dublinscuba, anyone?

frenchmartini

I did a freebie taster course in the Canaries with a PADI dive school and have just spotted a deal with Dublinscuba in the NAC.

me and the hub have bought one each, anybody here used them?

thanks

locum-motion

What's the deal, and what does it get you?

frenchmartini

an hour theory and an hour in the water (National Aquatic Centre) practicing the theory. i suppose it's a kind of extended taster in preparation for the PADI cert, if we go for it, and i really hope we do.

just wondering has anyone done it with these guys and if they had any feedback for me.

Twobar

frenchmartini wrote: »

I did a freebie taster course in the Canaries with a PADI dive school and have just spotted a deal with Dublinscuba in the NAC.

me and the hub have bought one each, anybody here used them?

thanks

I bought a deal voucher with dublinscuba last year and now diving with them after finishing my openwater course. Very reasonable and a great mixed club.
Give them a call.

Twobar

frenchmartini wrote: »

an hour theory and an hour in the water (National Aquatic Centre) practicing the theory. i suppose it's a kind of extended taster in preparation for the PADI cert, if we go for it, and i really hope we do.

just wondering has anyone done it with these guys and if they had any feedback for me.

Its a try dive, read the voucher

locum-motion

frenchmartini wrote: »

an hour theory and an hour in the water (National Aquatic Centre) practicing the theory. i suppose it's a kind of extended taster in preparation for the PADI cert, if we go for it, and i really hope we do.

just wondering has anyone done it with these guys and if they had any feedback for me.

That's all a bit vague. I'd make sure you know exactly what you're getting, if I were you: every PADI course/program has a name. There was something on Deals.ie or one if those last year, don't remember if it was the same crowd or not. But, it seemed to me to be poor value, and there was no qualification or cert of any description afterwards.
Find out what's being offered, tell us how much you're paying, and we'll let you know if you're getting value or not.

frenchmartini

"After registration, briefing, and equipment introduction lasting around an hour, you'll spend another hour in the pool learning the basics of diving under the direct supervision of a PADI professional. All equipment (snorkels, fins, oxygen tanks etc) is provided including wetsuits for open water adventurers."



from the blurb. it's costing us 35 euros.

locum-motion

frenchmartini wrote: »

"After registration, briefing, and equipment introduction lasting around an hour, you'll spend another hour in the pool learning the basics of diving under the direct supervision of a PADI professional. All equipment (snorkels, fins, oxygen tanks etc) is provided including wetsuits for open water adventurers."



from the blurb. it's costing us 35 euros.

Sounds sort of like what you're getting is the PADI 'Discover Scuba'.

However, you should be awarded a certificate at the end of the 'Discover Scuba'. This cert doesn't really entitle you to much (ie it's not a dive licence), but you might find that if you sign up to do a course with another dive centre that they want to check that you're comfortable(ish) in the water before you start (and before they take a couple of hundred euro off you). Therefore some centres like you to have completed the 'Discover Scuba' before they sign you up for the 'Open Water' course.

So, check that you're getting the 'Discover Scuba' certificate at the end of the day.

If you're not getting it, it's unlikely to cause much hassle if you want to sign up and do the OW with the same centre (after all, they already know what you're like), but may cause a little (but not unsurmountable) hassle if you sign up to do the OW elsewhere.

If you're getting the 'Discover Scuba' (including cert) for €35, that's very good value. However, the centre might be trying to give you the experience without the cert (in which case they don't have to pass on PADI's portion of the fee), in which case it's not quite such good value.

In my case (and admittedly this was a few years ago), my 'Discover Scuba' was €45, of which €20 was credited against my OW when I subsequently signed up for it, so I really only paid €25.

frenchmartini

many thanks locus-motion! hoping to do it soon so will let you know how i get on