Should I get Certified while on Vacation? Ep-2

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In today’s show I give you some things to consider when trying to decide if you think you should get certified while on vacation or not.

How to Choose Where to Do Your Scuba Diving Certification

Do you want to get scuba certified? But you’re not sure whether you should get your scuba diving certification at home or while on vacation? 

Bill from SCUBA Travel Podcast shares his advice about how to decide.

Keep reading (or listening) if you want to get your scuba diving certification now!

Get your scuba diving certification

The most important thing is to get scuba diving certified. If you want to get in the water, do it in the right way.

Don’t settle for less and rely on some quick orientation that some tour companies do. Don’t go scuba diving with an outfitter that takes people scuba diving even if they’re uncertified. Depending on where you are in the world, it does happen – but it’s not safe and not smart. 

Even though you may be with a guide, you won’t know how experienced they are. If you’re with a large group, you don’t know how much attention will be on you. 

Scuba diving is very safe if you’re trained, but there are lots of safety things to consider other than running out of air. You can get serious injuries, like lung over-expansion and damage to your ears.

Get your scuba diving certification so you’re knowledgable for your level of diving. Take your safety into your own hands.

Bill’s wife did her Open Water certification on a Caribbean cruise, while Bill did his certification at home long before any thought of travelling to go diving. There are a few things to consider for both options!

Why you should learn to scuba dive at home

Get your scuba diving certification at home, so when you’re on your vacation you can go diving rather than be in the classroom or in the pool.

The main reason it’s better to learn at home is due to the time it’d take away from your vacation. Vacations are always too short! So you want to spend as much time as possible having fun. 

There’s also the issue of money. Consider how much it costs to be on vacation per working hour. Do you want to spend that on getting your certification?

In your first two ocean dives, you have to prove you can do what you learnt in class. You’re not in the water looking at pretty things. Scuba shops will try and fit some of that in, but it won’t be as much as if you were doing a fun dive! 

Time and money are the two big reasons it’s better to get your scuba diving certification at home.

Why you should learn to scuba dive on vacation 

There are three reasons you should get your scuba diving certification on vacation. Weather, time and location.

Weather is a big one! If it’s too cold where you live and you’re not keen on cold water dry suit diving, then learning to scuba dive on vacation would be better!

Another reason is time! Or lack of time at home. 

It can get busy at home! Doing your open water certification can take a lot of time. It can take a couple of nights a week plus a full weekend of ocean dives, depending on your local dive centre.

Your schedule might be too hectic to do your scuba diving certification at home. If you’d be happy spending some of your in the classroom and in the pool at the resort, then getting certified on vacation might be the way to go!

The third reason you may want to get scuba certified on vacation is because of where you live. If you don’t live near a dive centre, then it might be tricky!

Do your scuba diving certification at home AND on vacation

If you want the best of both worlds, you can do a hybrid between learning scuba diving at home and on vacation. 

You can do all the classroom time and pool time at home, and then you can do the ocean dives on vacation. This is the perfect solution if you’re from an area when you’d have to do cold water dives in the ocean.

It takes some preplanning and you’d have to contact the dive company you’re planning to dive with on vacation. But it’s doable and many shops are open to this option.

It’s always good to set your diving up ahead of time and contact the dive outfits before leaving on vacation. Check out episode number four which is dedicated to that.

About Bill

Bill has been diving for over 20 years, with about 500 dives in 13 different countries! He has experience in both cold and warm water, so he’s been around a little bit! Listen to episode one for more about Bill’s story.

About Tash

Tash is a Divemaster, marine conservationist and digital marketer. She loves animals, adventures, the ocean, and chasing an endless summer! She was born in Canada, grew up in the UK, and is currently living in Aussie where the waters are (sometimes!) warmer.

Disclaimer

Bill’s a super experienced diver but isn’t a dive instructor! He’s just a great guy sharing his knowledge and advice about scuba diving and where you could get certified. Contact a certified scuba centre for official scuba advice!

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