Looking into going to Diving School, which one do you suggest?

[marissa sabatino]

Has anyone on here attended (or is attending) the Florida State University Coastal and Marine laboratory school or Pro Dive International (located in Fort Lauderdale) or if someone has a better school to suggest I would really love to hear about your experiences.
Thank you!:blinking:

 

[tony71]

Check this website out. Im looking for a school also.
divecda.com

 

[muddiver]

What is your goal?

You have listed two completly different types of programs by two completly different types of oraganizations.

Are you even SCUBA certified?

 

[boulderjohn]

I am going to assume that you are considering initial scuba certification, and you really don't know what it takes. If my assumption is wrong, my apologies.

In scuba, we talk about certification, and that means getting instruction from an instructor or instructors from a recognized agency. There are many recognized agencies. Some of them have independent instructors who work out of their homes. Many work for local dive shops.

In your area , there are scads of instructors representing many agencies and local dive shops. Asking this question in this forum will not be helpful because you can potentially get so many opinions that you will be no better off than you are now.

ScubaBoard has a number of sections, and one of them is for regional travel and dive clubs. If you scroll down, you will find the one for your area. I suggest you go there and use the search feature to get the names of some instructors and shops in your area. You can also ask a new question and get answers from knowledgeable people who read that forum but who don't generally read this one.

You should also go to some of the "stickies" at the top of this forum and get a sense of what some people think is good advice for new divers.

 

[muddiver]

The Costal and Marine Lab at Florida State will not necessarily certify someone. It is a research lab that has a scientific diver program and provides support for marine projects that involve diving. Also you would have to be a college student in a program like marine biology or marine geology to use those facilities.

 

[tony71]

Go to scubajobsonline.com then to the "need training?" section. There are a small list of schools, 3 in Florida and 1 in Chicago.

 

[Matt83]

I attended Pro Dive International in Ft. Lauderdale and now have stuck around to work for them and continue to learn from their amazing staff. If you are looking to get certified or to continue your education to the professional level, this is one of the top programs. Your question was a little vague, so I dont know exactly what kind of schooling you are looking for. I can say that if you are looking for a job where you can teach scuba and work on a boat every day, etc. Pro Dive is an excellent place to come. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions I can help with. What ever choice you make, congratulations for deciding to dive into a career you feel you could enjoy. Good Luck
Matt

 

[marissa sabatino]

Sorry my question was so vague, I am openwater certified and I want to work with sharks. Thank you for all of the responses

 

[CamG]

Greetings marissa and welcome to SB! That is very awesome to have a desire to work with sharks and continue your diving. Go for it! It sounds like you have gotten some great leads so far. I just beg of you for one thing....please share your adventures with us. It would be my dream to do what you are proposing. I want to encourage you to start now and steadily move to achieve your goal. Remain focused relaxed and ready to make the move to see it through. We are in need of individuals like yourself to lead the future of our oceans. It gives me great hope to hear of your desire to study and use your diving skills for that pursuit. Good luck and keep us posted.
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[rstofer]

Sorry my question was so vague, I am openwater certified and I want to work with sharks. Thank you for all of the responses

It's still vague..

You want to become a marine biologist? You want to work in an aquarium or some place like Sea World? You just want to dive down and hang around with them?

Diving is a form of transportation, nothing more. It just takes you to work (if you work under water), much like a car.

So, EXACTLY what do you want to do?

There are a lot of recreational diving classes you can take (see PADI The Way the World Learns to Dive? - Find Scuba Diving Lessons, Scuba Certifications, Dive Shops, Dive Resorts, Scuba Gear, Scuba Diving Trips and Vacations, Scuba Diving Careers) but they are still just for recreation. Some aquariums will let you clean their tanks if you have AOW. Oh, and they don't pay for it.

There are many technical diving classes for longer and deeper dives. But, again, these are primarily for recreation.

Then there are the working or commercial divers. They work on oil rigs and other types of underwater construction. This is very hard work regardless of how well it pays. There are schools for this type of diving but my guess is that the field is filled with Navy trained divers.

Richard