Scuba .vs. snorkelling

[flyingandcruising]

I am going on the Partial Panama....ports (Labadee, Curacau, Aruba, panama canal, and Peurto Limon) I was thinking of getting Scuba certified but its is very expensive like 500 bucks.....would i be best to just stick to snorkelling? will i pretty much get the same results, picturesque wise? is it worth the money is the real question to just do it once or twice?

[booth22]

rarely have I found someone who gets Scuba certified only goes once or twice. That said, if you don't have a desire to dive much at home or plan more tropical (and non-tropical) trips which might involve the opportunity to dive, stick to snorkeling. :)

 

For your trip, Aruba and Curacao are two good spots for snorkeling or diving. Think of snorkeling as seeing the underwater world in 2-D and scuba as 3-D.

 

And it's not just a question of money for once or twice, it's time in class and pool session and keeping up your skills periodically. It sounds like you just want to know if snorkeling is going to be fun and if you'll still see cool things- it will be and you will.

[foneguy]

scuba diving is very addictive!!! it has been the best addiction i have found yet! but it is gear intensive and something you need to do at least yearly to keeep up on, the thing is all you see on the surface is even better at the bottom!!

also the cost for certification varies from dive shop to dive shop, just find a deal and get the best education never dive alone. you can do a resort or whats called discover diving trip to see if you would really enjoy getting certified, thats what got me into diving:D

[bruce-r]

I am going on the Partial Panama....ports (Labadee, Curacau, Aruba, panama canal, and Peurto Limon) I was thinking of getting Scuba certified but its is very expensive like 500 bucks.....would i be best to just stick to snorkelling?

I wouldn't. In comparing Scuba diving to snorkeling, I like to use this analogy; snorkeling is like window shopping where you have to stay outside of the store and can only look in thru the windows. Even if you do see something that interests you, you can only go into the store for a minute at most, then you have to hurry back out to the street. Scuba diving is like getting to shop, but you just go right into the store and spend your time looking at everything close up and you don't have to leave right away. I love to dive but I hate to snorkel.

 

 

will i pretty much get the same results, picturesque wise?

No, you won't. Not even close.

 

is it worth the money is the real question to just do it once or twice?

No, it probably isn't worth the money to do it just once or twice, especially if you think you'll never get a chance to to it again in the future. If you think that you will only get the chance to dive once or twice in your lifetime, then just do a Discover Scuba dive. The problem for many people is that after they do a discover scuba dive, they find that they have to get certified because they have to continue diving. It is possible that you won't like it, so just spending $80-$100 for a Discover Scuba dive would be worth the experience and would save you the cost of getting certified.

[JMikeC]

I am going on the Partial Panama....ports (Labadee, Curacau, Aruba, panama canal, and Peurto Limon) I was thinking of getting Scuba certified but its is very expensive like 500 bucks.....would i be best to just stick to snorkelling? will i pretty much get the same results, picturesque wise? is it worth the money is the real question to just do it once or twice?

 

You may want to see if they do an intro dive where you don't have to be certified. Most people come up from their into dive scared to death or hooked for life.

[neverdonethat]

Excellent analogy Bruce. ;)

[KaC-Cruiser]

Bruce has it dead on ...try a Discover Scuba dive .....

I used to snorkel .... then decided to try diving ....4 years and 200 dives later, I'm even more addicted!!

[coevan]

You can go to the padi.com web site to find dive shops in your area. Yes, the cost is about $500. and takes about 2 weeks, some companies can expedite the written part, if you do your homework. Then you will do a pool session (enclosed water) and 2 open water dives. On a sailing trip to BVI, I did my written and pool in Colorado and did my open water in BVI, AWESOME!!! As everyone says, you will be hooked and certified for life.

[FLMax]

I have done about 100 dives and I think snorkeling is under rated by most people.

 

In a good location for snorkeling 10 to 20 ft depth I find snorkeling works fine. The problem is finding good snorkeling sites, but that is not that big a problem on some islands.

 

Tortola, St. Thomas, Aruba, Bonaire, and cozumel all have good snorkeling from shore. Snorkeling is one of my favorite activities when cruising.

 

If you enjoy snorkeling you might eventually want to learn to dive. There are drift dives and wall dives that are even more fun than snorkeling.