Carnival Cozumel Beginner's Scuba Questions

Based on this excursion: https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/cozumel/beginners-scuba-diving-304004

I am really looking into wanting to become PADI Certified. I've done open ocean snorkeling in the Caribbean and the Bahamas and wanted to take the next step up as I really enjoy being in the water and wanting more freedom to dive deeper. I want to know what they mean by "Instruction counts toward PADI certification."? Does that mean it covers one of the 4 Open water dives required to take to get certified? I'm just learning this process but I want to make sure I am understanding it correctly and how to go from there to get certified. My goal is just to do diving leisurely with future excursions and diving tours. I have no desire to become a deep sea diver like you see on the nature shows.

I booked a beginner's scuba excursion in Freeport last year but it was canceled due to weather. So the only thing available on the next port was just Snuba which I was glad I did it. I got experience on how to work with the regulator and handling the pressure changes. I booked this Beginner's Scuba in Cozumel in hopes to learn more about diving.

What the cruise lines offer on board is the Scuba Diver Certification. What you really want is your Open Water Diver (autonomous diver) certification. It sounds like Carnival is being quite accurate in saying their course can be applied toward the Open Water Certification. Other cruise lines don't make the distinction clear, so people don't realize that they aren't getting what they think they are. The Scuba Diver course is about half the Open Water Diver Course. With the Scuba Diver Cert you can dive only accompanied by a dive pro, and to a maximum depth of 40 feet. With an Open Water Cert. you are limited only by the maximum depth for no-decompression diving (130 feet), in the company of an equally or more qualified dive buddy. An open water diver can also obtain air fills.

It is possible to upgrade from Scuba Diver to Open Water Diver, but it's going to cost more than doing all your training at once; and you'll be getting training from two different instructors, so you'll likely have a lot of overlap.

The Scuba diver course consists of some classroom and pool work, and two dives. The Open Water course is more classroom and pool, and at least four dives.

I strongly recommend doing your certification course at home, and getting all of it done before your cruise. Then you can sign up for either scuba excursions offered through the cruise line, or book your own independently. You will find the common "2-Tank Dive" that is offered by operators in every port to be that leisurely dive experience you mention in your post.

If you have other questions please feel free to click the link below to email me.

Harris

Denver, CO

Agree with above post.

Recommend that you get cert at home first, then do the reg cert dive with Carnival, same cost.

Cozumel's drift currents are tough for non-cert / inexperience divers...

From the description of the excursion this is not the SCUBA DIVER course (which to my knowledge is a shipboard offering unique to SOME RCL cruises)

Rather, since the entire thing is 2 hours long, this is a Discovery Dive .....

Port:Cozumel, Mexico

Duration:2 Hours

https://www.padi.com/padi-courses/discover-scuba-diving

when my daughter last did a Discovery, they too said it could count towards 'full certification' .... when I questioned this they said THEY would give credit for one pool session ..... if a full course was undertaken within 6 months. A card was given:

This facility would also allow you to do the 'dive' part of Discovery Dive Program, with an instructor, following same rules and limitations but without repeating the classroom and pool work. That is, if vacationing at the same resort, you could do another dive at reduced cost .... all other rules applied .... expired in 6 months as I recall.

In reality, it means and counts for nothing ....the current PADI description for Discovery says nothing about any 'credit' for training rec'd ......

My thinking is that a drift dive in Cozumel isn't meant for an inexperienced diver.

. . . but that's just me.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Agree with above post.

Recommend that you get cert at home first, then do the reg cert dive with Carnival, same cost.

Cozumel's drift currents are tough for non-cert / inexperience divers...

I looked into what it would cost to get PADI certified and its looking to be over $500 worth of expenses and fees and not including the costs of transportation and lodging to the dive sites for the 4 open water training sites over to Florida. http://www.harrysdiveshop.com/classes/learn2/cost/

Can you explain the differences between all these cards others are mentioning and that Scuba Diver card? I never sailed on Royal Caribbean yet so I don't know anything about that. I would love to take it at home before my cruise next month but I don't have $1000's I can come up within a few weeks to get PADI certified lol! That's something I gotta plan for next year or the year after but I just wanted to know the process first and where to go to get it. (I live in New Orleans).

From what I'm reading from the Dive Shop is that I'll just have to go through that process to get certified. What just confused me when I booked that excursion I saw the "Instruction counts toward PADI certification." mentioned in the excursion's description and just wanted to know what exactly they meant by that.

I looked into what it would cost to get PADI certified and its looking to be over $500 worth of expenses and fees and not including the costs of transportation and lodging to the dive sites for the 4 open water training sites over to Florida. http://www.harrysdiveshop.com/classes/learn2/cost/

 

Can you explain the differences between all these cards others are mentioning and that Scuba Diver card? I never sailed on Royal Caribbean yet so I don't know anything about that. I would love to take it at home before my cruise next month but I don't have $1000's I can come up within a few weeks to get PADI certified lol! That's something I gotta plan for next year or the year after but I just wanted to know the process first and where to go to get it. (I live in New Orleans).

 

From what I'm reading from the Dive Shop is that I'll just have to go through that process to get certified. What just confused me when I booked that excursion I saw the "Instruction counts toward PADI certification." mentioned in the excursion's description and just wanted to know what exactly they meant by that.

If you're in NOLA, it seems that there should be plenty of options. You don't have to limit yourself to PADI either. I went SSI because the shop was 1 block from my apartment at the time (they were awesome and allowed you to pay by the class, but I doubt you want to drive to Mobile every week). SSI itself is kind of hit or miss these days because they have the philosophy of "support the dive shop." Which is fine, but when I talked to a different shop about getting my husband certified recently that shop required that all gear be purchased up front and from them. He's currently going IDEA, which is a smaller organization so I hope he doesn't have any problems in the future.

ETA: A quick Google search tells me that PADI is pretty much the only agency operating in NOLA. Except for Temento's which is NASE. That is not an agency I'm familiar with, so I can't comment on them. For the most part, it's really the instructor rather than the agency that makes you a better diver. So, if this is something that you want to do, find an instructor that you are comfortable with at a price that works for you.

clarification

'SCUBA DIVER' is a level of certification offered by PADI. It is offered many places including some RCL cruises - I saw it on a weeklong FREEDOM OTS cruise. The PADI website describes this course. It is NOT what one might call "full" certification. It is basically 1/2 of the OPEN WATER DIVER course which is the requirement for being an "autonomous diver" meaning you can go to a dive shop and rent or fill tanks and dive where ever you want. OPEN WATER DIVER is the minimum level of certification required by most "dive trips" or "dive excursions"

I thought your price for certification in NOLA seemed a hit high so I did some digging and find yes, they are $$ in your neighborhood .... (I found SSI and PADI providers btw)

You HAVE options however. A lil while back dd wanted to get certified over college spring break. She signed up and completed the PADI ON LINE - eLearning course for open water diver. With a completion certificate in hand I booked a "referral" with a dive shop in the Florida Keys. She completed OPEN WATER certification in 2 days. $299 covered 4 checkout dives, including all equipment.

Day One: morning, a quiz to check "book knowledge" and get fitted for gear followed by a pool session for basic skills (same stuff you'd learn in a 'discovery' so "the training can be applied" ....). Then in the afternoon a 2 tank boat trip completing check out dives one and two.

Day Two: a morning two tank boat trip completing check out dives three and four. POOF you're an OPEN WATER DIVER. The place I booked even allowed students to take an additional afternoon 2 tank trip for no additional charge.

The full course could also be done in 2 days for an additional $50 if the eLEARNING was not done b4 ... but additional time is required (3rd day recommended)

https://www.oceandivers.com/activities?tab=instruction

not a recommendation for this place, just an example. YES you need to get to the Keys, get a room etc etc .... just providing an example.

You CAN get fully certified in 2 days during a vacation to a dive destination like the Keys, Bahamas, Cayman or Cozumel .... at Sunset House on Grand Cayman a package o4 4 checkout dives is $300 (US)

+++++++

CARDS EXPLAINED

Divers need to be "certified" b4 any reputable dive shop will rent or fill an air tank ... for safety reasons. At the completion of training a card - sort like a driver's license is given - most call this their "C-CARD". You show this at a dive shop to 'prove' you have the training. Often you are also asked to show a LOG of your dives so experience can be judged.

There are several training organizations including PADI, SSI, NAUI (and others) - they all meet the minimum requirements and any card suffices so long as the level of training is "OPEN WATER DIVER" or higher. There are MANY higher certification levels including ADVANCED OPEN WATER, DIVE MASTER and INSTRUCTOR, and specialties like NIGHT DIVER, DEEP DIVER, RESCUE DIVER. A site like PADI.COM has information about all the courses they offer and associated Certification levels. Continuing education is a money maker for the certification agencies.

Thanks for the information guys. I didn't know there was more than one type of certifications out there. I can ask the dive shop that runs that excursion questions to on what they offer. I actually have in mind one day spending a week in Cozumel just for something different. I may be a part-time worker but I find ways to travel and experience life despite being on a limited income.

omeinv also told me about the shop he works for in Denver and I have a friend who is traveling back and forth to Denver quite often for house hunting and i can tag along. Anything relating to Florida is expensive because its touristy and what not.