Newbie with a question

[champ198]

my Fiancé and I are planning on having our honeymoon in the Bahamas at one of the Sandals resorts.
this resort has a Scuba certification class that is a full day and all gear is furnished and use of boats to go out to dive sites is furnished also.
my Brother is a Certified diver and has tried for years to get me to go get certified but I have never went through with it but have always wanted to do it. So my fiancé and I are thinking of taking the class at the resort to get certified.
my question that I had is on masks. I don't have the best eyesite so I wear contacts 99% of the time.
I have tried to swim with them in and it normally does not go well and I always loose one or both when underwater as I am a "open eyes underwater swimmer".
are there masks offer that are prescription I would assume? or do any of you experienced divers have some other options.

 

[CuzzA]

Yes you can buy a mask with prescription lenses and you should buy it before the trip. Perhaps even practice clearing your mask in a pool before you go as that is one of the biggest issues new divers have.

 

[tbone1004]

Rx masks are out there and they are awesome. Downside especially in bahamas is you will also need Rx sunglasses for the boat. You can wear contacts with diving masks though, I did for years. During your certification you will likely have to perform a couple of skills with your eyes open, but they aren't very long. I would recommend getting certified locally if at all possible.
The certification at the resort in one day is likely not a "real" scuba certification, i.e. you aren't certified to dive without being under direct supervision of an instructor. There is a thread in the I-to-I forum right now about whether open water can really be taught in 3 days and the general consensus is not well.

Where are you based? May have some good options in your local areas to learn to do this the right way before you head down, that way you can maximize your diving down there

 

[Birddog1911]

My wife and I got certified at Sandals Montego Bay, 11 years ago. Since it was new to me, I didn't really have a basis of understanding to recognize the quality of the instruction. Now that I'm a Divemaster candidate, I have a bit of a better understanding of what is quality instruction, and what isn't. I'll say this: I felt, and still feel, that the quality I received from my OW instructor was not the best, but it wasn't bad. I'm far more comfortable in the water than my wife is, and was, so I did not require really close supervision. My wife on the other hand, did. The instructor we had was attentive to her needs and concerns.

I cannot speak to how the OW certification down there takes place now, but I'm wondering if Champ is really talking about a Discover Scuba, as opposed to actual OW certification. Unless things have really changed, this is how it should go. You can sign up for the Discover Scuba Diving, which I'm pretty sure we paid for, and then if you choose to go on, they will credit the cost of it into your OW certification, if you choose to go that route. That's what we did. After that, diving is included at Sandals resorts.

Can't speak to the issue with contacts or a prescription mask, but I hope that you and your fiancé have a lot of fun, and join the world of diving!

 

[Neilwood]

I may be wrong but the certification looks like it is a "resort Certification" which appears to let you dive under the supervision of an instructor. This makes it in effect a glorified Discover Scuba Diving course. You will get the basics of scuba diving but will not get the certificate to allow you to go diving outwith the holiday or without an instructor present.

Personally though, I would take it, find out if you enjoy it (some strange folks don't like diving somehow) and then think about getting a full certificate when you return (or upgrading it while there).

Have a great trip

 

[OldPhotog]

Checkout SeaVisionUSA for your prescription mask needs. Read what TBone and Birddog said above about certification. They (and others) make good points

 

[paulithepin]

Checkout SeaVisionUSA for your prescription mask needs. Read what TBone and Birddog said above about certification. They (and others) make good points

I second the SeaVision recommendation, excellent product, but not cheap. I have been and continue to use their masks as my primary and my back up.

Sandals has a FAQ page that should answer most of your questions at Enjoy the Caribbean's Best Scuba diving at Sandals Resorts.. Looks like their "resort course" falls under the PADI Discover Scuba Diver Course and is only good for 2 weeks. This may be the introduction you need to see if diving is for you, and you could continue on to Open Water certification at the resort or complete at a later date.

I'm not sure I'd want to spend any of my honeymoon taking a class, so signing up for PADI eLearning Open Water class and doing your confined and Open Water check out dives at the resort may be a viable solution. That way you will be diving instead of being in class!

Congratulations, enjoy your honeymoon and safe diving!

 

[TMHeimer]

There is an active thread right now in Basic--"prescription dive masks". Still on page 1.

 

[Clayton122]

I am also a wearer of contacts. Its not an issue with a mask on. While it may be an issue with your eyes open under water, with your mask on you have a open air space around your eyes. The only time that will change is when you do mask clearing exercises. I just keep my eyes close when I clear my mask.

Also, your resort course will not make you open PADI/NAUI. It will make you an Adventure Diver I believe its called? I could be wrong on this. It limits you to diving down to 40 feet ( my adventure dive instructor the first time was comfortable with me though and we went a little deeper ), and you can never dive without an instructor present. Which wont be an issue on your Dive in thise case. But it wont certify you to go out diving with your brother for example on a trip somewhere. For that you need to get your open water certification. That will require you either read a big book. OR you can take a class on it. Take a 50 question test, and then complete a series of 4 pool dives and some surface skills, and then 5 open water dives.


Once I did my adventure dive I was hooked and knew for sure I wanted to dive, so I went on to get the open water certification. If you love it, I imagine you will do the same as me.

 

[elmo]

I have worn contacts for each one of my 300+ dives and have never lost one. Those dives include lots of mask off skills in divemaster and technical training. They are disposables, so if I lost one i wouldn't be too upset.
Prescription masks work too, but if you have an astigmatism like me it is a less straighforward process.
As for a 1 day "course", consider it a taster, it will not certify you for anything. By all means try it, but don't be deluded that you'll get a real certification. Unfortunately operators can be misleading in this respect. Open Water certifications will allow you to dive with a buddy, and usually take at least 4 days. Sometimes offered over 3 days if you do all the theory online beforehand. It's a good idea to get to know your local dive shop, but there's nothing wrong with doing the course on holiday.