practice swimming in trim while controlling BC inflation and deflation.

Scuba pool at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa | Oyster.com -- Hotel Reviews and Booking
 

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