Hampton Roads Dive certification...

[TypsyGypsy]

[h=2]Hampton Roads dive certification...[/h]

Hi everyone. New member to this board and totally new to scuba. Been snorkeling for years and want to get closer to the action. Wife and I are looking to get certified. Live on south side Hampton Roads. When we lived here 15 years ago, LDC seemed like THE place to go. Looking for advice on best place for initial training and to get outfitted. Willing to pay extra for private course...if it's worth it...is it? We will not likely dive here very much, but we would like to do it when we go on vacation. Also thinking about doing the open water certification someplace cool as a winter vacation. Should we do this or is the training/knowledge better acquired by doing it all with the same people? Thank you all in advance. If there are other considerations that we don't know to ask please feel free to share. John​

 

[Necklinsberg]

Welcom Typsy -- both to the board & to the sport.

We've done a couple of dives with Lynnhaven, not certified through them, but they have impressed us. Spoken with but not dove with some of the others in Tidewater, didn't feed the same 'click' with them either over the phone or in person that we did with the people at LDC.

BUT -- you should dive with the people that you feel the most comfortable and confident in.

A couple of questions you should ask yourself as well as the shops --- Which do you feel more comfortable in -- personal / private vs. small group vs. large group classes? (that is probably as important as any $$ difference) Where & how do they do the pool sessions? What is their policy if you start and then have to delay training to later (money refund? credit toward later classes?) What if you need more than their 'standard' number of pool sessions? If you do your certification dives at a vacation location, how do they handle them? (what conditions? will you miss any of the normal dives? any add'l fees either to the shop or to the resort?)

See you in the water

 

[tomfcrist]

There are a lot of good instructors in your area LDC is ok, dive quarters has great instructors and al in al the price you will pay for a course will be around $500-800 regardless of what the actual course tuition is. The reason is that around here shops will sell you a $199 or $250 course, but will make you buy your own mask, fins, booties, snorkel, weights and weight belt. Additionally you will have to rent a wetsuit, Bcd, tanks etc for your open water dives, and pay an entrance fee for the quarry.....which these shops won't take you to until April or may( which is actually a good thing considering the water temp).

As far as private instruction, it varies by shop. I teach independently in hampton, but also teach for underwater adventures in hampton as well. If you want to do a private course, and are going to do a referral, it would run about $400 plus you provide your own mask fins and snorkel if I were the instructor.....just to give you an idea of the cost, referrals usually run about 350 in most Florida keys locations.

 

[RAD Diver]

I did all my training with Dive Quarters through AdvancedNitrox/Deco procedures. They are great. Don't go by a feeling u get on the phone.
Nothing against LDC. Just DQ fit me better.
Do your training local even if you do cert. dives somewhere warm and sunny.
Why spend 2 days of vacation in a classroom.

 

[OtherHalf]

Consider what your goals for diving are when picking a course. Sounds like you're interested in mainly doing clear, blue water dives on your vacation. If you're interested in getting into technical diving you might consider starting off with a course from a technical agency.

I think almost everyone who offers PADI offers a referral service where you do your coursework locally and complete your dives on vacation. Wife and I thought about doing that when we got certified, but decided that when spending our hard earned vacation dollars we wanted to have fun diving, not be doing skills tests. It was a wise decision. Just my .02 worth.