Where to get scuba certified in GVRD?
 

The wife and I have booked tickets to Japan in March and we are planning to do some diving in Okinawa.

Since we are only planning to have 5 days on location, we would like to get certified locally for Open Water so we don't have to waste time there and can do some diving right away. I don't have any previous diving experience except snorkeling years ago, and wife is even less water-worthy than me.

We did consider just snorkeling at Japan but it seems that the experience will be much better if we are diving. (yes/no?) The initial investment is quite expensive so cost is certainly a factor.

Anyway, does anyone have recommendations for scuba schools in the GVRD area? And while we're at it, any good pointers regarding diving/scuba/learning in general for a newbie? Thanks!

I don't know much abut the reefs in Japan, but I am SO jealous!!! :eek: You're going to see some crazy stuff that can't (legally) be exported from Japan. The only advice I can give is to choose your dive company in Japan carefully, just like anywhere else.

Around here it's about $300 for the certification and you have some pool dives, some class time, and then you have to go to open water (a lake) and do the "Completion". When you do the completion you need to own your own mask, snorkel, and fins (about $200-300 for a decent scuba-worthy set). Here the lakes are freakin cold, so you also have to own wet suit gloves and boots (another $100). The rental for the gear for the completion (wet suit hood, 2 pc wet suit, tanks, BCD, weights, etc) is another $200.

I just did the Advanced Open Water a couple weeks ago. The deep dive we went to 86 feet (we're at elevation here, so it's an altitude dive and considered deeper), and it was 13C. Froze me arse off. I saw some big Lake Trout in the night dive too. :D

It's not like you won't be seeing anything getting your open water overseas.

Did my classroom and pool work here then open water in the Philippines. Did the skills checks then swam around the reef, same on second dive.

Closest to you would be Dive and Sea Sports. if you want to dive locally as well (I highly recommend it as we have some amazing life and diversity in our waters too) then I would add on the drysuit certification. The costs are actually more, about $500 to get your open water cert and another $140 or so for the drysuit cert I think? But check with the shop. I did mine with Ocean Pro in South Surrey and they had a Groupon so it saved me $150.

The cool thing about learning in cold water is that it is more equipment intense etc so when you do go dive in the tropics you will find it much easier.

That's a lot more than here! You'd think it would be the other way around.

I was certified at The Edge Diving in North Van, but it has changed ownership a couple of times and is operating under Sea to Sky Scuba. I'm not sure what it's like now as far as courses. Generally your experience will depend on the instructor(s) you end up with. If you can get into a smaller class, the better you off you are. Getting a little more personalized attention is not a bad thing. Karen and Otto who trained me and my wife are still as Sea to Sky and they were awesome.

The cost is a factor and it's something that if you aren't going to commit to diving locally afterwards, don't buy a lot of gear. Stick with a proper fitting mask. There is nothing more frustrating than having your mask leak constantly on a dive. All your other gear is easily rented and most shops keep it in great shape.

If you are planning on diving a great deal, especially if you travel, consider your own regs. That's your lifeline underwater and you want to ensure it's in proper working order and has been serviced.

Other than that, the only thing I can say is to relax. You don't need to swim marathons and you'll miss a lot of small or interesting things. In Hawaii in January, if I had kept up with the dive guide I would have missed an epic battle between an octopus and a moray eel, who won.

You guys are lucky then. But we do have the ocean :) We did have a very good instructor to student ratio when i did it too. There were two instructors and two dive masters helping. Basically one teacher per two students. They taught us really well.

Yeah that's nice. When I did my Open Water there were 19 students, 2 instructors, and the completion had 8 students, 1 instructor, 3 dive masters. When I did the Advanced Open Water there were 2 of us in the class and pool, and I was solo for the completion. Just me and the instructor. That was awesome. He said I was one of the most advanced Advanced students he's had, so we burned through the skills and got to tour around a lot. :D

Another piece of gear that's handy to own is a flashlight so you can look into little crevices and caves.

Cool. I haven't done my advanced yet. I think it's more a money grab by PADI for some divers. I've been diving lots and have gone out with very experienced buddies. And I'm pretty calm and comfortable underwater. Have now been down almost 90 feet and have done 1.5 night dives. I'm pretty comfortable navigating with my compass as well. The underwater photography skills are improving too :)

Guess the SCUBA police will be coming after me now :-D

And +1 on the flashlight. Super handy even during the day. You can get decent ones on Amazon for $30 instead of paying $200 plus at dive shops.

I think for most people, the Open Water is sufficient as most people don't dive without dive masters. I think furthering certification is a good idea for people who go on dive trips where they may be going in a group without any dive masters. There really isn't a lot of extra knowledge in the Advanced course. I think for many people though, taking the Deep Diver course is probably a good idea because many dive masters will take Open Water divers beyond the 60 ft limitation of the Open Water. I'm a big ole chicken, so there's no way in hell I would go beyond 60 ft without the extra training. :lol:

I did mine at ocean pro divers for $280 with a Groupon. I paid an additional $380 for the dry suit certification and a 6 month rental package. Totally worth it. ;)

Yeah, I figured the advanced doesn't teach much. I think it's designed to take divers to new limits under supervision and maybe expand on a couple skills. But it's really about comfort level. I was very comfortable diving from the start. I don't think you need a dive master necessarily. It's a matter of staying within your comfort limits and diving with people that you trust and following the rules. Stay with your buddy. Monitor your air. Don't ascend too quickly. Do your safety stops. I was diving to 70 feet pretty much right away because we would be at 60 and I would see something cool a little lower so we would go down and check it out, then come up again. And then it just slowly progressed from there. There's some cool stuff down around 80 feet in some areas that you won't see if you stick to 60. I've slowly worked my way down to 87. But really it's a matter of staying within your comfort zone and remaining calm. I find it easy because I love being underwater and feel pretty comfortable and relaxed.

That's basically what I did too. The 6 month rental package is an awesome deal if you use it. I've been making the most of it and diving one or two days every other week. It's been awesome seeing big wolf eels, shaking hands with octopus, getting face to face with big ling cod, swimming through big schools of perch and minnows, gliding over gardens of anemones...

Buying my own mask is what my coworker (I think he has the instructor license) suggests also, and my own snorkel. Should I get the items at the shops or find them online?

Ryan, what does a 6 month rental package get you? Seems like Ocean Pro is a good choice with good reviews and a decent price with the Groupon.

Mindy, I promise to take lots of awesome vids and pics to make you more jealous :lol:

Kidding aside, the place we're planning to go is Zamami, an hour's boat ride from Naha, Okinawa. Has anyone dived there or around there?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and advice!

I buy lots online (don't tell OPD :)). You can save lots of money that way, even with the current exchange rates. Leisure Pro is a very good online dealer and Amazon has some good deals too. And there's lots of great deals on used gear when you'e ready to start getting some. The Facebook BC Divers Buy and Sell group is a good one.

I say buy from the dive shop. The same as I advocate buying from your LFS rather than online. Then when you're looking for advice or you run into issues or you're in a pinch they will be happy to help. :)

Ok good! If I can't do it, then I want to live vicariously through you!

It gets you everything. Mask, snorkel, weights, weight pack, bcd, regs, fins, smb, computer, compass, drysuit, hood, gloves, boots, and tank(s). Everything you need to safely dive. The only thing it does not include is undergarments.

And I too am all about helping the local dive shops. But the reality is, they have ridiculously high margins on their products because they specialize. I've purchased used and new from every dive shop in the Vancouver area. I've done my part. ;D

I'm all for supporting the local dive shops and they got a good chunk of my money for the courses (and will get more) and will also get my money for service and air fills etc. But I'm on a single dad budget and can't afford to buy a bunch of new gear at full Canadian retail prices. So I save where I can buying online or getting deals on used gear from other divers so I can enjoy an activity that I love.

I can appreciate that, and think that buying used is probably your best bet. At least when you buy used equipment you aren't buying from the competition and then asking for help from the local shop. I've bought almost all my reef equipment used because I can't afford the new prices, but I wouldn't even consider buying something new online unless my local shop says they can't get it or don't want to deal with that particular supplier or some such scenario. :)

For mask/snorkel, any particular brands/models that you guys would recommend/avoid?

Fair enough :) However, I got a mask for USD $25 (60% off sale) which would have cost me $80 plus tax here. And a nice set of fins with spring straps for USD $55 on clear out. The same fins were CDN $140 plus tax here. So sometimes you just can't pass up deals like that. How many Canreefers bought Vertex skimmers from Bulk Reef Supply when they had their crazy sale? Same thing :)

Really it's more about fit and comfort. Pretty much all masks are good whatever the price (except maybe the super cheap consumer ones). Best bet is to go to a couple shops and try some on. If you put it on and breath in through your nose it should stick to your face without the strap on. I had a Mares mask I liked until I lost it. I now have an Oceanic Mako 2 mask and a Bare Duo mask and both are good. I've heard great things about the ScubaPro Spectra Trufit but it's pricey :)

Oh, and stick to a good set of regular blade fins. Split fins look cool but aren't very good for our waters and currents.

Pick whichever mask fits your face best. I prefer masks with clear sides rather than black because I feel I can see better. I'm not sure if I can.