Planning to get my PADI Open water while vacationing in Hawaii

[purplegorilla]

Well, I bought my tickets to go to Hawaii this beginning of September. Just wondering if anyone know a good place to get certified..I searched and found this particular place but not sure if he is legit. The price was reasonable and of course reading their site, they claim to be have the best intructors to student ratio..

http://www.reefpirates.com/index.htm">http://www.reefpirates.com/index.htm</a>

I spoke to the owner on the phone and he sounded really nice. However, I just hate the bait and switch and etc...

Can someone tell me usually how long does it take each day. I will be going with my wife for 5 days and I dont' want to sign up something that will take up most of the vacation. My wife won't be taking the courses.

 

[stroid]

i did my course this past weekend.... my scheduale was 6-10pm Friday night in the classroom. 8-5pm on Saturday half in the pool half in the classroom. 8-12 on Sunday in the pool. I still need to take my certification test which takes two days from what I understand because you need 5 dives and you have to spread it out over two days. Atleast thats how they do it at Pelham and down in Florida. Hope this gives you an idea. They may have an accelerated course for vactioners.

 

[roundman]

When I did it I did all of my class work here and then just did my open water dive in Mexico. I would recommend that so you don't spend your vacation in a classroom. If you go and see Jack at Divers Supply in Marietta I am sure they could work something out for you.
Good Luck

 

[stroid]

yeah that is probably your best good suggestion Roundman

 

[purplegorilla]

Parf of the reasons why I cant' take it here is because most of the courses are based on weekends in which i work (Sat)..

 

[roundman]

I am sure Jack can work something out. I travel and took a private class that was when I wanted to. Just worked it out with the instructor. A little bit more but worth it.

 

[dkelly]

roundman;70386 wrote: I would recommend that so you don't spend your vacation in a classroom.

I'd 2nd this suggestion! Where in Hawaii are you staying? I dove Kona and Maui a couple of years ago.

 

[linda lee]

got extra room in your suitcase for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Of course, if you tell airport security that your suitcase contains a reefer, that might get you 3-7 years...

 

[purplegorilla]

dkelly;70462 wrote: I'd 2nd this suggestion! Where in Hawaii are you staying? I dove Kona and Maui a couple of years ago.

We're going to Honolulu because the wife is more interested in shopping, eating in Waikiki.

 

[purplegorilla]

leveldrummer;70460 wrote: ooo, get some corals and mail them back!!

Is that legal?..Because if it is, you can be sure I'd be boxing it up and overnighting them. You think the airline will get suspicious if I go on a vacation with a pick axe and tons of plastic bags. ?

 

[kmitch]

You can do private classes at most places, including Divers supply. Your open water checkout dives must be done over two days (per PADI). I am not sure how hes fitting the whole course into 3 days-- that seems pretty rushed to me. This is a sport based on safety and surviving in a foreign environment, I personally would be cautious of doing the whole cert. in 3 days.....

Regarding the small class size-- while that is nice, it is also a funny red flag in my head-- heres why. PADI requires a max of 10 people in a class, and 10 people is alot in a class, but instructors and businesses alike are modivated to get as many people in a class as possible. If you do the breakdown in terms of # of hours required versus pay, most instructors make minimum wage in a full class of students, so less than min. wage (with regard to hours worked) in a small class. I suspect that there is another limiting factor in class size (such as boat size) because as a business they would want to get as many people in as possible. Obviously this is not ideal for the consumer, but a concern as a business. I suspect that he limits classes to 6 so he can fill the boat with already cert. divers-- shops make ALOT more on charters than classes.

My .02

 

[kmitch]

I just reread what hes doing-- hes doesnt appear to be offering the checkout dives portion of the class..... As a divemaster I dont see how he's offering a full OW cert in 3 days without breaking standards......

 

[kmitch]

Ok sorry to keep posting in a row-- I need to get all my thoughts organized into one post!

If you like the idea of splitting up the cert, do the class work locally and take a referral to Hawaii and do your checkout dives there. You can also find a list of other padi facilities by going to

 

[skriz]

purpleGORILLA;70592 wrote: Is that legal?..Because if it is, you can be sure I'd be boxing it up and overnighting them. You think the airline will get suspicious if I go on a vacation with a pick axe and tons of plastic bags. ?

It is illegal to take anything from Hawaii. NO sand, rock, leaf....nada!

As legend has it, if you take anything, you are taking a part of the godess (forget her name) and she will haunt you with bad luck until her parts are returned. True story