lisa

I'll be staying at Sandals Halcyon for a week. I am thinking of taking a resort diving class. Is the class difficult, stressful, fun? I've never gone diving before. Is it too big an undertaking for only a week? Thanks!

Ron

Given that you have taken the step of expressing an interest in taking a resort course, I would definitely say go for it. My wife and I did one on our honeymoon the Caymans and got hooked. We were certified a year later and try to dive at as many travel destinations as we can. If you are confident without being foolish, diving is a great activity. I have only experienced the resort course we took but I imagine most are similar. You will spend the morning in the pool getting familiar with the equipment and some basic skills, then go on a relatively shallow dive (25-30ft) in the afternoon. Stay close to the instructor as he/she will point out things to see and will be there if you run into any trouble. Have fun!

Michel

Hi Lisa! I don't mean to burst your bubble but as a diver I've seen many people take these resort "crash courses". Since everything is jammed into only a few days, and since a lot of people simply aren't comfortable with the equipment, many do not enjoy their first experience. Many even vow never to try it again. My suggestion: Get certified before you go.

Lori

Lisa, take the resort course - you'll be hooked. If you can snorkel you can dive. I don't even snorkel that much and I did fine. We took the resort course in Grand Cayman this December and I loved it!!!!! I want to get certified now. It was initially pretty scary for me because I'm not that great of a swimmer but when underwater your weightless and you simply glide along. As a matter of fact, I found it quite difficult to stay down!!

Make sure the operator is PADI affiliated. As they have to follow PADI rules and apparently are allowed a maximum of five students per divemaster. They also can take you down to a maximum of 40 ft on your first dive.

The pool instruction is the morning is pretty basic - it's really eeerriee when you first put you head under water and start breathing - it's an experience. Once you past those basic tests, you can probably manage the open ocean. The instruction and pool took about three hours. We then went for our first dive ever, that afternoon. You follow down on a rope and stay very close to the instructor. We were only down for 20 minutes and we were too busy worrying about breathing calmly and not holding our breath, watching our gauges (although instructor watched them for us), equalizing our ears, etc. that it went really quick and you didn't think of anything else. There were some people in our group that were a little dissapointed because of how short it was. We opted to take the 2nd dive about 45 minutes later and it was absolutely incredible. We dove along a reef and were under water for 35 minutes. I can't explain the beauty and the feeling you experience while under water. The 2nd dive is what hooked my - to be honest if I didn't take that 2nd dive I probably wouldn't of wanted to take the certification now. The reason being - the 2nd dive we were a little more comfortable with our surroundings and equipment that we could concentrate on the underwater beauty and wildlife and not worry about every little thing. It was also a lot easier to stay down on the 2nd dive.

To make my very long story short - do take the resort course and do go on the 2nd dive. It'll be one of your most memorable experiences.

Lori

jackie

Lori,

Which course did you take and how much did it end up costing you (including 2nd dive which sounds essential). We're going next month to GC and my 14 yr old wants to try it.

Thanks

Lori

Actually, we got a great deal with our diving on Grand Cayman. We found a coupon in the Destination Cayman magazine they give you on the airplane and both of us were able to take the resort course for $150.00US ($75 each) with Treasure Island Divers. They are located on 7mb and close to Georgetown. The second dive cost $35 US each so total damage for an entire day of diving for two was $220.00 US - which I guess isn't that bad for Grand Cayman!!!

Have fun!

parrotfish

It is a good way to find out whether or not you are actually interested in getting certified. Many years ago I got a free intro scuba course [just dove in the resort's salt water pool, less than 10 feet deep], but I loved it, and finally got certified. I have also watched courses at various resorts where people have put on the gear in the pool, sat down on the bottom, came right up and ditched the gear because they were claustrophobic, really didn't like being underwater, etc, etc. Better to find out that you don't like it BEFORE you spring for a real certification course [in both time and money].

A resort course should be fun and I would encourage you to try and hopefully join the rest of us in that great underwater world.