Do you have to be certified?

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>>785600
Last year during the summer vacances I tried to do it but the guys there didn't let me do it because I had zero training, even though I'm in good shape and can swim pretty well. It was a fucking bummer but well at least I still got to see a shark that came swimming to the shore.

While I cannot answer your question directly, as a former diver I can highly advise that you get beginners experience and at least certify in something before you go. My first open water ocean dive was one I'll never forget but if I were an inexperienced diver on vacation, it would have been a whole different experience.

>>785600
Some dive shops will let you do a quick intro course and then you go dive. You don't get certified, but it's a good way to get a taste.

I've only ever really seen that in Mexico though, so you may be SOL

>>785611
>>785613

how long does a cert take? And how much does it cost?

From what I can recall, the class to Open water cert was only a couple weeks. I couldn't tell you the cost because it was 10ish years ago and likely different for everyone. We trained in a school's pool and certified in local quarry. After that I went on vacation and had three great dives. I ended up with advanced open, rescue, equipment specialist, and night certs before becoming completely uninterested in the hobby. PADI btw, was fun while it lasted but honestly useless and expensive if you can't make a living out of it.

>>785691

Oh ok, that sounds like a pain. I don't plan on doing much diving.. I was just hoping to be able to do it once there. Oh well. Thanks for the info

>>785600
Two ways to do this.

A: Resort course. You get very basic and quick instruction and then go on a short dive where you probably won't swim around a lot. This will not certify you for future dives, and most experienced divers advise against it.

B: Study the classroom stuff on your own time and sign up for a certification course with a divemaster at your destination. If you learn the material, he will review it with you and give you a test or two before proceeding to some work in a pool or other protected water. This may only take two or three sessions if you learned your book work beforehand. Then you can go diving for real as the open water part of the certification and dive whenever you want afterwards.

You could also do the pool work at a dive shop near home and only have the open water stuff left when you take your trip.

>>785600
I am going to get Certified myself soon for open and advanced, Talked for hours to my dive instructors, For the most part Yes you have to have at least a Open water cert due to liability since your life is on the line here and having someone with no experience in the water is a very bad thing, most if not all dive shops will not sell you Tanks,BC's, fill your air etc without a Open water cert, same with a Dive excursion its to Risky to have someone with no experience in the water; Like the other anon said they do have a basic resort class that is only lets you dive that once but its a very condensed class and will not cover a lot of material that you need that may potentially save your life under water most of Scuba Diving is 80% about Safety I have heard many many tragic Scuba stories of people loosing there life over something simple they didn't do or forgot to do.

But Get your Open Water cert it never Expires and is not that expensive to get, just takes a 1-2 week class depending on what pace you want to learn at most classes are 5 days 1 for just class 2-3 for class and pool training and 2 for dive tests (Most of the time 1st in a lake 2nd day in open sea water) all you have to own is Fins(Boots if they are open heel),Goggles, Snorkel, and a weight belt (With 5%-10% of your body weight on it depending on the dive etc.) The rest of the gear is part of the cost of the class.

>>785633
1-2 Weeks Depending on the class.
Prices vary but most of the time $100-$400 for the class plus the needed personal equipment you can't rent. (100-200 for your non-rentable Equipment)

>>785600
Find a tour where you're vacationing and email the company asking them. Generally you have to have a license on hand to show them or they look you up in the PADI database and verify with whatever other ID you have. Think with your dip stick m8

>>785965

What is typical non-rental equipment? Mask and mouthpiece?

I found a dive shop in the town over from me. I might go by there and check it out.

And I'm just curious, as I know nothing about diving. But is diving difficult?

>>786161
It isn't really difficult, but there is shit you need to know. Not knowing how to recognize problems early on can be very dangerous. Certification also requires you to demonstrate reasonable swimming skills (200m non-stop and 10 min stationary float IIRC).

>>785633
Some places do a four day boot camp certification course, you go all day for four days

>>786161
Personal Equipment Is: Mask, Snorkel, Weight belt/ weight. and fins normally since these are objects that may be dumped in a dive mostly in regards to your weight/weight belt. Some places you can rent them some places you can't. Best to have them though for yourself, Not like you will not use them for snorkeling etc when your not diving or if you want to use them for swimming in a lake or pool Plus to get your certification you have to have those items for yourself. So its best to have those Items for yourself so you dont have to worry about that and just have to rent your: Tank, B/C Regs Octos, anologs/computers wetsuit if needed, etc.

Prices are very rough it all depends on what you need or do not need or if you want a particular brand etc. Your local Dive shop/masters/Instructors will be happy to help get your personal gear sorted out with you
Mask 30-70+ (Make sure you have a good mask with a great seal around your face, it sucks to have to keep clearing your mask out if you have a bad seal, also for safety reason I personally suggest having a Mask strap pad on your mask it covers up the straps that go around your head reducing the chance for them getting tangled in something. A extra mask is also nice to have attached to you or in your diving bag during a dive in case something breaks.
Snorkel 10-50+ (Dry is nice but open is fine its all just preference)
fins 40-150+ (May need wet suit boots for open heel fins, they sell closed heel fins for snorkeling but for diving its better to have open heel fins, easy on, easy off; Prices vary greatly here depending on the fin style and if you have a strong kick or not etc)
Boots if you need them- 30-80+ Come in 3mm to 7mm thicker boots = for colder water but also give you a nice snug fit in your fins so your fins will feel like they are apart of your feet since there will be no wiggle room. 3mm boots will have wiggle room but you will feel the cold more.
Weight belt 20-40
Weights $4 per LB

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BE,, theseal.
, air,, lots and lots athe surface.
,, learn the snorkel!, bathtub is your mangroves., wetsuit your blubber., dont be CHEAP on your FAT!
,livefree.

>>786691
You have to be the coolest person ever BaconRider

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>>786807
(hug)

,it can overwelm, the fish., all that crazy gear, ,Computer? , needa COMPUTER??, and SCUBAd is realy bad., like, lungs outhe nose bad.
,,lead belt? not comfy., cant MOVE!,
, if your into GEAR,, well OK!
, if you wanto meethe fish?, snorkl.

>>785600
Damn there is some random advice on this thread.

You can do a DSD (discover scuba diving) at any padi shop and it requires no certification. It usually costs a little more than a certified diver being taken out for a two tank dive (~$130 versus ~$180 for a dsd). Your max depth will be less than 40ft/12m. The dives can count towards certification and some shops will even apply some of the $$ for the overall cost for cert.

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>>788508
>$180 for a dsd
thanks for that solid number.,
,,, ONE DIVE!, Amazon has snorkel pack for 60., custome wetsuit? 400? ,
,MUST fit! to tight gets numb, lose is cold., butits the TITS!, bump on rocks? nice., jellyfish? noprob.,, cryogenic water?, still hurts as it seaps in!!, EXCESS coffee, SAVEMENOW!

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storytime.
,, long, long ago,, off a beach far, Far away,,, if you live farfarfrom Laguna., 30 feets visbility,, hanging near out rocks when> sunstreamer on mask?No! itsomthing BIG!, out 40 feets and moving FFFFFFAST!
, SWEEPING along the rocks edges,, 13 feets long?, FAST! and tracking my WAY!!!
, BREATHDEEEEPS!, blasto the bottom and jellyfish back into a crack,, shit nife OUT!
,,, its,, WEIRD!, keeps morphing asit gets closer!, FAT!,, no LONG and thin?, FAST FAST!
,, rounds corner to ME!, OOOOO MY DOGEEE!, its true form is reveiled ,,, life passes before eyes, im DEAD!, but ill FIGHT!
,,,,12>4 feetslong Baracuda in tight FIGHTING formation,, expand!, swoop and group!!, WAMFAST! ZOOMZOOOM!
, flashed right pastme., noeat!!!

>>786691
>>788504
>>788514
>>788560
What the fuck
I don't browse /out/ that often, should I be familiar with this

>>785613
Can get that in copenhagen too

>>788598
same

>>785600
If you are only planning on diving one day and not diving ever again, just do the intro course. It takes 30 min prep and explanation, and then you just go and dive for 45 minutes with an instructor. You won't get any certs, nor you will dive more than 3 meters aprox, but hey, no need to spend 400€ in certs and a week in prep if you are never gonna do it ever again

Snorkeling requires no certs, decebt gear is maybe $100, and the virgin islands has plenty of good places. You could teach yourself to freedive as well, just be careful.

Scuba people tend to overlook sites that are shallow, but there are many shallow sites that are mind blowing. I've seen morays in waist deep water just chillin', you don't need a backpack for that.

>>788560
Barracuda are awesome and even better, they almost never bother people.

I never found big ones on Oahu but I did find out where they were. A lot of people think they don't exist in Hawaii but they do.

>>788598
He shows up in free diving threads mostly, I think the ocean has rattled his brain. But I think he's genuine. As far as I'm concerned, he's right about scuba being unnecessary to enjoy the ocean.

Especially when they try to rope you into fins with straps (less efficient) that cost 2-3x what full foot fins go for, and so on. SCUBA gear is massively overpriced and often inferior. I hear people bitch about needing a dry suit here in Washington state, I have a 7mm from Mako that is super warm. I'm pretty sure that people are just spending 2x as much for a wetsuit with leaky zippers.

There are advantages to scuba, any site that's deeper really benefits, but for a lot of sites it seems like a ton of equipment to do something you can do with fins and a mask.

>>789807
Strap fins are fine for scuba, you have more power compared to even freediving fins, and when you're hauling all that crap along with you you kind of need it (of course you need that crap to have the air to push the massive fins, so a bit of circular logic.) They suck for anything else though and if you don't find ones that fit can be a real nuisance. On the surface they're almost not even worth having.

>>788514
>Amazon has snorkel pack for 60.
Never buy a pack online that you haven't tried out. Unless you have the same face and feet as the guy that they modeled them for they will hurt and/or leak in about 20 mins and you'll be having a terrible time. Pick a good mask and fins that you tried on yourself and let sit on you 15 minutes. Comfort is everything. Don't cheap out and get a cheaper mask that hurts cause you'll end up hating it and never using it, and then it's entirely wasted money. But also don't spend more just because--a $50 mask that fits and is comfortable is better than a $150 mask that doesn't.

Decent starting setup (soFL prices from 2011--holy fuck it's been half a decade since I've seen the ocean--no idea about wetsuits because soFL) should run you:
Fins -- $30-40 for good snorkel surface fins that will be decent for a bit of shallow freediving too, don't start with freediving fins if you've never been in the water before
Mask -- $50-75 for good mask, don't worry so much about mask volume just starting out, you won't be going deep enough for it to really matter and it being comfortable is more important than it being low volume. If you're going to spend more money, or skimp money, buy more mask than fins.
If you have long hair, make sure to get a cloth strap. Not the cover for the silicone strap (they suck) but an actual full cloth (some have neoprene for comfort too )strap. You may have to buy this online. Stay away from meme split fins and meme autoclose at depth snorkels, they are both gimmicky stupid shit, the autoclose snorkel will actually close up on you while you breathe. Don't worry about gettin a purge valve in your snorkel, they aren't necessary and no purge valve is much better than a cheap one. Purge valve in mask is up to personal preference, but again if the choice is a cheap one with a purge valve or a cheap one with no purge valve, stay away from the cheap purge valve.

>>790640
You will see more freediving than scuba. I dunno if the noise from the scuba scares them away or what. I had a friend that would go on world-class scuba trips and take photos, he always tells me about the time saw an eagle ray (which are endangered in FL. I saw one just about every day going into or out of the channel. Turtles too. Manatee almost made me shit my pants when it passed a couple feet under me and I didn't know what this giant flesh blob going 15mph was at first.

God I miss the ocean.

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morestory,
,Santabarbera island,,Great Visablity,, glideing along the rockface, over open sand,, shear cliffs above,,, get, Spoooky feels, exposed, noplace to hide,,no sharp stick. ,Suckit up Coward, look around, so... hay!, is that a BIG glowing WHITE thing along the shelf???,, pleaseno,, DOGE YES!
,BIGBIG, flowing just down the sandy slope in deep water,, anddddDDD, turns up towards me! CRAP!, back up to wall and try to look SCARY!!
,, it has a bead on me now and closes!! wait? what? not toothy!? itsssSSS> BULLSEAELEPHANT! HAPPY HAPPPPPY!!
, swim outo say HI!, cruises right up to me,, BRUSHING PAST!, SO BIG!, like BBIIGG! and scars all along the hull!, keepswiming back into the deep, no breath!! much IMPRESS!

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>>785600
Open Water PADI here

You can do this in about a week. all of the course material is done online ( you can do it in the hotel or wherever you're staying over an evening meal) and you do maybe 7 or 8 dives

I would get certified before thinking hoo-ha! and going diving. you learn shit that keeps you alive. if you don't learn how to control your bouncy you you're like a drunk cow trying to get around under water, if you don't learn to do certain things, like observe bottom time, surface intervals the way different gasses expand and diffuse in your tissues at pressure and how to read a dive table, or when you come up you'll get get the bends and end up in a hyperbaric chamber if there is one there, if you don't learn how to communicate you can end up lost, or intercommunicating a dangerous situation, if you don't learn you to check your gear and other's gear before a dive you can end up in a world of shit ( I've seen people miss putting o rings on at 1st stage and all kinds of shit at 'resort divers' ) you have to learn how to safely ascend without rupturing a lung... the list of shit that can go wrong is endless and unless you have gills, no matter how shallow you think the water you're in is, it's a fuckin' long way up when you start panicking

it's not just a jolly with the fish, shit like this is genuinely dangerous which is why training courses and certification exists. If a resort is offering sketchy 'try dives' I'd be wary as fuck. I'd want to see their dice leader's diver certification number (with PADI you can check it all online, and it even gives photo ID so you can see if they are actually qualified for this shit, or just someone that knows how to dive )

I just finished my third and fourth open water dives today, and had some crazy fun.
Saw some cod, a few brown crabs, hermit crabs, a plaice who thought he was well camouflaged, and somethings that are apparently called nudibranchs (not a native English speaker, sorry). OK visibility of about 4-5 meters and 7°C water temperature, about as warm as the air temperature. Gonna go out and buy some good gloves and a thermos to keep some hot water on for tomorrow, took me half an hour of defrosting my hands to get them to the point where I could write or use my phone.
We went down to 16.4 meters and everything worked out perfectly. I'll be wrapping up the Open Water and Drysuit Diver courses over the next two days, it's gonna be awesome!

>>788598
>>789807
He's been here for a loooonnngg time. Never answers questions about why he types like that. I can't tell if it's real or not.

>>791674
Funny thing is, there is always some guy that types normally around to explain that he's bacon rider and has been here for years and hasn't given an explanation for why he types like that.

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>>789793
>shallow
iLoveshallow!, tiny fishs dont worry about me staring.,
>>790640
>Never buy a pack online
,,if your local diveshop is ripoffs,, and you buy knowing its your Crapy first set/future backup/loaner,, maybe., what matters is that you Get a set!, Snorkelllllllllearn!! having your breathing hole moved,, is tricky to start.,
,,,,its funny,, me yacking like a mommy turtle, to her eggs., live Deeeep in desert, butunder flooding hazard!,, telling YOU,, abouthe sea.?
,,,raised by Dolphins?

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things, that make you a better diver<Fat!, nonverbal.,,relate toaliens., yoga breathing.,, Lovextremenviros.,,time, moretime.
,i loved standing on the surface!! yourshiney world at my feet!, the Earth,, gently humming over my head,, the Bluuuuuuuue!
,,SCUBAg needs buddys,,solo freedive is OK., you, Make friends, along the way!

>>792924
Seriously man, I have to know, why do you type like this?

>>789796
I saw a school of 20+ barracudas on French Reef, Key Largo last week. That was definitely a highlight.

Awww yiss, just wrapped up my OW and Dry Suit Diver course! I'm getting my equipment in 3 weeks time, at which point I'm hoping to get the EANx course done over with, just in case I'd need it while travelling. Gonna have to kick some guys back into the sea so I'll have someone to dive with, and maybe start planning a diving trip in the future.

Incidentally, do you guys know if ScubaEarth is active, or is it made redundant by Facebook? I'm not very fond of Facebook, but it would undeniably be nice to get in touch with other divers to plan dives and trips with. I'd see for myself, but I haven't gotten my PADI number yet.

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>>793094
its,, developed overtime.
,,,the first DC Hayes modems were,,,ssssssslllooowww beyound life.
,,,
,so? what, abouthose Octopussys!?,,camo? i wounder how much ,, imissing!

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>>793094
OK!! ok.,, im useing, Facilitated Communication.
, my interpreter is,, Hotoo!

>>785600
You need training. FULL STOP.

Even if they were stupid enough to let you do it, you'd be a fucking idiot to do it.