Newbie...certifying in cancun in 10 days

[suprspi]

Hi All,

I'm Jeff. My wife and I are from Central British Columba, Canada. We have dived twice in Cancun through "Discover Scuba" courses with Mimi @ Manta Divers. Both trips we did one 30' dive at the underwater museum and 1 30' dive at a nearby reef. Both trips were fantastic.

Last year we bought an underwater point & shoot so I was able to do some video and stills - I run a business as a portrait and wedding photographer but UW photography is pretty new to me.

We have almost completed our e Leaning through PADI, and will do our pool and 4 OW dives when we're down there, again with Manta.

We've had great experiences so far, and I'm really looking forward to going a bit deeper, mostly because I want to see something a bit different than what we've seen. The amazing thing about diving though is that even repeat visits are always a bit different. The first trip (3 yes ago) we saw an eel and a shark, a couple of turtles and lots of other wildlife. Last year a highlight was a (manta?) Ray which I followed for a short bit and got decent video of.

Any suggestions on where to ask for 60' dices there? Usually our DM asks if we want to dive anything particular, but I don't really know the lay of the land, or sea, as it were.

Also, any tips and tricks for my wife, who is a bit nervous about the UW mask removal and clear portion?

Also, I've not seen a solid answer anywhere, do we have to do a 30' free dive as part of the course? Is that difficult? I can do a 12' free dive easy enough, w/o fins.

Further, am I correct that you only need a wreck course if you plan on doing penetration dives, not just views or surveys or whatever the appropriate term is?

---------- Post added January 16th, 2015 at 02:22 PM ----------

Another quick question. Our town is at 44m, or 1555ft. If I were to lake dive here do I need a computer capable of altitude setting, or further info on working rdp tables to account for altitude? I guess I should check that out via Google too.

I don't think we are going to buy gear yet, being primarily vacation divers, but it may be a future consideration. I am excited to eventually dive in Vancouver, BC. I think the closest dive shops to us are about 500-600 km away, so further training not on vacation will be an issue. Owning gear to lake dive here could be cool, but I don't know if anyone else semi-local dives or fills tanks or anything.

Rambling. Time to stop.

---------- Post added January 16th, 2015 at 04:46 PM ----------

Just finished Section 5 and the final test. 98% overall, I got just one question wrong over all the tests! I'm pretty psyched right now, can't wait to get down to do my certification dives and get my card. Then....more diving of course!

 

[decompression]

Hey, Jeff. Certainly sounds like you've been bitten by the diving bug. Really don't worry about deeper dives yet, follow the guides instructions and they will always make an interesting dive. Your 4 open water dives will be filled with skills and just a bit of sight seeing so just do your best to learn. Hopefully, you've booked a few more dives after that and get to see a bit more. Sad there isn't a dive shop close, but you certainly could bring your masks to a recreational pool and practice mask drills, swimming with fins underwater and no mask. These things build confidence. The West coast is great but an entirely different type of diving, best to have a guide/mentor or take a drysuit or advanced diver course.

One thing in diving rings true.....nothing good ever happens fast. Take your time, enjoy and dive safe.


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[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

Congrats on your impending certification. To answer your question a 60 foot dive at 1555 ft ASL would be the same as a 62 foot dive. Personally I would run through an altitude diving course to understand the basics of physiology and dive planning behind altitude diving.

 

[suprspi]

@DiveRightIn - That's what I was thinking, altitude diver course would be a good one. For now I'm not worrying about buying gear, but when/if I do, I'll be doing a course to understand the physiology and physics (which I mostly understand...sorta) behind altitude diving.

@Decompression - Thanks for the welcome. We haven't planned any extra dives yet, but we may well do so. We want to get the cert dives done properly first. As to diving deeper, I really only meant past the 10m limit imposed by Discover Scuba, 18m is fine for me for now! My PADI test and course has consistantly reinforced that 18m is the limit. I know "training and experience" means eventually most dive deeper - but I'm not rushing towards that. As to West Coast diving, I figure I wouldn't need to re-do OW despite "similar or better than the conditions in which you trained", but getting a drysuit course and/or an orientation type course or something would go a long way to preparing us for diving in cooler waters.

I really appreciate the welcome. Nothing good ever happens fast - but eventually.