Attn: Divers

[Buck Slayer]

I've had the bug to get certified for quite some time now, thinking about finally pulling the trigger.

1) Would you all recommend getting certified somewhere local, and then taking a trip after as soon as I can?

2) Planning a trip somewhere with good diving and doing the certification while there?

Looking for any recommendations on outfits to do it through for either option listed above. I'm local to the greater Houston area, but can always find an excuse to take a weekend trip somewhere else in Texas too if option 1 is the recommendation.

What say ye seasoned scuba'ers

[sv2100]

I’m in Houston as well. We got certified local then made our first trip. My take is get the book work, pool work and check out dives done here so you can enjoy real diving the entire trip.

Only change might be to do everything but the final checkout dives here. Then it should only be 1 or
2 days of check out dives on the trip.

[Buck Slayer]

I’m in Houston as well. We got certified local then made our first trip. My take is get the book work, pool work and check out dives done here so you can enjoy real diving the entire trip.

Only change might be to do everything but the final checkout dives here. Then it should only be 1 or
2 days of check out dives on the trip.

Where did you guys do it local?

[sv2100]

The shop we used is closed now. We’ve used Dive Tech in Houston on Cornish St for regulator and BC maintenance as well as some other skill classes. They have a pool on site for the initial training then schedule a weekend (can’t remember where) for the final checkout dives. Like a lot of dive shops they also have a travel agency and book trips with a dive master. We did that for our first trip which was Bonaire. Since then we have booked our own trips. We use airline miles for the flights.

[DallasCoon12]

My brother and I just got our 6 boys certified in Honolulu this summer. It was very seamless. We have been certified for 15-20 years from Dive World in San Antonio. It took about 1-1/2 days of our trip and we did a dive with them afterwards. I’ve dove Lake Travis, Medina Lake and 4-5 trips out to Rigs in the gulf. The lakes are cold and dark. The ocean here can be absolutely stunning or low vis 15-20 ft. Very hit and miss IMO

[txbowhunter10]

Check out Blue Lagoon near Huntsville. You can get certified all in one weekend (pool and lake dives) and they have some nice camping. We took a friend there a few years ago to get certified while me and the wife camped out and did some diving.

Then book you a cheap trip to Cozumel for some real diving.

[CEO]

I would do the certification local, then take a trip. Or at most do your open water dives at a cool location. Not sure how long the classroom portion takes now, but I wouldn't want to do that while on vacation.

[Jason]

My wife and I got certified at Sugarland Scuba several years ago. I would highly recommend them if you are close to the Sugarland area. Since then, we have been able to dive in Turks & Cacos and Honduras. I hope to get my Advanced Open Water this next spring so I can do the MV Fling trip out of Freeport to the Flower Gardens.

My opinion is, get certified local and enjoy diving at your chosen destination.

[Hoggslayer]

Try Texas scuba adventures. Craig the owner, is the Dive supervisor here at NASA's NBL (Neutral buoyancy laboratory). He has 1000s of hours diving. I'd trust him to teach my kids.

[friscopaint]

I'm going to when we move to Florida and luckily wife's horse friend is retired Coast Guard officer and master diver and he's going to teach me.

[BlackHogDown]

Did my coursework/pool training through the giggling marlin and then got setup to do my dives during a trip to southern fl. It's way easy to go this route with the online training nowadays. Call around to the shops of your intended destination to determine pricing/availability.

I'd MUCH prefer that route rather than the open water certifications in Blue Lagoon, Mammoth Lake, etc.

Also the pool and class portion does take a few full days, or in my case every weeknight for a week for a few hours. Dont want to do that while on vacation.

[hft47]

Get certified here and get some deep dive experience here. Last time I went some new divers were on board and they were blowing air so fast they missed half their time on the dives because they used up their air so fast.

[CaptainDave]

I've been certified since 2000, so I'm sure things have changed a bit, especially in regards to online course options. With that said, I would just get certified local, when it's convienent for you. Most dive shops will offer certification courses and open water dive locations. Even from Houston, there are options that dive shops have for open water dives. For instance, there used to be a couple Scuba type parks around Houston. One was in South Houston called The Reef and another was outside of Manvel (Can't remember the name). Some shops drive up to Huntsville and dive the Blue Lagoon for the open water training; which isn't too far. At least several years ago, Scuba certification was done over the course of 2 weekends, starting with classroom sessions, moving to local pool and then open water. The open water was the 2nd weekend. The 1st weekend was classroom and pool. That's a fair amount of time to spend on a vacation for scuba certification. Perhaps it's shorter now if the classroom has converted to online.

I've seen plenty of people do their open water certification while diving in various resort places. Sure, they jump in the water and get to expereince a Blue water dive, however, they have to stick with the instructor and complete the required open water exercises, etc.; while everyone else is checking out the sites.

There's also nothing wrong with getting open water certification in a sandpit or central TX lake. To be honest, low visibility dives can put a diver to the test. I've done plenty of dives offshore in the GOM that had low visibility. Lots of people have problems going down 60 + feet and not being able to see the surface. Actually, those types of dives make Mexico/Caribbean dives a cake walk.

[BlackHogDown]

For instance, there used to be a couple Scuba type parks around Houston. One was in South Houston called The Reef and another was outside of Manvel (Can't remember the name). Some shops drive up to Huntsville and dive the Blue Lagoon for the open water training; which isn't too far.

The one in Clute is called mammoth lake. I've spent cumulative 40 hrs or so at the bottom of the dark lake (freediving). Even in ideal conditions, viz is about 3-4'. Here's a go pro shot from a warm up drop... (let's see if the link works). You cant see any of the underwater features until you literally bump into them, for example. Other than the sub on the north end which is visible from the surface with the right sunlight.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Gl5AJPXLLLNPQFLMuvThssJnw2FD_3K/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12UfAXbO8Xhf7M68O4eIYFUYusP2DZqmV/view?usp=drive_link

We used to make the trip to Blue lagoon every weekend but just isn't worth the drive anymore due to lack of depth. We still prefer it over mammoth by a lot though. Would be fun to do a camping weekend since night dives are allowed. But NO pets or non-certified divers ... At least here there's the potential for viz to the bottom (about 25-30'). Every time we are out there, there is a scuba group mucking up the bottom during their OW certs. Yes... the scuba shops DO offer trips to the flower gardens but i've seen them doing their ow certs in the muck every weekend for the last three years.

The online courses changed the game. Pool/training sessions in town for a week followed by a day or two of your check dives upon arrival to vacation. Every dive shop in these destinations have "packages" for check dives only.

You do make a good point of not being able to "view the sites" as others in your group but in my experience, there were no "others" in the group. We were with a dive school ... Instructor and few students all with the same intent. OW certification in deep blue west palm beach. THEN we went on a "real dive" with our newly obtained certifications.

You made another good point about low viz making you a better diver. agreed 1000%. But wouldn't you rather learn to fish in the flats of STX rather than the chocolate milk of Galveston Bay? Makes for a better learning experience. THEN go hone your skills in the muck as you pursue further certs. underwater nav, night diving, etc.

[BlackHogDown]

Also worth mentioning, there is a deep dive pool in the beginning stages of construction in friendswood. Talking about tubes down to 40m! Sounds like they're hurting for funding, though.

https://www.deepzoneaqc.com/