somewhere to learn to dive in the sunshine

[spikeyhead]

but where? any suggests, either for a general location or a specific place?

[Puggit]

Dive or drive?!

[spikeyhead]

Puggit said:

Dive or drive?!

bks, should have put dive

[aclivity]

Stoney cove in August.

UK trained divers often tend to be better than those trained in warm water; in my experience anyway. Best bet would be to get at least basic training in the UK and then enjoy dives overseas, rather than have to spend time in a classroom learning about boyles law and Charles law and sitting a test on holiday?

[goldblum]

Learn to dive in the sunshine and see some of the best coral reefs within 6 hrs flying,or less.

Southern Egypt.

Hurghada,Safaga,Marsa Alam,Hamata etc http://www.regal-diving.co.uk/home/?m=destinations...

[mantis84]

Koh Tao, Thailand. What you spend on the more expensive flight you'll save when you're there, pretty much everything is dirt cheap. Did my basic open water and advanced PADI there - was only meant to be there for a week, ended up staying for a month. Bit of a backpacker hotspot as it's next to the island they have the full moon parties on though, so perhaps avoid if you're not looking for that sort of thing.

[pugwash4x4]

Have a look here:
http://www.medaqua.com/temes.php?idm=3&pag=2

just north of Barcelona - you can get flights to Girona silly cheap- and can get a train to estartit for not much money.

Would be really cheap way of learning to dive- ilese medes is a beautiful spot (the best i've been to in the Med anway), the weather in summer is stunning, and it'll probably be cheaper than learning to dive in the UK.

Also you'll find the european diving a bit mre "comforting" than diving in Egypt- where you have to pick your dive centre with a little bit of care.

[Silver993tt]

Malta & Gozo are superb diving areas, best in the Med. Only 2.5 hrs flight from UK. Loads and loads of wrecks, caves etc. I did my OW and AOW there last September/October but diving is all year round.

[Mr Pointy]

aclivity said:

Stoney cove in August Febuary.

If you learn to do that then you'll be prepared for almost anything anywhere.

[goldblum]

Mr Pointy said:

aclivity said:

Stoney cove in August Febuary.

If you learn to do that then you'll be prepared for almost anything anywhere.

If you go in August/Sept you'll only have to wear one layer under your drysuit.

[aclivity]

Mr Pointy said:

aclivity said:

Stoney cove in August Febuary.

If you learn to do that then you'll be prepared for almost anything anywhere.

if you do Guildenbergh in February you can prepare yourself for diving in freezing cold water at night (even in full daylight, it's like night at Guildy) with no fish life and almost nothing to see (except for the double decker bus) followed by the greasiest bacon roll ever produced.

[HereBeMonsters]

Cayman.

[spikeyhead]

HereBeMonsters said:

Cayman.

No, it's a Boxster, though I've sold it.

...but any idea on where to dive?

[Ganglandboss]

Mr Pointy said:

aclivity said:

Stoney cove in August Febuary.

If you learn to do that then you'll be prepared for almost anything anywhere.

I agree - I reckon he's suggesting the OP's some sort of woofter!

Spikey,

I agree completely with doing it over here - learn to dive in the UK, in the cold, in a dry-suit with a load more weight, hood and gloves, and diving abroad will be easy.

Why do you want to learn to dive? Do you want to take it up as a regular hobby and dive in the UK all year round or do you just want to dive on holiday? If the latter, no problem doing it abroad. If the former, you should learn over here (when you sign your PADI form to send off for your card, you sign a statement agreeing only to dive in conditions the same or better than those you trained in).

If aclivity is right and you are a big woofter , I would recommend doing a referral over here. You do your pool and theory stuff and then do the four qualifying open water dives overseas.

Another alternative to PADI is to join your local BSAC club. They do not charge for training you but you will have to pay for course materials, membership fees and possibly kit hire. This will take longer than it will with PADI, who can train you in a few days.

Edited by Ganglandboss on Wednesday 9th March 21:50

[ean21]

I'd go to DiveWise in Malta. I haven't done any PADI diving there, but I did a trimix course with them.
They're a very well run school and the diving in Malta/Gozo is great.

[Silver993tt]

ean21 said:

I'd go to DiveWise in Malta. I haven't done any PADI diving there, but I did a trimix course with them.
They're a very well run school and the diving in Malta/Gozo is great.

Lots ofgood dive schools in Malta. I used Cresta in St George's Bay, great team there, did some of my PADI courses with them and will do more in May

[spikeyhead]

I'm a wuss, no desire to be diving in a muddy frozen puddle, however it would make sense to do some initial PADI bits in a pool here before going.

I'll have a closer look at Malta and northern Spain, might even consider driving to Spain as this would open up some more options of things to do on the way.

[goldblum]

spikeyhead said:

I'm a wuss, no desire to be diving in a muddy frozen puddle, however it would make sense to do some initial PADI bits in a pool here before going.

I'll have a closer look at Malta and northern Spain, might even consider driving to Spain as this would open up some more options of things to do on the way.

Are you sure? The Red Sea is one of the worlds top dive destinations,nowhere in Europe even comes close.

Why not check out some dive forums?...http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/matrix/

[spikeyhead]

goldblum said:

Are you sure? The Red Sea is one of the worlds top dive destinations,nowhere in Europe even comes close.

Why not check out some dive forums?...http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/matrix/

Who knows what the situation will be politically out there by then. If I'm going to book somewhere then I don't want to be making last minute changes due to the unwashed causing unrest.

so you're right, that rules out driving through France

[Silver993tt]

spikeyhead said:

Who knows what the situation will be politically out there by then. If I'm going to book somewhere then I don't want to be making last minute changes due to the unwashed causing unrest.

so you're right, that rules out driving through France

Nice thing about Malta is that you can do lots of other things when you're not diving. Plenty of history, culture, great restaurants and culture. Nice friendly people and very relaxed place, that's why I liked it to do my diving courses, kind of a complete package.