Never dived before.. Advice needed (Red Sea)

[Brian Sharpe]

I'm going to toss in my 2 cents as a newly certified OW diver.

A few years ago we were at a resort in Jamaica and I was tempted to do their 2 day certification course. Lucky for me I answered the question regarding blood pressure honestly and, in the absence of my doctor's note they would not run the course (thus showing a reasonable degree of professional ethics).

Fast forward to this year I was given the OW course for father's day and took it through my LDS. In addition to the self directed study we spent well over 8 hours in class discussing the theoretical aspects and about 12 hrs in the pool practicing skills and then did the 4 OW dives over a 2 day period. For the OW dives we had an instructor and 4 DMs for a group of 8 aspiring divers.

In retrospect I'm glad I went the LDS route, I can't imagine how the material and skills could have been properly covered in a highly compressed time frame. You and your buddy's well being depend on the quality of training and your ability to apply what you've learned once you're in the water.

 

[maged_mmh]

if you went through the site in detail:

Three day scuba course

elearning PADI Open Water

The Quickest way to earn the PADI Open Water qualification. Complete all the knowledge development online before you arrive in resort, then demonstrate your understanding of the theory with your instructor and complete the water skills in just three days.
PADI eLearning is an online manual and video collection that you work through in the comfort of your home at your own pace. You can sign up for PADI elearning on the Ocean College website. The price includes tuition and hire of all necessary equipment, but does not include the cost of the log book, PADI certification or eLearning sign up fee $120.

Four day scuba course

PADI OPEN WATER COURSE - 4 Days - £ 199

Your instructor will assume that you have no advance knowledge of diving and that they will take you through each stage point by point, mixing theory and practice and explaining the details as you go. It is a complete, carefully structured course designed to teach you to be a safe, competent diver. The course is divided into three parts; classroom, confined water and four open water dives. During the course you will practice and master the skills that you will need as a diver, with your instructor devoting maximum time to teaching you fun, safe diving. This ensures virtually anyone in good health who is reasonably fit, can swim and is comfortable in the water can scuba dive.
The PADI Open Water Diver course is a complete, carefully structured entry level scuba diving course designed to take you from a non-diver with little or no prior experience to a certified diver. The qualification is recognised worldwide and is valid for life.
The programme consists of five classroom sessions, five confined water/pool training dives and four open water (sea) divers. During the course you will practise and master the skills that you will need to be a safe and competent diver, with your instructor devoting maximum time to teaching you fun and safe diving techniques. To ensure that you get the most from this course we recommend you read through the course manual prior to arriving in resort as this will enable your instructor to streamline the course for you and enable you to maximise your enjoyment and diving opportunities while on holiday.
The following sample programme shows how the course fits into a week's holiday.
Day 1. Two sessions in the classroom with a video introduction and a review of the manual, followed by two confined water divers in shallow water where you learn and practice fundamental diving skills.
Day 2. Three further classroom sessions and three additional confined water dives.
Day 3. Two open water dives from the shore or boat.
Day 4. Two further open water dives from the shore or boat.
The price includes tuition and hire of all necessary equipment, but does not include the cost of the course manual*, log book or PADI certification. You should purchase and review the manual prior to departure to enable you to maximise your diving time whilst on holiday.
*You can purchase the PADI manual from Explorers £21.50

which is inline with what mentioned here by other members.
it is not mentioned at all any promises to get certified in 2 days time

 

[Moraus]

Hey guys Very interesting posts. A little on how i got my ow. I was in Fiji for a holiday and done my theroy online through the E Learning. I was very suprised at how good this program was. with this i passed the written and then at the resort you go though a breifing which touches base with everything you learnt on line. Anything you didnt understand we went though. my issue was the dive tables in which they showed me then i reviews when i had time. then the pool dive you were showen how to assy the equipment parts testing etc. done my swimming test and then got into the pool dive which went for about an hr+ that afternoon i done my first dive which was more a getting use to the conditions there was no testing and was just a free dive. All my tests were done 1 on 1. the next few dives we done over the the days i was there so i was able to pick and choose when i want to go. could have done in 2 days but was good to spread it out.. Also i had to get a medical cert from the doctors saying that i was fit to dive.. hope this helps. Im heading to thailand in Feb 09 and may do my Advanced.. so in short i can see it taking 3 days + if you have to do the therory from the first page.

 

[Essexlad]

Hi everyone, first post here so please be gentle with me ....

My children and I just passed our PADI OW by way of a "Caribbean Quickie" (love that expression!) this summer in Cozumel, and I would like to just add to what others have been saying here. Originally we had been planning to do our qualification as has been suggested here - theory and skills in the UK later on this year, and then qualifying dives at a resort. However, when we got to our holiday resort this summer it turned out a dive school was literally 100 yards away on the beach where we were staying - it really was too good an opportunity to miss, and we ended up doing the course.

I didn't have a problem at all with the course - a LOT of emphasis was placed on safety throughout the course, and the instructors were great. The instructors spent a lot of time with people who were struggling with skills, and nobody got to dive until they were sure they were competant. Since my family are all strong swimmers who are very comfortable in and under the water we all got through the course in what might be considered a short time. But because we passed all the skills first time without a problem, we never got asked to do them again. And that is my real concern: if I, say, had my mask kicked off at depth and had to do it for real would I be able to repeat what I managed to do just the once under training with advance warning?

We did several post-qualification boat dives, but I paid the instructor to dive with us as I didn't feel comfortable just dashing off into the wild blue yonder on our own despite the shiny new OW cards. And fantastic dives they were too, and we all had a wonderful time. However, now we are back in the UK I am in the process of signing us up with a very good LDS for a refresher on the pool work, a buoyancy workshop etc. I would emphasise that I do not have a problem at all with the training we received out there, but I think working through and repeating the skills over a longer period of time has GOT to be a much better way of learning properly.

Ultimately, of course, I guess it boils down to "you get what you pay for" - you cannot pay rock bottom prices and then expect to get tuition over and above the bare minimum laid down in the specifications.

 

[Seanpaul]

Actually not sure all of you read the link SiHH provided. The 2 day "Scuba Diver" Certification is a pre-entry certification not the Open Water Certification for PADI. Scuba Diver cert requires the first 3 Confined water dives, first 2 Open Water dives and first 3 Knowledge reviews of the OW Diver course. After achieving this you are only allowed to dive to a depth of 40 feet and only under the direct supervision of a PADI DM or Instructor. It is just a step above the resort course or Discover Scuba Diving program. You do not learn RDP for example. Oceans College has a good reputation here on the board (go to the Red Sea forum). If you think you will do the full Open Water Cert. (note the linked program calls for a 2 day extension) there is a good option now on line called Multimedia, where you can do independent study before arriving at your resort. Most of all diving is fun and the Red Sea is a wonderful place to learn so whereever you do it ENJOY!

 

[James Bond boat entry]

I am going to suggest Dahab, about 1 hour up the road from Sharm, the place is a lot cheaper and the diving is pretty good.

Dahab Hotels, Red Sea diving: beautiful sea-view hotels at bargain prices! Dahab Sinai Egypt Travel

 

[Tigerman]

WARNING: This post is colored by the fact that Im from Norway and most of my diving is done here. And it also stand a chance of insulting instructors from Egypt. Please bare with me as this is in part advice ive also gotten from experienced divers up here in the cold north as well as speaking to friends of mine who DID get their C-Card in Egypt (and have never since dived).

First off the diving in places like Mexico and Egypt is GREAT. Going there on dive vacation is supposedly also awsome. I can vouche for that as far as Mexico goes, I can not give a personal opinion on it as far as Egypt goes for a couple of weeks (YAY!).

The diving you will be doing in hot water areas like Mexico and Egypt is quite different from what you will be doing in the UK and other colder water areas. For once youll be wearing different suits, resulting in needing to carry less weight in hot water. There will also be quite different condition as to visibility, currents and so on. If you also plan to do freshwater diving, thats another thing to take into consideration that I dont think youll hear much of in Egypt.

A localized course (provided you have a decent instructor) will give you much more information with regards to specifics about the enviroment around the place you take the course.
Also (this is the part Egyptian instructors might not like to hear) the diving instruction in Egypt does not have the best of reputation. A friend of mine ran out of air and got no help from his buddy (not a big surprise) nor the instructor or DM who watched this happen. The SPG showed that he had air, but the needle was stuck so he didnt. The end result was that he paniced and bolted to the surface on one of the first dives he ever did. He have not dived since that week and he doesnt seem to be diving again anytime soon, because of a gear issue amplified by instructors that didnt take action and donated him air when he signaled he was out of air and needed it.

Of course there is good instructors around the red sea (which btw is in the middle east (africa), not europe), but you should be aware that if you choose to take your certification there that diving in the UK can be quite different from the red sea..

 

[bart73]

Hi,
I would suggest to take the whole course in the UK.
If you are comfortable there, with low vis, cold, .... , then it will be much easier in egypt. and you can enjoy your holiday even better.

 

[String]

Where are you planning on diving? Only abroad in warm waters or are you considering the UK as well ?

If you are considering ever diving in the UK i'd strongly recommend you learn there. They conditions are drastically different and while its simple to go from the UK to egypt to dive (its like a big warm swimming pool with fish) its NOT as easy to go from the red sea and adapt to the UK (cold, current, low vis, heavy gear). If you learn and are comfortable in the UK you'll be comfortable diving anywhere immediately. The reverse isn't true.

As others have said it maybe beneficial to do a referral course where you do the pool and theory work here and then only have to use 2 days of the trip abroad to complete the dives which leaves more time free for real diving.

The only downside of learning in the UK is due to the draconian HSE legislation the courses are going to be roughly 3-4x the price of abroad.

(i dont class the 2 day "scuba diver" course as a qualification as it doesn't allow you to operate without direct supervision. Its a profressional try-diver course)

 

[Scubadad1]

A PADI Open Water course in Sharm is generally 4 days and a repuatble dive school will turn you into a competent diver. Do pick one of the big ones, Camel, Emperor, Red Sea College or Ocean College (Explorers) and if I were you I would get my manual before you leave so you can read it and do the knowledge reviews before you arrive - less stress.

The general standard of instruction out here is very good, you get cowboys everywhere, but with a reputable school you will not have any trouble. Most will pick you up from your hotel and drop you back at the end of the day.

If you want a good package look at staying at the Camel Hotel - right in the centre of Naama Bay and good value. You're also right on site for the dive centre and of course the Camel Bar for the after dive drinks - in moderation of course.

Hope you get out here - it's well worth while.