cheapest 4 beginners - Home/abroad???

Craft25

when snorkelling in the Sinai/red sea i noted that 5day beginner padi courses were cheap. ever since i have wanted to get in to scuba diving but have been put off by the large outlay over here and fears that it wont be as fun without the clear waters and the colourful reefs..i am sure this is wrong but could do with convincing.

What dou yous think whats the best waty into it??

Scuba.ie

Hi there,
Well the cost would be cheaper, but try to ensure that you are getting a high standard of training. Thats worth a LOT of money in my book. Some places abroad offer 2 day OW courses (from various agencies) and that will NOT prepare you to dive unsupervised. Plus of course they would be breaking standards!

Rather_b_diving

Padi can be done in Malta, etc cheaper than in Ireland but you can also get a coffee in these places cheaper than in Ireland - nothing new there. however if you go away to do a PADI course you can spend the whole week going through theory and tasks in shallow water and not actually do any good diving. so as with a lot of things "it depends". Personally I did a Padi with the confined water dives in a pool and then a weekend in the west. Once I got my cert it was off to warmer waters for a cool holiday in the sun. Where I could join dives and actually do some diving rather than taking off my BCD and putting it back on again. You'll also meet people who will go diving in your area and so have automatic buddies.

The downside is Ireland has colder water so you end up with thicker Neoprene (wetsuit) and thus more weights. This means you're a lot bulkier and its harder to move / get your bouyancy right.

The one thing I'd say is if you're doing it abroad do it somewhere reputable there are a lot of cowboys out there with dodgy equipment / practices.

Borzoi

Craft25 wrote:

What dou yous think whats the best waty into it??

Personally, I learnt abroad, not really for the price, but because it was warmer. If you're spending 4-5 days in and out of the water, it's a lot nicer if the water is 25C:D

As others have said, learn from a reputable company, using a reputable standard

whosedaddy?

on the other hand if you learn locally with more weights and thicker suit, you are probably better prepared in case you are thinking about diving here too.
If you have learned in a shorty with no weights, you'll learn all over again later...

Dive centres in holiday destinations can be hit and miss - no matter what the organisation is. Some do everything to get a punter, drop the price, drop the standard. Remember its not only a hobby - your life may depend on your training - not worth skimping over 50€..

mossym

if you're going diving here, take the time and learn here. Diving in warm water with someone holding your hand is vastly different to diving here in thick wetsuits and limited viz

Benny-c

mossym wrote:

if you're going diving here, take the time and learn here. Diving in warm water with someone holding your hand is vastly different to diving here in thick wetsuits and limited viz

I 2nd that

Fratton Fred

why waste a few days of your holiday learning to dive, when you can learn here and get straight into some proper diving abroad?

I did my OW in a lake in November and the water was 8 degrees but it was not as cold as I expected it to be.