<p>OK–25 yo son and I are heading to Belize this summer for father-son trip. He and his gf dove in Colombia last summer but did not take formal lessons. </p>
<p>Son is in NYC-Bushwick until professional school next August. Any suggestions/recommendations on a place in that area for him to take scuba lessons this winter?</p>
<p>My son dives and sells diving equipment. He says learning from a PADI location is the only way to go! [PADI</a> The Way the World Learns to Dive? - Find Scuba Diving Lessons, Scuba Certifications, Dive Shops, Dive Resorts, Scuba Gear, Scuba Diving Trips and Vacations, Scuba Diving Careers](<a href=“http://www.padi.com/scuba/]PADI”>Professional Association of Diving Instructors | PADI) Maybe there is a location locator on this site. </p>
<p>Enjoy your time with your son!</p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll take a look!</p>
<p>Yes, I am an PADI instructor. He has several options with PADI training. There is now online training for the classroom/book portion of the class. It will make the class a bit more expensive overall, but will save him time if scheduling is an issue. </p>
<p>Certification consists of three areas. Classroom portion to learn the theory, confined water (usually a pool) to learn and become comfortable with the skills then open water dives to perform the skills in open water for full certification. </p>
<p>Taking lessons during the winter will be fine until it comes time for the open water dives. The open water is cold in winter, but they still can do the dives but will need to have the proper wetsuits. The other option is to do the classroom and confined water skills then wait until they can go to a warmer location for the dives (or even wait until spring/early summer to complete the dives locally).</p>
<p>If you go to padi dot com you can search for shops local to his area. I recommend he then call and speak to the different shops and ask questions on training time frame, costs, etc. Find out where they do their open water dives. You can get a good idea of the shop by talking to them on the phone. </p>
<p>Good luck, I don’t know any shops personally in NYC. Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. I’ve been in the business for 20 years.</p>
<p>Good luck! My husband and I got certified the month before we were married. The hard part for me was learning how to clear my mask underwater. My body did NOT like the idea of purposely letting in a little water and then expelling it by blowing hard through my nose. I would literally get paralyzed. My (future) husband worked with me and worked with me. When we went for our test in a lake near Austin, he had me practice once and the instructor got mad at him for some reason. </p>
<p>I tell people that if <em>I</em> could get certified, anyone can! I love scuba diving. VAMom2015, that’s cool that you’re an instructor! People on CC amaze me.</p>
<p>Ha! I first read the title as: Diva Lessons in NYC area!</p>
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I don’t have a recommendation other than - definitely take formal lessons from a certified instructor. This is something that could possibly save his life. If nothing else it’ll make him feel more confident and comfortable while diving. </p>
<p>It sounds like it’ll be a fun trip.</p>
<p>GladGradDad–They probably took a Discover Scuba Diving experience. It is led by a certified instructor and there is basic safety training done and close supervision during the dive. Many resorts offer this and it is dive agency approved, but is not enough training to allow certification.</p>
<p>ML–Thanks. I have taught in that lake in Austin! I lived in the area for several years!</p>
<p>^^ Even at that it seems that the regular certification route would be more thorough and the additional practice/exercises would enhance the attributes I mentioned.</p>
<p>I haven’t done the quickie route though so I suppose my opinion may not count for much on this.</p>
<p>Please understand, I was not on the Colombia trip so I do not know what “instruction” they got, but I have made it clear to my Son that I’m not going to be part of me or him diving without a full formal certification class for us both. He has not attempted to suggest otherwise.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. We found a PADI location in NYC for him and I have several locations to choose from here in Dallas. VAMom2015 do you have any opinion of DiveWest in Dallas as a place to get the training.</p>
<p>To piggyback on this thread - I was PADI certified and fairly proficient 30 years ago, but quit diving. I want to start again but have no record of my card or log book. Can I get certified again without going through a full course?</p>
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<p>That is an extremely dangerous and stupid thing to do.</p>
<p>And I’m very surprised that any operation would rent equipment and allow a person to go diving without showing proof of their PADI certification.</p>
<p>I know the answer to that question lol! We went to the Cayman Islands last year. H was certified at least 25 years ago, dove once and never dove again. We went to our local dive shop and they were able to find when H did his certification and his number. He knew where he did his certification and I think he remembered the year. They were able to find his certification on line. He was PADI certified if that matters. H and the dive master did a refresher course, we had to buy a book which H studied and the DM and H were happy that he remembered much of what he learned and the DM felt comfortable with the refresher course. </p>
<p>H did 9 dives in 10 days and it was one of the best experiences. He did tell the dive operators about his situation and the first couple of dives were not too deep and he stuck close to the DM. He got much more comfortable the more he dove.</p>
<p>GolfFather</p>
<p>No argument from me.</p>
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<p>I’d like to hope, but I don’t know and it is now going to be moot in light of the cert training to come this winter.</p>
<p>GolfFather, my SIL who dives a lot says that there are many dive operations that are not as concerned with certification as we would be here in the US. That you need to be very careful when diving out of the country. That is why she owns all her own equipment and has it maintained by the dive shop every time she goes on a trip. </p>
<p>She is very careful about who she dives with.</p>