New to Diving near San Antonio

[Brooke_Hill]

Well, I took an introduction to diving class with my wife for a 'day date' and since then I have been acquiring gear. I have a Zeagle Ranger BCD, 1 tank a couple sets of fins, facemaskes, a US Divers Cousteau BCD(that seems to have problems with its LP inflator), a very nice dive computer, and other various equipment. I am going to the dive shop that I intend on taking the UW Certification at tomorrow, and am preparing myself for their sales pitches. Being I work in the oilfield and am not home often, I have tried to get as much information from them on costs of inspecting my regulator, wetsuits, etc, and it is like dealing with a car dealership. "just come on in and we will see what we can do". They are going to be deeply disappointed if they plan on selling me much tomorrow, but if they treat me well, I will become a loyal customer and have a habit of buying top of the line toys once I establish some trust. I guess tomorrow I will find out which direction they will lead me.

At anyrate, that is my story of where I am in a nutshell, and feel very fortunate to have found this forum and am building up my sets of questions to ask my potential instructor tomorrow.

On a side note for those in my same situation, just fyi, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the points urged using my debit card as a credit card is going to cover my costs for my UW Certification!

-Brooke

 

[driftwood]

Hi Brooke,

The only shop, in the area,I have had even a passing relationship with is Duggan Dives in Universal City. He has been around for a very long time and is the dive op of choice for the Wounded Warriors program. I know a lot of the people associated with that program and trust them completely. Duggan may be a bit of a drive from Medina Lake (northeast San Antonio), and a LDS I would check out.

 

[Brooke_Hill]

Hi Brooke,

The only shop, in the area,I have had even a passing relationship with is Duggan Dives in Universal City. He has been around for a very long time and is the dive op of choice for the Wounded Warriors program. I know a lot of the people associated with that program and trust them completely. Duggan may be a bit of a drive from Medina Lake (northeast San Antonio), and a LDS I would check out.

I just heard of Duggans today. I left my BCD and tank there to get inspected, but my swing by Duggans next time I am home.

-Brooke

 

[Altamira]

John Duggan trained my wife and I for our OW cert, and can tell you that he is an outstanding instructor and phenomenally competent diver. You will not find many divers that have his breadth and depth of experience and knowledge. I would schedule my dive training for times when he is doing the instructing if possible.

 

[Jay_SMART_Diver]

I toss in another vote for Duggan, my favorite and in my opinion best shop in San Antonio. John is a wealth of diving knowledge and a pioneer in the sport.