Just finished the classroom/pool portion of the PADI OWC. It was Great! Didn't have really any difficulty with the skills. The hardest part was getting used to all the new sensations(hearing, communication, ect.), and buoyancy control. Had a small class of 4 with an Instructor and a Dive Master. Got to practice all the skills several times which was great, and had extended time to practice buoyancy. I am going to Cancun in 2 weeks and wanted to do my Open Water part there. Can anyone recommend a PADI shop in Cancun? I can see how this could get to be addicting and I haven't even been in the ocean yet!
Open Water
- Thread starter sbet
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Jester
Guest
Sorry, can't help you with the Cancun information, but I might suggest you complete your OW here in the U.S., so you can then just dive when you get to Mexico. You're going to see so many things, it'd be a shame to waste them on things like mask clearing, CESA, etc.
Whatever you decide, enjoy your diving and dive safe!
Whatever you decide, enjoy your diving and dive safe!
Agree with Jester. If you can get it done before Cancun, do it. Two days of check out dives will take up a lot of valuable dive time. But if you can't, since it's coming up pretty quick and it's cold where you're at, try the Mexico forum for advice on an LDS.
The shop that does your referal will most likely be able to put you in the water on a shore dive to do your navigation and skills review. Myself and the people I have worked with over the years never ended up missing any dive time. Sitll able to do the 2 tank morning dive and 1 tank afternoon that seems to be the norm for Cancuan Cozumel operators.
Once you get that little 30 minute thing out of the way the rest of the AOW fits in with what the others on the boat are doing anyway. Deep Dive, Boat Dive, Drift Dive
pretty much gets you through your requirments for the course
Once you get that little 30 minute thing out of the way the rest of the AOW fits in with what the others on the boat are doing anyway. Deep Dive, Boat Dive, Drift Dive
pretty much gets you through your requirments for the course
LC-Rider
Guest
Sorry, can't help with the dive ops in Cancun but there are plenty of them down there.
Did the same thing last year doing my pool & theory in Calgary and then the OW referral dives while on vacation 45 minutes south of Cancun at Dive Aventuras at Peurto Aventuras.
The skills testing on the dives only took up maybe 15 or 20 minutes of the dive and the rest of the time was spent diving around the reef for another 1/2 hour or so.
The first couple of dives were done with one other student and the other 2 dives were just myself and the instructor.
After the OW certification, I managed to do another couple of dives with the shop and went out with 4 others and a DM.
The group was small and it was a fantastic experience.
All the dives were boat dives that were maybe 5 to 10 minutes from the dock.
I am headed back down there again in 2 weeks time for 2 weeks and will be doing some more diving but with the Bahia Divers which are located at the BP Akumal resort.
Best thing to do would be to search the PADI website for the dive shops and send out some emails to find out how their referral instruction is structured.
One option, if there is nothing in Cancun, would be to hop a taxi down to one of the other shops along the Riviera Maya coastline.
PDC is only about 3/4 of an hour out of Cancun.
Good luck with the OW and dive safe,
Tom
Did the same thing last year doing my pool & theory in Calgary and then the OW referral dives while on vacation 45 minutes south of Cancun at Dive Aventuras at Peurto Aventuras.
The skills testing on the dives only took up maybe 15 or 20 minutes of the dive and the rest of the time was spent diving around the reef for another 1/2 hour or so.
The first couple of dives were done with one other student and the other 2 dives were just myself and the instructor.
After the OW certification, I managed to do another couple of dives with the shop and went out with 4 others and a DM.
The group was small and it was a fantastic experience.
All the dives were boat dives that were maybe 5 to 10 minutes from the dock.
I am headed back down there again in 2 weeks time for 2 weeks and will be doing some more diving but with the Bahia Divers which are located at the BP Akumal resort.
Best thing to do would be to search the PADI website for the dive shops and send out some emails to find out how their referral instruction is structured.
One option, if there is nothing in Cancun, would be to hop a taxi down to one of the other shops along the Riviera Maya coastline.
PDC is only about 3/4 of an hour out of Cancun.
Good luck with the OW and dive safe,
Tom
HowieDean:
It sounds like sbet needs to do all 4 check out dives, not just a skills assessment dive. That means at least one entire day (due to PADI's 3 training dives a day limit) and a morning dive lost in Cancun. Yes, there are instructors out there that will complete the OW requirements in one dive and have the student log 4, not the way to start out diving.
As far as completing the skills set in 10-15 minutes and touring the rest of the dive--that's if there are no problems and it's a small class. If there happens to be a student in the class that needs extra attention, it could cut into the tour portion of the dive. It could even cut out the tour portion. I wouldn't want to take that chance on a dive vacation.
Thanks for the input. I do need all four Open Water dives. The trip to Mexico was planned before the Scuba, so it isn't a dive trip per se. I just thought it would be a great place to do the Open Water, although getting that out of the way before would be nice. Unfortunatley the the next one here is the week I am in Mexico. Oh well. Thanks for the direct to the Mexico board, I'll give it a go.
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