Hi, my name is Clay and I am not a diver yet.

[SoccerJeni]

Hi Clayman! Welcome! I see you are from Missouri. Are you in the Kansas City area? If so I have a shop I could recommend to get at least your pool and classroom stuff done.

I did my classroom and pool dives in Kansas City, then did my open water dives in the Bahamas. I would have loved to get all my certification done in Kansas City, but it was too cold out when I decided to do all of this. It worked out okay for me I think, but may have been better to do it all in KC.

 

[clayman]

To start off I live in the St. Louis area, so no kc, but thanks for the tips. My grandson will be 12 when we go to Cozumel, and I believe that's the age most places will alow to scuba. Got alot to think about, yes it would be nice to be able to do all scuba and no class when your in that beautiful water in Coz.

 

[Cyprian]

To start off I live in the St. Louis area, so no kc, but thanks for the tips. My grandson will be 12 when we go to Cozumel, and I believe that's the age most places will alow to scuba. Got alot to think about, yes it would be nice to be able to do all scuba and no class when your in that beautiful water in Coz.

Clayman, actually 10 is the age allowed for junior open water certification, so your grandson can technically get certified now.

So, if you want to wait for the warmer water in your area (Apr/May), you can get him certified in your home area and then just have fun in Cozumel. That's what I plan to do with 3 junior open water divers that I have coming up next year.

 

[iHeartScuba.com]

It's personal preference, but I'm a fan of getting certified locally if you can. It will allow you to meet a group of local divers through the shop and you'll be able to spend more of your vacation diving rather doing open water skills and what not. I've Divemastered for open water classes in Tahoe in the winter, rough shore dives in Monterey, and some random mud holes around California and Nevada. I always tell people if you can dive here you can dive anywhere, and you will appreciate your warm water vacation that much more!

 

[robooringding]

Hey Clay,

I'm from Florissant in north county. I would recommend getting your class work finished here at home and then finish up your certification on your trip. Great American Diving Company is the shop I use. They are on Manchester by Geyer or in St. Charles on Main St. They offer e-learning classes where you do all the class work on-line and then meet at their pool (off of Hwy 94 and Kisker Rd.) for the pool work. You then have up to I think 6 months to do your open water check out dives.
If you know where you will be staying on your vacation, they can give a referral to a shop near your hotel so they can finish up your certification.

Randy

 

[dry heat diver]

I go to Cozumel about every other year, love to snorkel, and have done the scuba in the pool and think breathing underwater is a great thing. Going next June 2011 and am thinking of me and the grandson, takling lessons and doing a shore dive. Is that the way to get started?

I suggest you both get fully certified and get a few dives in before your trip. You'll be more relaxed and able to take advantage of the many great dive sites Cozumel has to offer. You should also get some instruction regarding drift diving before you go. Shore diving can be quite good depending upon where you go. We stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel a couple of years ago and they have a set of steps for easy exiting from the water. You can actually catch a taxi cab with all your gear and have them drop you off at an old light house about +/- a mile up the road where you can do a shore entry and then do a very easy drift back to the resort. You'll need an orientation dive first so you can identify the exit point when you get to it. We did it for a night dive and it was spectacular. Saw a dozen octupus in the first 10 minutes and at places the eels were like a carpet of snakes hovering on the bottom beneath us. Way cool! But, get the training first. You'll be glad you did and you'll be safer with your grandson.

 

[bcsgal]

My 2 cents worth...do it all b4 you go...Lots of great operators in Mexico, and some not.. That being said lots of great training facilities in Can & US and some not. Find one you trust (with your life), get certified, then go dive where u choose. I say that "you choose" because I was fortunate to get my Open Water cert at home with an absolutely amazing instructor...and I know that for a fact having dived (dove?) with other people with supposedly more certs than me that couldn't frikkin dive for ****e, not all shops are the same. Besides - again sitting on the beach studying for your courses is a bummer ( did that )...Have fun and do you're research!

 

[clayman]

thanks a lot for the advise, I'll take it all in.