jay357

I know Im bringing this back from the dead but there is no point in starting a new thread for it. I was wondering what all is involved in getting certified. I only have sundays off. Is this something I would have to take off work for or can it be accomplished in the evenings or what? I have no idea what it involves.

max671

2 or 3 days of classroom, don't remember, (two hour sessions) and one day of being in the water (I think 4-6 hours maybe), definitely something you can do in the evening. If you pay more than $99 then you're paying too much.

jay357

Thanks. Thats exactly the kind of info I needed. This is a lot cheaper then I would have expected it to be also. After Iam certified I can go on charters and rent equipment anywhere right?

Mr.2

i went to a place near arby's on mercury. i can't remember the name and i don't know what the cost was because i had a gift certificate, but i enjoyed the class and pool time.

JStab

As long as you have either your cert card or id (not sure if ssi offers the ability to check certs online, but i know padi does)

jay357

looks like the upped the price and hours required...I got this from the dive quarters website.

Requirements:
18 hours class/pool. 4 dives.
Prerequisites:
Students must be 10 years old to receive a PADI Junior Open Water certification and 15 years old for a PADI Open Water certification.
Costs:
Tuition: $149 (Includes books, certification card, rentals for class and open water use).
Student must provide fins, mask, snorkel, boots, gloves, weight belt, weight, hood, two passport-size photos and both audible and visual signaling device: Price varies.
Two days of open water diving: Prices vary.

JStab

18 hours is on par with what i had for my Padi cert.

149 isnt to bad, while it isnt 99.... It isnt the 275 that i almost paid before researching

max671

$149 kinda makes sense, I worked at a dive shop back home about 5 years ago and the price was $99, which seemed pretty standard, blame it on Bush, and the 18 hours sounds right, since it includes time in the water, which will be a good chunk of time, guess I'm just out of the loop.

sjfehr

I've got my basic NAUI cert, but have been considering an upgrade so I can dive deeper and at night when I get out to awesome tropical locales. (I usually have to work the whole damned time and don't have time to do much more than a token reef dive or two, letalone a formal dive course.) I know very little about PADI certification. What does it take to upgrade? Will any of my past dives count? I've been lucky enough that all my dives have been awesome tropical dives; is the water so cold any murky here that I won't even want to get wet?