Hi All. After many years of "thinking" we finally booked a trip to Turks & Caicos, and my daughter is set on diving with me. We are heading down in early April, but now I need to get her certified prior to leaving. The hard part is finding a local place to complete the open water checkout dives, as most local spots are closed down until summer. Anybody know of some dive shops / local dive locations in the Midwest? I'm in Omaha, but willing to drive several hours to get her certification completed. The last option would be doing referral dives in Turks, but everybody has quoted me over $1000 just for referral dives.
Any help would be appreciated.
Cough up the cash and do the checkout dives in Turks. I’m a cold water weirdo, but most kids aren’t.
I agree tbone1004, I've started looking at those options too. I've thought about Texas too, as it's usually easy and cheap to get there for me.
I agree with
@Marie13 that you should do the checkout dives in the T&Cs since you are traveling in early April. Texas in late winter or early spring will be cold water, Galveston water temps average upper 50s to 60 around that time of year.
Are you already locked into a place to stay on Provo in the T&Cs? If not, there might be another option, although Spring Break is a busy time and there may be limited availability left.
I can't believe I am saying this but you might look into the Club Med Turquoise diver certification program, but I don't know how much their certification costs:
https://www.clubmed.us/articles/club-med-where-and-how-to-get-level-1-diver-certification
We went to a Club Med many years ago and we didn't like the dive op. It was a cattle boat, the divemasters were martinets, and the boats were loaded with clueless "Club Med C-Card" divers that would travel between the various Club Med resorts to dive without ever becoming certified. The resort food was good, the grounds and beach were beautiful, the hotel room was clean but spartan, the entertainments and activities were sometimes annoying, and we never went back - but mostly that was because we didn't like the dive op.
However, I understand that things have changed and that their dive ops are now PADI shops and they offer level 1 PADI certification for new divers, but I don't have any recent experience. I don't know how much it costs for a resort vacation and dive package, but Club Meds are usually considered pretty affordable for all-inclusive resorts, and many of their resorts are geared toward family vacations.
BTW, the water temps in the T&Cs aren't likely to be really warm in early April, not terrible, probably in the upper 70s - maybe close to 80 - and definitely warmer than in the Midwest, but she will probably need a wet suit - others can tell you more about that. Further south into the Caribbean is usually warmer than Florida, the Bahamas, or the T&Cs in the winter and spring.
** Edited to add: If you are interested in the CM Turquoise make sure that they are a family-oriented resort and that they offer the level 1 dive certification program there. I would guess that they do, because the T&Cs are a dive destination - but I have never been there and I don't know for sure.