Denver PADI/ Scuba certification?

[Hondo]

Yes.

[Patj551]

RE how long does it take to do the last two dives....

It depends on where the two dives are...shore dives versus boat dives. Each dive will be approximately 45 minutes, give or take. In Cozumel you'll probably be doing boat dives, though I have seen instructors do quick shore dives for certification. Typically a boat dive consists of two tanks (two dives.). You load up in the AM head out, do two dives & get back around lunch time.

[Merfman]

Originally Posted by Patj551

RE how long does it take to do the last two dives....

It depends on where the two dives are...shore dives versus boat dives. Each dive will be approximately 45 minutes, give or take. In Cozumel you'll probably be doing boat dives, though I have seen instructors do quick shore dives for certification. Typically a boat dive consists of two tanks (two dives.). You load up in the AM head out, do two dives & get back around lunch time.

Our last two cert dives for Rescue Diver were done at shore, upon return from a trip to the park. I doubt your certification dives will be done in the current that is every Cozumel dive. You must demonstrate some skills and the added drift might make demonstration difficult. I'm guessing you'll do your last cert dives from shore, in a cove somewhere. That said, the shore diving around Dive Paradise and SCC is quite good considering the depth is only around 25 feet or so... lots to see if you just slow down a bit.. ;)

Best of luck, keep us informed. A friend and I have been kicking around a ride to Belize, dive with the wife for a week, then ride back home... maybe we can get an ADV contingent...

[in2dabluz]

Any cert dive is approx 35-40 min in length and the max depth is 40 feet. Usually only 2 dives are done in a half day. You cannot do all 4 in one day.

The first two are usually are fm shore when is coz'l and then the last two 'can' be done fm a boat, should there be other cert'd divers in their group.

I did all 4 over 2 half days in coz'l fm the shore and after lunch went out on the 2pm boat for my first "real" 50+ ft dive.. Totally awesome experience.

[wakewop]

My open water dives were done at Chatfield. Kingfisher pond. Do they still do them there ?

[MountainsandRivers]

Originally Posted by Merfman

Best of luck, keep us informed. A friend and I have been kicking around a ride to Belize, dive with the wife for a week, then ride back home... maybe we can get an ADV contingent...

I enjoyed the diving in Belize. Lots of easy shore/ short boat trip dives right off of San Pedro. Of course you need to do a big day and go to the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye. When we were there, early 2000's, Amigos Del Mar was the only dive operator on the island with a decent sized twin screw boat. Well worth the extra $ to dive with them when you fly by the small boats getting hammered in the chop while you sit on the deck with a cerveza!

Has anyone dove the big wreck off Cozumel? I have done mo
Stay the regular touristy dives when there, but want to step it up next time we go. We stayed at Iberostar, which has their own dive shop, but it is not a dive oriented resort, just an all inclusive place that is easy since we were traveling as a family.

I keep watching this thread and remembering a lot of good trips! With the exception of doing my first resort dives on the Great Barrier Reef before being certified, Bonaire has been my favorite, as someone else mentioned, due to how easy it was to do self supported shore dives, with a great variety of color and features...

[Merfman]

Originally Posted by MountainsandRivers

Has anyone dove the big wreck off Cozumel?

You mean this one (Felipe Xicotencatl)?
http://www.scubaclubcozumel.com/wreck.html

Yes, I've done it.. interesting dive, not my favorite wreck dive but it's worth doing IMHO. Definitely
wear gloves and full booties. Saw a fellow diver shred her ankle on a swim-through on a jagged
edge of rusted metal. IIRC, it's 70-ish feet to the boat and most of the dive is 80 or so feet so
it's not a very long dive. Oh yea, take a flashlight as there's a biiiiig green moray that lives in the
bottom and from what I understand, he's almost always there..

[in2dabluz]

Originally Posted by wakewop

My open water dives were done at Chatfield. Kingfisher pond. Do they still do them there ?

Yes..summertime only ...7mm wetsuits required..chilly in June, and warmest in late July/August.. $170 for all 4 dives over the 2 half days. link is:
a1scuba.com

[MurphCO]

Ok so you CAN do the open water dives at chatfield ?


I was told you could do the first two at chatfield or the aquarium, but the final two had to be at the blue hole or the place in Utah or on a trip somewhere.....

[doc_ricketts]

Another interesting place to dive in the winter reasonably close to Denver is the Bonne Terre limestone mine in Missouri where the water is moderately cool year round and the viz is 100 feet:

[Merfman]

Originally Posted by doc_ricketts

Another interesting place to dive in the winter reasonably close to Denver is the Bonne Terre limestone mine in Missouri where the water is moderately cool year round and the viz is 100 feet:

I've read about that.. any personal experience there Doc?

[doc_ricketts]

Originally Posted by Merfman

I've read about that.. any personal experience there Doc?

No, but it was considered as a cert dive when we were thinking scuba rather than free diving. Personally I would go to the Salt Lake facility if I couldn't go to the Caribbean for the cert dive.

[SgtMarty]

I dove in Bonne Terre several years ago. There is a short walk down to the floating dive platform, so you get to see a lot of the mine. It's a series of huge caverns, flooded to a certain level, so they are like underground lakes. Ceiling is sometimes a hundred feet overhead. Water is crystal clear and cold. Quarter-inch wetsuits or dry suits recommended.

First dive has to be a check dive to see who doesn't respond well to the cold and being underground. You have to remove and replace your mask to show that you won't freak out. It's a simple thing for most divers.

After that first limited dive you can book other dives. All are led by a guide who knows the mine. No going off on your own. Several route options, including some that go through tunnels.

The water is lit from above by industrial lights that penetrate all the way down. Lots of mining equipment still there, mostly for visual diversity. No fish or other obvous life. The water seeps down through the rock, so it's filtered.

Very interesting diving. Might never go again, but it was worth it.

[wakewop]

Only way to describe my cert dives at Chatfield is freezing, clumsy with the 7 mil suit, visibility is 1 foot. Bottom is sludge. Toilet paper scraps floating in the water, dark, kinda freaky. However when you get to clear warm water on your vacation, it seems super easy compared to what you just did to get certified