Warm water destinations for checkout dives

[KathyV]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a dive outfit in Aruba and / or a place to stay?

I have never dived Aruba, it is not known as a great dive destination and most divers that are willing to go that far prefer Bonaire or Curacao. But Aruba is warm and shallow and they do have diving options, plus there are a lot of hotels and flights so that may work for you. Aruba is most well-known for wreck dives but I am sure that there are other options too. You should try searching in the Lesser Antilles forum (link below) for information about diving in Aruba, good luck.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/lesser-antilles/

 

[RJP]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a dive outfit in Aruba and / or a place to stay?

Do keep in mind - and this is neither good or bad - that check-out dives don't actually TEACH anything. That's not to say that you won't LEARN anything from the instructor, but all you really need them to do is watch YOU demonstrate the skills to THEM. The assumption is that you will have been taught well before being sent on your way with referrals in hand.

As Pete (NetDoc) points out, there are instructors such as him who will have a higher than average expectation of students that they are willing to sign off on. And if you want that... that's great. But for the most part, while you do want someone who is safe and a nice guy, with a well-run operation, all you is someone who can verify that the kids can comfortably and reliably repeat the skills you've been taught in the pool... and any PADI shop will do. (ie: if you get a good rate on rooms at the Aruba Marriott and they have a dive op on site... go ahead and use them. They're likely to be perfectly fine and the convenience factor (and related stress reduction) will be as valuable in having a good experience as driving across the island to use some other shop because an anonymous stranger on the internet suggests diving with BlackBeard Bob's Divers Den & Distillery or whatever.)

On the other hand... if you get a REALLY great room rate and want to have a talented, tall, good-looking (and modest) instructor fly down to a warm Caribbean island and do the check-outs... I know a guy who'd be happy to help.



Interestingly

 

[beanojones]

Do keep in mind - and this is neither good or bad - that check-out dives don't actually TEACH anything. That's not to say that you won't LEARN anything from the instructor, but all you really need them to do is watch YOU demonstrate the skills to THEM. The assumption is that you will have been taught well before being sent on your way with referrals in hand.

I beg to disagree with that strongly.

Most pool sessions taught by most instructors could be just consider a long master class in how to get in trouble in the ocean on entries and exits

Confined Water Description: "Spend time standing in water in fins with the mask off and the airway completely unprotected, jabbering endlessly."

That describes the way most instructors teach the confined section of open water. That is also a fair description of how to near-drown someone on entries and exits in many shore dives (and even boat dives) around the world.

But that is not the point of the thread.

The point of the thread is how to get kids certified without colding them out of diving. The answer is contained in the question.

Dad, find them wetsuits that fit, even if it means custom made suits, and buy them.

And then start thinking about how to spend the other $1500-4000 on plane tickets, hotel rooms, parking, food, and scuba classes.

Dad, you are backwards thinking about how to save money on wetsuits because you know they are going to grow out of them in a year which means they will likely only wear them once.

So what?

You are going to be spending way more on everything wihout a second thought, and you are nickel and diming on what you yourself know to be the most important issue.

Your answer is spend the money on suits that fit. They can always layer over some crappy extra rental suits over a good fitting suit.

 

[AdivingBel]

I beg to disagree with that strongly.

Most pool sessions taught by most instructors could be just consider a long master class in how to get in trouble in the ocean on entries and exits

Confined Water Description: "Spend time standing in water in fins with the mask off and the airway completely unprotected, jabbering endlessly."

That describes the way most instructors teach the confined section of open water. That is also a fair description of how to near-drown someone on entries and exits in many shore dives (and even boat dives) around the world.

Ummm...my instructor didn't teach in this fashion. Please take the "most instructors" portion with a HUGE grain of salt. YMMV

 

[RJP]

I beg to disagree with that strongly.

Most pool sessions taught by most instructors could be just consider a long master class in how to get in trouble in the ocean on entries and exits

Confined Water Description: "Spend time standing in water in fins with the mask off and the airway completely unprotected, jabbering endlessly."

That describes the way most instructors teach the confined section of open water. That is also a fair description of how to near-drown someone on entries and exits in many shore dives (and even boat dives) around the world.

A.) Wasn't my experience taking OW
B.) Hear that sentiment a lot, but don't know a hundred or more divers... none of whom had that experience taking OW
C.) Know dozens of instructors, but don't know any that teach that way

This is why I said "The assumption is that you will have been taught well before being sent on your way with referrals in hand."

If they were NOT taught well (and the OP dad is a diver, so will know) then they have a different issue at hand.

---------- Post added March 14th, 2015 at 07:34 PM ----------

they are going to grow out of them in a year which means they will likely only wear them once.

This is a good point. The fact is, if the suits don't fit well... the kids may have a crappy OW experience which causes them to not enjoy diving. This could ALSO result in them only wearing the suits once, but having nothing to do with fit of the suit.

 

[SteveInMD]

OP here. I really appreciate all the perspective angles brought up here. Fortunately I think my kids do have a really solid and thorough instructor in the pool. I don't intend for the learning / skills practice to stop at the end of the class. I have continued my scuba training and expect my kids to do the same. I would really like to get them good fitting wetsuits but I'm not sure I can make it happen fast enough. I knew the process to get them would be slow, but it's exceeding my expectations for slowness. I started it weeks ago. So we going to punt and head for Aruba. I'd love to go to Bonaire; I have gone diving there in the past, but another layover adds too much time to the flights in this case.

Currently I'm looking at Happy Divers Aruba and Dive Aruba foe the checkout dives. Please let me know if you have other suggestions.

 

[boulderjohn]

OP here. I really appreciate all the perspective angles brought up here. Fortunately I think my kids do have a really solid and thorough instructor in the pool. I don't intend for the learning / skills practice to stop at the end of the class. I have continued my scuba training and expect my kids to do the same. I would really like to get them good fitting wetsuits but I'm not sure I can make it happen fast enough. I knew the process to get them would be slow, but it's exceeding my expectations for slowness. I started it weeks ago. So we going to punt and head for Aruba. I'd love to go to Bonaire; I have gone diving there in the past, but another layover adds too much time to the flights in this case.

Currently I'm looking at Happy Divers Aruba and Dive Aruba foe the checkout dives. Please let me know if you have other suggestions.

I dived with Dive Aruba a a number of years ago. I don't know if it has changed since then, but when I dived there it was essentially a one man operation. It was great for more experienced divers who do not need much attention. Unless he has picked up more staff, though, I am not sure how he would handle instructing kids if he has other customers as well.

 

[pedo]

OP here. I really appreciate all the perspective angles brought up here. Fortunately I think my kids do have a really solid and thorough instructor in the pool. I don't intend for the learning / skills practice to stop at the end of the class. I have continued my scuba training and expect my kids to do the same. I would really like to get them good fitting wetsuits but I'm not sure I can make it happen fast enough. I knew the process to get them would be slow, but it's exceeding my expectations for slowness. I started it weeks ago. So we going to punt and head for Aruba. I'd love to go to Bonaire; I have gone diving there in the past, but another layover adds too much time to the flights in this case.

Currently I'm looking at Happy Divers Aruba and Dive Aruba foe the checkout dives. Please let me know if you have other suggestions.

JADS on the south side of the island by Baby Beach is a good outfit for new divers. They are kind of far from the big hotels but will pick you up, as will most of the dive ops. I also went out with Aqua Windies and they were great. Centrally located near the hospital I recommend them. I think you will feel very comfortable with them.

 

[RJP]

Just a thought to open options. My inlaws in your area will often drive/train to the Philadelphia airport to take advantage of more plentiful, less-expensive, direct flights to the Caribbean. Depending on where precisely you live it might be worth looking into. Even train: Baltimore 30th St Station in Philly, then 30th St Station direct to Airport is under an hour and a half... and will cost less than parking at a DC airport. Just a thought.

 

[SteveInMD]

I appreciate all of the suggestions. Departing from Philly is a good idea, but I was able to get a decent price on direct flights from BWI. We're all setup to dive with Raoul from Diver's Request. I've read lots of good reviews of him. Hopefully they are accurate.