Want to get certified ....

[Derek B]

I am going to be in Cozumel next April and want to do my course work and pool work in San Antonio and the remaining dives in Cozumel. Divemasters charges $150 for the course work and pool work. Is there a cheaper way to do this? Anybody have any suggestions?

[Derek B]

Josh, $250 - $275 is not bad. Divemasters was going to charge me $150 for the course work and I was going to pay $220 for 2 days in Cozumel to complete the dive. Total was $370, but there is definitely some entertainment value there.

[z28pwr]

I finished my Open Water Certification yesterday and paid $250 dollars for it at Oceans Window in San Antonio (www.oceanswindow.com) and the class was great, their instructors were very knowledgable.

The $250 included everything, equipment for the pool, Aquarena Springs, log book etc.



A big thumbs up for the staff at Oceans Window.

[Sherri]

I did my open water course with Divemasters at Medina Dam...argh! Yuk. Was so mucky you couldn't see 2-3 ft in front of you. So if Oceans Window is doing their open water course at Aquarena Springs, I'd pay extra! Never will I go diving at Medina or Canyon Lake again. In fact. Techgrad...I'm going to Cozumel mid next month. We have a great divemaster we use everytime we go down. He lives there and has over 20 yrs experience. He will prob do our Advanced Diving Course down there, but we want to play this time! If you want a good divemaster...let me know & I'll give you his name. Very personal care. He only takes out no more than 6 at a time I believe.

Sherri :D

[Jeff Post]

If you go to Maui instead on Cancun you can get certfied for about $150. Both my kids got certified there about a year ago and the training dives were all in the Ocean. It is the equivalent of getting 6 open water dives and certfication for the price. It took 3 full days with classes in the morning and 2 dives in the afternoon.

[Tim Marvin]

Austin is probably the cheapest around! $150 at most shops. I got my open water in 1983 and it was about $175 way back then in California.

[Derek B]

Sherri,

I wonder if the outfit I use in Cozumel is the same you use? We go with Antonio and Chellie from Eagle Ray Divers. They are awesome! I have done the snorkeling with them, but want to try diving. I am going to do part 1 with Ocean's Window or Divemasters and get a referral out to finish the cert with Eagle Ray in Cozumel. $150 for part 1 and $220 for the 4 dives in Cozumel. Not bad at all considering you would pay $50 a day for the dives in Cozumel anyway.

What happened to you is xactly what I am trying to avoid. I do not want to make my first open water dives in a murky river or lake. I will gladly pay the extra money to fly down to Cozumel and make it an awesome experience.

[utmachete]

Hey Tim is that guy still interested in teaching a class if we get enough people. Melissa said she wanted to do it because We're probably going to Belize on our honey moon.

[Tim Marvin]

I can run a class for $125 each if you have 4 people.

[Derek B]

Tim, Would the open water dive be in a crappy lake with 0 visibility or would we go somewhere decent? Where and how would we do the course work and pool work? I would be interested for $125. My wife would be too.

[Tim Marvin]

We have been checking out San Marcos as an option, but the current is a little too swift for an open water class. If you have a pool, we could do it there if not it would have to be in a lake.

[Derek B]

You can't do all of the course in a pool. Don't you have to do 4 open water dives? Lakes are out for me. I would rather do the course work and pool work in SA and get a referral out to finish up in Cozumel or something and pay the extra cash. I have talked to several people who did their open water dives in murky lakes and that is not appealing to me at all.

[Tim Marvin]

Yes you are required to do the open water dives to complete the course. Maybe we could do it in the San Marcos river. 30-40 foot visability, but the instruction part would be best in a confined water area. Let me see and I'll get back to you. We could also do a referral.

[Derek B]

Ocean encounter will do the whole deal for about $275, which includes the open water portion at Aquarena Springs. Tough to beat.

[Tim Marvin]

You need mask, snorkel, and fins. Other than that some rental equipment may be neccessary if we don't have your size. We have a bunch of equipment though so will probably have your size.

[Tim Marvin]

You can also check www.diveinn.com www.leisurepro.com for good prices on gear.

[TexasState]

There's two swimming pools here at my Apartment in San Marcos. One of them is located in the back of my apartment. It's usually empty. Weekend is the best time w/ the least chance of getting ticketed by the SWT parking service. There's some other restriction such as "Guest must be escorted in the swimming pools."

Several years ago, my ex-roommate used to show his friend how to dive in this same pool. We also had a different apt manager back then.

Please let me know if you guys want to schedule a weekend to use the swimming pools at my apartment so that I can help by "escorting" you. The pools is professionally maintained by a pool company.