Any SCUBA enthusiasts in the house? Recommendations for dive shop and certifications. | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any SCUBA enthusiasts in the house? Recommendations for dive shop and certifications.

Zoodles95

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Hi All,

Just got back from a wonderful week or sun and snorkelling in Cozumel. Another vacation where I pondered getting SCUBA certification while I was on vacation. I have been thinking of getting certified since I did one of those "discovery dives" about 10 years ago. Recession hit and now that I am above water again with money in my TFSAs I can afford to finally make this happen.

I live in south Guelph so commuting to one of the shops in Kitchener is an option. However, with the Victoria St. bridge getting chewed up soon for the highway 7 expansion it is going to be a big PITA to get there. Another option is to go to Hamilton or Burlington for my training. It seems to be that you do the online learning/classroom, followed by pool work and then hit the Quarry or local lake to finish it off.

We bought our Akona snorkelling gear many years ago from Groundhog divers in Kitchener and they seemed very competent and professional and it is cool that they have their own pool on-site which makes it easier to schedule stuff (which is handy since I drive a transit bus and work weird hours). Then again, the Float N Flag people in Burlington have a course in April which will coincide with my schedule.

I am curious to hear from people who have certified themselves via PADI and/or SSI and see what you thought. Most dive shops I have dealt with in my Caribbean vacations for Snorkeling trips seem to be associated with PADI. I have only done some initial research but it sounds like both organizations are well recognized and would be accepted. PADI just seems like the more "recognized" certification is all.

Anyone with experience with the dive shops in Hamilton, Burlington, or Kitchener?
 
I am PADI certified, my wife is NAUI. I think PADI is better, but if you are planning on stopping at open water or advanced, it probably doesn't really matter which large association your card is affiliated with. I have never had anyone balk at the PADI card, the few times my wife went down south on her NAUI card was also a non-issue.

I did my training through Dive Source in Whitby. I highly recommend them, but obviously the location is bad for you.

If you choose to get certified beyond advanced, always travel and dive with your advanced card. As your certifications increase beyond that, operators do annoying things like trying to get you to help them look after people that have no business diving. Trying to deal with people having panic attacks underwater and burning through tanks in after 10 minutes of bottom time is a waste of a dive (and you are not compensated for the dangerous situation that you had to deal with).

When picking boats for diving, a good first cut is asking if they carry oxygen on board. If they don't I look for another operator (not necessarily because I will need it, it is just a test to see how prepared they are if things go wrong).

After spending quite a while bobbing in waves while a boat looked for me, I now travel with my own sausage to make spotting me easier.
 
Thanks for the reply GreyGhost.

Some great info there and things to consider.

For now I plan to just get the initial Open Water certification. However, there are several other courses I can see as having merit such as Dry Suit, Night Diving etc. For now I just want to "get wet" so to speak and get my certification. Then research proper and good quality gear. Then do some dives this summer and fall and go from there.
 
Thanks for the reply GreyGhost.

Some great info there and things to consider.

For now I plan to just get the initial Open Water certification. However, there are several other courses I can see as having merit such as Dry Suit, Night Diving etc. For now I just want to "get wet" so to speak and get my certification. Then research proper and good quality gear. Then do some dives this summer and fall and go from there.
Tri city scuba is good, any thing but groundhog in my experience.
I also have a bunch of gear for sale if you want.
 
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Tri city scuba is good, any thing but groundhog in my experience.

Thanks. Groundhog is the one shop that is not PADI. They are SSI which seems to be pretty much the same except that I guess up to 20% of the course can be modified or done in a different order etc. It just seems that PADI is a "no brainer" in terms of universal recognition etc.

Too funny... I have a SCUBA enthusiast as a co-worker (albeit in a different work area) and he just messaged me as I am typing this and he recommended tri city over Groundhog as well. Not sure what the deal is but that is two people who know what they are talking about recommending tri city so if I choose to go Kitchener way it is going to be tri city.

Also looking at Float N Flag in Burlington but so far I cannot get any info.
 
I'm PADI as well, but did mine in Mississauga and then did the open water dives in Belize. Awesome experience!

The reason we did it off Belize is that it has the second largest barrier reef in the world next to Australia and the Belize Dive school was highly regarded by the folks that trained us in Mississauga and a solid 5 stars on Trip Advisor. We spent a week on a little island called Caye Caulker which in itself was amazing and relaxing. Very safe, good equipment and instructors who did not rush us at all - if anything they spent more time with us than required. Only 4 students too. http://belizedivingservices.net/

I got really close to giant sea turtle and I was surprised how giant it was yet so graceful!
 
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If you want to combine a vacation with scuba certification in world class diving waters then Roatan off the coast of Honduras is the place to go apparently. It used to be really cheap to do it there, way cheaper than Canada.
 
i'm ACUC certified, its a dead designation, but its recognized universally. Training is largely the same as Padi used to be. I went through Float n flag, back when it was the original owner, the training was very different , in a good way. The newer courses are designed to get more people in the water, I feel they are 'streamlined' , but I'm old .
I'm open water/nitrox cert, mixed gas was through SSI. Find a place that isn't a drive through window for training. Its a really safe sport, if you get good training.
I like the guys at Tri city, and I like the guys at Float n Flag.

I'm not a fan of 'resort certs' , I just dont think you get enough training to be safe.
 
I was in the area a week earlier, Cheers, lol!
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If I needed to do my scuba certification I would do all the classroom and prep work in Canada and then do the open water dives part of the certification in the Riviera Maya. Some recent TA info here.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...ya_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html#89312145
 
I did a "resort cert" in Turks & Caicos. It was the full PADI course, over several days, so I'm not sure why Crank isn't a fan.

The big difference for me, was that I didn't have to do my dives in a Quarry, Lake Ontario, or the St. Lawrence. They were done in warmer climes, where a wet suit was optional.

If time isn't too much of an issue, I can ask one of the Commercial divers in the area, if he knows anyone good in your vicinity.
 
If I needed to do my scuba certification I would do all the classroom and prep work in Canada and then do the open water dives part of the certification in the Riviera Maya.

I wouldn't.

a) I want my first dives with someone I know and trust (which you have with your canadian instructor)
b) Odds of needing medical attention in your first few dives are higher and I trust canadian healthcare more than mexican healthcare. People don't know how their body reacts to depth/tend to ascend too quickly.
c) I haven't done cozumel, but diving I did in RM had a ripping current and it would not be pleasant for a first dive and it would be a ***** to work on buoyancy or maneuvering as it was like running through an obstacle course with things coming up fast and furious. Another downside to the drift was there is no nice rope to ascend/assist in a safety stop. Trying a free ascent/hover on your first few dives is asking for trouble.
d) Saltwater in your mask really sucks. It is nice to get the hang of diving and mask leaks without having your eyes burning.
 
I did a "resort cert" in Turks & Caicos. It was the full PADI course, over several days, so I'm not sure why Crank isn't a fan.

That sounds like it would be OK. The resort certs that Crankcall probably dislikes (I know I do) are the super sketchy rip through the material, hop on the boat, come up when you get to 1000 psi courses because people want to be certified in a day or less. A proper course should use up the better part of a week by the time you have classroom/shallow dives/dives at depth.
 
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Look at #9 https://www.sportdiver.com/10-best-scuba-diving-destinations-beginners#page-11

My sister is certified and my other sister has been to Roatan (one of the bay islands). I’d love to do it but I think the price of gear can add up quickly if you get into it in a big way. I have a couple of friends here who dive on wrecks in Lake Ontario and have their own gear that they take on vacation (minus tanks). Honduras or Thailand look like the best way to combine a vacation and get certified. Keep your eye on flight deals as Thailand has popped up for around $800 in the last few months. There’s always package deals to Roatan/Bay Islands too.

For flight deals look at YULdeals or YYZdeals and get email or Facebook notifications.
 
I wouldn't.

a) I want my first dives with someone I know and trust (which you have with your canadian instructor)
b) Odds of needing medical attention in your first few dives are higher and I trust canadian healthcare more than mexican healthcare. People don't know how their body reacts to depth/tend to ascend too quickly.
c) I haven't done cozumel, but diving I did in RM had a ripping current and it would not be pleasant for a first dive and it would be a ***** to work on buoyancy or maneuvering as it was like running through an obstacle course with things coming up fast and furious. Another downside to the drift was there is no nice rope to ascend/assist in a safety stop. Trying a free ascent/hover on your first few dives is asking for trouble.
d) Saltwater in your mask really sucks. It is nice to get the hang of diving and mask leaks without having your eyes burning.
I would and have done it, and am far from alone. None of your points were actual issues in my experience and there was rope ascent/descent. Lots of good info out there and lots of great dive shops in the RM with some research. But as always, YMMV.

Cheers
 
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I wouldn't.

a) I want my first dives with someone I know and trust (which you have with your canadian instructor)
b) Odds of needing medical attention in your first few dives are higher and I trust canadian healthcare more than mexican healthcare. People don't know how their body reacts to depth/tend to ascend too quickly.
c) I haven't done cozumel, but diving I did in RM had a ripping current and it would not be pleasant for a first dive and it would be a ***** to work on buoyancy or maneuvering as it was like running through an obstacle course with things coming up fast and furious. Another downside to the drift was there is no nice rope to ascend/assist in a safety stop. Trying a free ascent/hover on your first few dives is asking for trouble.
d) Saltwater in your mask really sucks. It is nice to get the hang of diving and mask leaks without having your eyes burning.

I imagine there are people who have success using both methods/avenues to getting their qualifications.

When I did my "intro/discovery" dive way back then I quickly learned that there is more to SCUBA than just swimming and moving. I got a bit confused with my buoyancy device and found myself literally sitting on a piece of fire coral. Darn that stung! I tried vinegar etc but had some nice blistering. That was about 10 years ago I think on our first visit to Aruba.

I figure I would rather do my open dives while the knowledge is still fresh in my mind and while I would obviously prefer to be around beautiful fish and coral there are spots to dive here in Ontario and if I choose to advance my skills and do diving in Tobermory then some experience with cold lake water would be beneficial. And, I figure that I will do a minor "recert" sort of thing when I go south again to acquaint myself with salt water SCUBA.

And yes, salt water in the eyes sucks. Despite doing my best to avoid this I got salt water in my eyes a few times last week. Part of the deal with spending time in the Ocean...
 
Coral is interesting stuff.....if you want to drill home a lesson about not touching unknown corals look up “palytoxin” although that’s more serious if you have open wounds.
 
Lol, you guys are soft. Salt water in the eyes? I used to open my eyes under water while swimming around.
 
I'll clarify, the resort certs I dont like are as GreyGhost said, slam dunks , morning in the resort pool and we are open water diving after lunch. Introduction to diving in open water where the brochure says , you don't have to know how to swim!!

There are lots of options and yes, they are all different. I'd gladly swim in warm salt water anytime over Tobermory. A good option is do your class room and pool training in Canada, then go with your dive shop/instructors on a dive trip south for the open water dives. Shops like Dive Academy in Oakville ( the ex partners of Float n Flag) do trips south all the time. Its not cheap, but ....

If your new to diving, and with people that are new to diving, I can almost guarantee there will be someone in the group that cant figure out how to clear their ears, stop the mask from flooding or just have a small panic attack because they dont know they are claustraphobic. You want to be with capable dive guides (masters) and people you trust.
 
and I don't want to sound like I'm harping on this, but if you don't travel with your own regulator. At least only dive in certified and inspected resorts, SSI are good ones, equipment needs to be serviced. And dont buy gear off kijiji unless you know what your doing. In many places , regs may not see annual service, the gear looks like the 70's.
 
I tried it a few years back but I eventually decided that skin diving was a lot more convenient.

At one point TAM dive seemed to be the best shop in Toronto for hardcore/advanced divers. I got lots of hits for it on Google, but nothing that really showed for sure whether they were still in business.
 

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