Discover SCUBA

[steve2001]

I am going to try this excursion in St. Maartin. Has anyone ever done this excurision (either at St. Maartin or elsewhere) with Princess? What should I expect with the dive site? TIA

[OrlEngr]

I did this on a Royal Carribean ship in Nassua.

 

 

 

The dive site I was at was 30-40 feet at teh deepest. An instructor takes you down and a couple of students are left with each instructor. Some people loved it, my wife got nervous and couldn't stay down.

 

 

 

It starts with an hour of lessons to get you familar with signs, equipment and technique. Definitely gives you a taste of it.:)

[changinlat]

There is a danger in discovering scuba... the danger of becoming hooked on yet another expensive hobby!

Seriously. My wife and I did a discover scuba in Curacao through Royal Caribbean in 2002. We both loved it and got certified a few months later in May 2003. Now we each have about 30 dives, I'm looking at taking a course to become a Dive Control Specialist (a type of asst. instructor), and we have our first "dive vacation" planned to the island of Utila near Roatan, Honduras.

You can read my review of our Triumph cruise (linked in my signature below) where I talk about our first "open ocean" dives. Admittedly, scuba isn't for everyone, but I would highly recommend trying it out, and a discover scuba program is the best way to do that.

[ccrain]

I am going to try this excursion in St. Maartin. Has anyone ever done this excurision (either at St. Maartin or elsewhere) with Princess? What should I expect with the dive site? TIA

 

We've had three discover SCUBA dives. One at Cozumel with Princess and two in Oahu with a local operator. The Princess dive was about an hour of classroom instruction and then a beach dive to about 30-40 feet for 30-45 minutes. The Oahu dive was about 30 minutes of class, 30 minutes in a pool and then two one tank boat dives in Turtle Bay.

 

If you've never SCUBAed before, I recommend you pick one that offers a pool dive prior to the real dive. Its very important to learn how to breathe, unlike snorkeling you have to breathe constantly, its extremely important. Also, a pool dive offers the opportunity to practice clearing your mask and emergency procedures in a place you can stand up! I also recommend you do a boat dive, not a beach dive. Believe it or not, a boat dive was easier than a beach dive! You also get to see a lot more stuff.

 

I have to admit, the operator on Oahu bent/broke the PADI rules a bit - but it was incredible. The Cozumel beach dive was pretty boring, but then being our first dive, I didn't see much under the water - I was too busy concentrating on staying alive. Also, being a Princess excursion, they stuck to the PADI rules like glue.

 

The pool dive on Oahu got me settled down enough to really enjoy the Turtle Bay Dives which went way below the maximum 35' and went into caves - a definite Discover Scuba no-no. But we got photos of both of us swimming alongside huge sea turtles - a real trip highlight.

 

As another poster said, you are liable to be hooked on a very expensive habit after this...

[steve2001]

 

As another poster said, you are liable to be hooked on a very expensive habit after this...

 

My wife will be 'very happy' to hear that :D

 

I am very excited to do this. I don't have a fear of the water and I had Hazmzt training in a level A suit (supplied air). Thanks for the information I think this will be a great way to find out if this is for me.

 

For those experienced divers; I live in southeast PA, quarry diving is very popular here. Have any of you done it? What is it like?

[jpancake]

I really want to do this someday. Maybe on our next trip to the Eastern Caribbean since I'll have my brother and another friend with me.

[changinlat]

My wife will be 'very happy' to hear that :D

If you like it, but your wife doesn't, then that's half the equipment to buy, etc. But, you won't get to do it as often. On the other hand, if your wife gets addicted to it like mine did, you'll get to dive all you want, but it will cost twice as much. Tough decision. Things that make you go hmmm...

 

For those experienced divers; I live in southeast PA, quarry diving is very popular here. Have any of you done it? What is it like?

We occasionally dive locally in an old limestone quarry not far from here (near Houston, TX). It's only about 30' deep at it's deepest. There are no fish because the pH levels are too high. The only things to look at are a few old boats and things they sunk in there. Visibility varies from 10' to 40' depending on the crowd and time of year, etc. To be honest, it's a good place to go blow bubbles, try out new gear, or just practice before a trip, but other than that, it doesn't do much for me. Of course it's also fun to go and meet people and tell lies... I mean dive stories.

 

 

Good luck with your dives. Hope you enjoy it.

[waterrats]

Look into getting certified before you leave so you don't have to study while on vacation. Also, when you do your open water dives, you don't have to worry about breathing and all, you will feel much more comfortable in the water.

 

I got certified in an old rock quarry in northern VA. The vis is about 10feet and the water at 30ft can range from a cold 45 degrees in spring to a balmy 65degrees in August. Its not the greatest conditions to be introduced to SCUBA but the harsh learning conditions make diving in the Caribbean seem simple and MUCH MUCH more enjoyable.

[changinlat]

Look into getting certified before you leave so you don't have to study while on vacation.

If you're going to do a Discover Scuba, there won't be any studying involved. Just an hour or so lecture over the gear, how to use it, what to expect, etc., then you'll be in the water. You likely won't go deeper than 15 to 25' and there will be an instructor/dive master near you at all times.

 

I got certified in an old rock quarry in northern VA. The vis is about 10feet and the water at 30ft can range from a cold 45 degrees in spring to a balmy 65degrees in August. Its not the greatest conditions to be introduced to SCUBA but the harsh learning conditions make diving in the Caribbean seem simple and MUCH MUCH more enjoyable.

I completely agree with this comment. My wife and I did our check out dives in a local lake when we got certified. Water temp was 63 at depth (72 at the surface) and vis was only about 10'. Without going into too much detail - it was a miserable experience. Our instructor was a complete idiot and actually lost us on one dive. If we hadn't already experienced diving in the warm, clear waters of the Caribbean, my wife would have been turned off of diving forever. (She almost quit after day 1. Only the memory of the Caribbean Discover Scuba course kept her going.)

 

However, I would make one suggestion. If you are concerned whether you or your wife will enjoy diving, I highly recommend doing a short Discover Scuba program in the Caribbean or Hawaii or similar. There is something not right about the fact that Diving in a cold lake with 10' viz and diving in the 84 degree Caribbean with 150'+ viz are both called SCUBA diving, because they are definitely not the same thing. If you dive in a cold and/or low viz lake first and then decide you don't like diving, you will be missing out on a great sport. If you enjoy the Discover Scuba, then go home and get certified. I agree, the less desirable conditions for training will make you a better diver.

[Genessa]

I am going to try this excursion in St. Maartin. Has anyone ever done this excurision (either at St. Maartin or elsewhere) with Princess? What should I expect with the dive site? TIA

 

I did a Discover Scuba dive with Princess, but in Cabo San Lucas.

Apparently their dives vary according to the dive shops they use, as my experience was different from the poster who dove in Cozumel.

 

We had about an hours worth of instruction in the dive shop, including a video and a very short test. After being fitted with our gear, we went out in a dive boat, but to an area of very shallow water (7-10 feet). Two divers with one instructor - we stayed below the surface and practiced the safety techniques we had gone over in the shop. While we didn't remove our masks, we were required to remove the regulators from our mouths, "toss" them away, and then retrieve them (they are attached by hoses to the tanks on your back, but when you are underwater if it becomes dislodged it could be surprisingly difficult to "find"), and breathe through them again.

 

We spent 10-15 minutes per group of 2 practicing until the instructor thought we were comfortable breathing. We then proceeded to swim to deeper water and did get to see quite a lot of sea life over the next 30-45 minutes or so. The instructor literally held your hand if you wanted him to.

 

Enjoy your cruise!