somewhere good for an OW course between Navan & Dublin?

vibe666

before anyone mentioned "First Stage Diving" in Dunshaughlin, there's a thread lower down stating that they went out of business a few months back.

Basically, we're going to the Maldives in 2 months (check out my thread in bargain alerts for the link to flights and a full board 3 star week there for £599) and rather than her spending the whole week on an OW course while we're there, I thought it would be better to get it out of the way before we go, so we can both get the most out of the holiday when we're there.

so, does anyone have any tips?

She's working in the IFSC in Dublin and we live in Navan, so anywhere near either location would be ideal.

Also, what should I be paying for the course?

thanks in advance.

elcowboyspace

Im not sure if theres anything in the middle there. Your best bet is probably oceandivers in Blanchardstown. I know its dublin but is easily accesible from M50. They're starting up a course in the next couple of weeks as far as I know. Some good instructors there. I can tell you Alan and Arthur are great and up for a bit of craic.

schedule and prices on www.oceandivers.com

whosedaddy?

elcowboyspace wrote: »

schedule and prices on www.oceandivers.com

I'm certain you meant www.oceandivers.ie

The some of the pool training is in the N.A.C. in Blanch, not sure where the classromm sessions are , ring them and see what they can do for you.

elcowboyspace

Yeah thats what I meant alright. .ie

Anyway yeah all the pool work and class work are done in the N.A.C in Blanch. They run on a tuesday and theory work starts at about 7:30 as far as I remember then into the pool for 9:30-10:00. It's a great pool to train in too. Olympic 5metre diving pool so it's great for practicing decents/ equalisation / buoyancy etc. And once you qualify you can still use the pool no the tuesdays for practice. I think they charge ten euro for the hour and gear rental. But that fluctuates depending who's there on the night.

Einstein

elcowboyspace wrote: »

Yeah thats what I meant alright. .ie

Anyway yeah all the pool work and class work are done in the N.A.C in Blanch. They run on a tuesday and theory work starts at about 7:30 as far as I remember then into the pool for 9:30-10:00. It's a great pool to train in too. Olympic 5metre diving pool so it's great for practicing decents/ equalisation / buoyancy etc. And once you qualify you can still use the pool no the tuesdays for practice. I think they charge ten euro for the hour and gear rental. But that fluctuates depending who's there on the night.

9.30-10? thats a bit crap...dont see a whole lot of skills being done in a half hour...

oh wait...u mean at about 9.30 or 10....:o

vibe666

that's excellent, thanks.

Blach is perfect, it's on the N3, so it's on her way home and I work in Ballycoolin ind. est. at the end of the Snugboro road so it couldn't get any more ideal tbh.

thanks again, I'll give them a call and see what they've got.

should I mention any names on here? they might appreciate that they were recommended by someone and you never know, it mgiht get you some brownie points with them that you could redeem sometime in the future.

elcowboyspace

Ah Im not lookin for brownie points.
And I came across a little unclear with regard to pool times. I meant you get into the pool by 9:30-10. You get a full hour to do skills etc while you're in the water. They run the course over six weeks in the pool and then 4 dives in the open sea after which you get the OW card. And it gets addictive. I ended up going for dives with them out in killary. Then did an advanced course in egypt and some specialities and rescue course. Started diving up and down ireland regularly after that and Im getting into the CFT club way of doing things now.

Anyway enjoy, I hope it works out for you.

vibe666

thanks mate. it's just for the g/f anyway, I lived in Tenerife and worked in a bar in a marina 3 doors down from a 5 star padi dive centre and after wandering in one day looking for some snorkelling gear I ended up staying with them ight up to my divemaster and did an internship with them. unfortunately I failed the physics and physiology exams first time orund (I'm really no good with numbers ) and then my granny got really sick and I never finished it off (something I'm actually really upset about).

I actually have well over 100 dives under my belt because of that, but I just never quite made it to the finish line.

vibe666

just called them and they're looking for €640 for the full open water course, or €390 for a referral course where you just do the classroom and pool work here and then do the 4 training dives while you're away. saves spending time in a classroom in paradise, but €390 still seems a bit steep to me for a couple of tests and a splash around in a pool.

I seem to remember reading another thread about the guys in dunshaughlin who've since disappeared charging around €500 or similar and people thought that was a rip off.

seems like oceandivers might be too.

elcowboyspace

Unfortunately thats kinda the way of things at the moment. I'd be pleasantly surprised to find a club offering open water course for 500. Everywhere seems to be about 600 or above and oceandivers can be pricey. But, it is better to do it here and if you train in N.A.C. you cant really complain about the facilities, top notch state of the art and very clean and comfortable. As for training, I cant see a problem with whats done and the effiency of it as well as attention to detail, especially safety.

You could look up a CFT club but the qualification is not as widely accepted as a padi cert. The training will be more in depth but over all less flexible. Basically you have to weigh it all up and make a choice,

Classroom on holiday vs. price at home,
Price vs. worlwide recognition,

Tis a crap one really but a call you gotta make all the same. Good luck to you. If you decide to take oceandivers on a tuesday I may see you there. I sometimes drop up for a bit of practice in the nice big pool.

vibe666

yeah, that's pretty much what I thought tbh, it just caught me by surprise. the last time I did a course it was my divemaster in Tenerife and it cost me a lot less than that, but it was a good few years ago now.

scubagit

elcowboyspace wrote: »

Unfortunately thats kinda the way of things at the moment. I'd be pleasantly surprised to find a club offering open water course for 500. Everywhere seems to be about 600 or above and oceandivers can be pricey. But, it is better to do it here and if you train in N.A.C. you cant really complain about the facilities, top notch state of the art and very clean and comfortable. As for training, I cant see a problem with whats done and the effiency of it as well as attention to detail, especially safety.

You could look up a CFT club but the qualification is not as widely accepted as a padi cert. The training will be more in depth but over all less flexible. Basically you have to weigh it all up and make a choice,

Classroom on holiday vs. price at home,
Price vs. worlwide recognition,

Tis a crap one really but a call you gotta make all the same. Good luck to you. If you decide to take oceandivers on a tuesday I may see you there. I sometimes drop up for a bit of practice in the nice big pool.

Have to disagree there. Your CFT (CMAS) qualification, while not over and done with as quick as you PADI qualification is every bit as recognised. If fact it has been more than welcome in several foreign resorts i've dived with over the years.

seadeuce

It is also a fact that a CFT card will get you better divesites because they won't class you as a beginner.

Dive centres abroad are inundated with AOWs whose pedigree is always suspect due to the fact that they may have 100 dives or only 10. Therefore the centre will err on the side of safety and send the AOW to the less-challenging site, or with the divemaster for safekeeping.

Might not make everyone happy, but I have seen it happen in more than one location.

Seadeuce