Discover Diving class? (Virginia)

[Marie13]

@Jim Lapenta is an instructor who has posted extensively about DSDs and the issues with non-pool ones. He started the group on FB I mentioned.

 

[Sean Walberg]

Woodbridge is do-able for me.

I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I haven't seen that mentioned yet.

Woodbrdge(sic) SCUBA will assist you with this by deducting the Try SCUBA cost from the Open Water Class price. (their web page) Not sure if the agency matters to you; Woodbridge seems to be SSI.

 

[Dogbowl]

@Jim Lapenta is an instructor who has posted extensively about DSDs and the issues with non-pool ones. He started the group on FB I mentioned.

Could you please post a link to the FB page? Thanks.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

I HIGHLY recommend doing DSD. Heck, I did it 3 times before taking the plunge to do my Open Water certification.

I think @Marie13 and @arew+4 both have valid points about where/how to do DSD.

My opinion is to choose a shop/instructor in a warm water/vacation destination that limits their DSDs to few students. I'm not certain but I think there already is a limit to 4 students per instructor. You might ask for an even smaller class, maybe 2 students per instructor. That's how I did my DSDs in Cozumel. It was only the instructor, myself and my husband. Obviously, I enjoyed myself enough that I'm now AOW and looking into more advanced certifications (e.g., GUE).

If you do DSD in a pool only, you will not be able to experience the true wonders of diving as you will not be able to see any fish or coral. You'll only be able to see a pool. That might not cut it for some people, but maybe it's enough for you.

This is not a knock on @Marie13 (as everyone's preferences are different), but please note that she is a Great Lakes cold water diver ONLY, and she is pretty adamant that she will NEVER want to dive warm waters.

@Barnaby'sDad , are you looking more for fish and corals or cold water wreck diving or maybe a mixture of both?

I would like a mixture of both, but leaning more towards warmer waters.

My main concern for the DSD course is whether or not I'm going to be comfortable with all of the equipment on and breathing underwater. The location or scenery for the DSD is not as much of a concern to me.

Woodbrdge(sic) SCUBA will assist you with this by deducting the Try SCUBA cost from the Open Water Class price. (their web page) Not sure if the agency matters to you; Woodbridge seems to be SSI.

I'm leaning more towards a place that does PADI certification. The PADI place I called a few minutes ago and does the DSD class mentioned that they will credit the cost of the course towards the OW course/cert. I'll do that next month and then go from there.

 

[arew+4]

For what it's worth my kids did a pool DSD prior to getting certified, wanted a professional opinion on their maturity capability etc., before letting them sign up.

 

[maj2]

I started with a DSD in Cozumel. At that point, I had no idea of the controversy around such programs. Thankfully, I had a great experience with mine!
I knew as soon as I finished the DSD program that I wanted to get certified, but two things stopped me from doing it while on my first trip to Cozumel. First, I had no interest in spending a good chunk of my vacation in Cozumel. Second, my family had a summer property near Tobermory, Ontario at the time where I knew I wanted to dive, and my gut told me that I should get my training close to home where I would be doing most of my diving.

I do not regret my choice to do DSD in the tropics, and I definitely do not regret doing my full cert close to home. Doing my OW closer to home connected my better with other local divers and opened up more diving opportunities

Barnaby's Dad: Were your prices for the PADI O/W Cert and basic gear reversed? A O/W program in my area is around $500 Canadian (nowhere near $700!), plus mask, fins, snorkel and weight belt (if needed). That $250 includes rental of BCD, wetsuit, regs, tanks, etc for the checkout dives. Once certified, gear rental would be the way to go for an infrequent diver or until you get a feel for what kinds of diving that you are interested in.

 

[Sean Walberg]

Barnaby's Dad: Were your prices for the PADI O/W Cert and basic gear reversed? A O/W program in my area is around $250 Canadian (nowhere near $700!), plus mask, fins, snorkel and weight belt (if needed). That $250 includes rental of BCD, wetsuit, regs, tanks, etc for the checkout dives. Once certified, gear rental would be the way to go for an infrequent diver or until you get a feel for what kinds of diving that you are interested in.

I thought that was high, too. Then looked at the prices on a local PADI dive shop's website - $400US for the elearning, pool sessions, and gear and $375 for the OW dives (which includes gear and entrance to the park). You need to buy mask/snorkel/fins extra which starts at $170.

The first three dive shops I googled in Ontario were in the $500CAD range, including one in Windsor (who listed $200 on their page but if you click through that's the deposit)

 

[Saniflush]

The "where to do it" is less important than the "when". I highly doubt that you will have any issue handling the gear.(very few people do)
Sooner is better than later.
If you end up being like a lot of the rest of us the only question you will have is "why did I wait so long to do this?"

 

[Doby45]

The shop I instruct out of does OW with check dives for $499. You do need to supply your own personal gear (mask, fins, snorkel and booties) aside from that everything is covered. That is also doing check dives in Florida, local (quarry) check dives drop the class cost down to $399. $700 is STEEP.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

I thought that was high, too. Then looked at the prices on a local PADI dive shop's website - $400US for the elearning, pool sessions, and gear and $375 for the OW dives (which includes gear and entrance to the park). You need to buy mask/snorkel/fins extra which starts at $170.

The first three dive shops I googled in Ontario were in the $500CAD range, including one in Windsor (who listed $200 on their page but if you click through that's the deposit)

^ What he said. I've looked at several places in my area. Sterling, Woodbridge, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, etc. I even looked at Richmond and Roanoke (lower cost of living areas) thinking that I might be able to save a few bucks going down there. It's ~$400 for the eLearning, pool sessions, and gear.... and another ~$300 for the OW dives.

Assuming I go online and buy a mask, snorkel, boots, and fins without trying them out (I have 13EW feet...so fit of a lot of footwear is hit or miss)...I can get everything for x < $200. Assuming I do the smart thing and try on and buy boots from the dive shop it's $50 instead of $20. It's probably the same story if I go with a mask in store vs. online.

With tax the total amount when all is said and done is $900-1,000 to complete the OW course (to include dives and gear) and the purchase of personal gear. That's what surprised me about the quantity of dive shops in my area. There are apparently a LOT of people in my area willing to drop that kind of money just to test out a hobby.

Edit:

The "where to do it" is less important than the "when". I highly doubt that you will have any issue handling the gear.(very few people do)
Sooner is better than later.

If you end up being like a lot of the rest of us the only question you will have is "why did I wait so long to do this?"

That is something that's already going through my head. How I see it playing out...I'm going to kick myself...big time. I lived in Puerto Rico for a while when I was a kid. We used to go snorkeling pretty much every weekend. For some reason...that has been popping into my head more and more lately. Going down 10'+ to pick up 'x' neat trinket...but having to rush up in a hurry. It would have been neat to be able to go down and not be in a hurry to come up.