scuba deals in playa del carmen?

[doctahjones]

gf and i (and her kickass parents...they ride harleys and her dad plays in a cover band!) will be going to playa del carmen for 6 days over july 4th.

i've done a resort dive in cozumel before(-loved- it), but she's never dove. so, neither of us are certified. she's very interested in scuba, and i'm borrowing my friends gear so she can try it out in our pool, at least to get a feel for using the reg. she's a very strong swimmer and has no fear of the water so i'm sure she'll absolutely love it too.

once we get down there i know for sure we'll at least be doing the resort/discovery dive that includes the pool instruction and then a shallow dive (36ft i think i read on one website?).

but i'm tempted to go ahead and get my certification while down there. i'm wondering if anyone knows of any deals with shops down there, or where to go to get the best deal. i'm not looking for cheap over quality, but i was basically figuring that anything offered on the resort we're staying at would be inflated by 25-50%. anyone have any tips/suggestions?

[L Stegall]

I've had my scuba certification for over 20 years, although I have not had a chance to use it much the past few years. If I were you, I'd check out if there is any way you can do your class and pool work here before you leave and just arrange to do your certification dive ONLY down there and then you're all set for this trip and future trips. I'd check dive shops here for classes and also check to see if there are private instructors (I'm PADI certified, but I haven't looked to see if PADI's website has instructors on it or not) here in Dallas and they can help you find the right connections there to do your checkout dive. I did a course through a dive shop and it was about a 3week course, 2x week for class and pool work. My husband used a private instructor, but that's been 19 years ago, so don't recall his name.

[WarrenG]

I think SSI will let you do online course work and study, and then let you get your scuba diver certificate or open water cert at any SSI dive shop. I think the online work is self paced and free, and then you test, and do your pool/ow dives on location.

I have had both PADI and SSI certs in the past (neither now) but I am not sure if PADI offers that? Either way, you might check it out and contact them James.