Total newbie here to learn from Guelph, Ontario Canada

[Scuba Savant]

My wife and I visit the Caribbean yearly and snorkel together. For years I have thought about taking up SCUBA diving and did one of those "discover SCUBA" dives with my wife. I loved it and have wanted to take this up. We just came back from Cozumel and snorkeled 4 out of the 7 days and it would have been great to have had the knowledge and experience to have seen some of the things that qualified divers I met saw in their dives whom I spoke with.

So, I will be reading up on the boards here to learn and to ask in a regional forum about recommened schools/dive shops in my area (there are 3 main ones I see).

PADI versus SSI? These are the sorts of things I will be pondering as I start this journey.

We get lots of folks form Canada flying down here to the Keys to do their OW certs.

Most of the ones I have met and worked with go for PADI (which makes sense because one of the local shops down here is among the most prolific PADI certification centers in the world). But at the end of the day, its entirely up to you. Usually its more of a difference in who the instructor is, compared to which organization you certify through.

I have been certified by both NAUI and PADI, and prefer the PADI curriculum because of how much more in-depth, rigorous and professional it feels to me. I'm a hungry learner, and want to be tp of my game in everything I do.

If you have any other questions, feel free to get in touch directly!

 

[Zoodles95]

Thanks so much for the tips.

I have already bugged my better half to see if she want to check out the show. We have a couple.of kayaks we fart around with during the summer. I'm sure there will be some gear or possible destinations we could check out.

I did the "hang out" trick with motorcycle dealerships. Found one I buy all my gear from and my main contact used to race professionally so I have learnt a lot about gear from him.

I think it is time to check out Tri City on my next day off.

Welcome to Scubaboard. I live in the "Tri-Cities" and there are a few local dive shops (LDS) in the area. I will agree that Tri City Scuba is a great place. (In fact, I will be there later today to pick up my dive computer now that it has been repaired.) Both Drew & Ross are knowledgeable and will be willing and able to answer any questions that you have. If, at some point, you get into more technical diving, there is also Dean's Sport & Dive shop on Victoria Street (although it can not be seen from the road, you would drive right past it if you are heading from Guelph to Groundhog.) If you are willing to travel a little further, Dean at The Dive Academy in Oakville is also a great guy to deal with.

All of these places also offer trips, so if you want, you would be able to do your classroom and confined water locally and your open water in nice warm turquoise water.

One final thought. Later this month is the Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show at the International Centre by the Toronto Airport. There is usually a huge scuba section, and while for somebody brand new, it could become information overload, it is a great place to go and to "window shop" for both an LDS and maybe a trip.

OK, here is "one more thought" ... if you ask a couple people what agency they recommend, you will likely get a couple different answers. Go into the dive shop. Hang out for a little while. See which one you get the best "vibe" from. (Where are you the most welcome? Where will they take the time to answer your questions that they have undoubtedly heard a million times before but which are totally new for you? Which ones are more interested in guiding you, but allowing you to purchase what you want rather than which ones concentrate on selling you what they want.) Don't think of this time when you are hanging out in the dive shop as wasting time. Think of it as a very informal job interview. You are determining who you want to hire to teach you to dive, and you have to trust that person totally. As others have said, in many cases, the instructor will make more of a difference than the agency that they represent.