Opinions please

[poconofishy]

Hi all,
We are going on vacation in November :celeb1:. Neither of us have ever dove before but we plan to give it a try and and hope to get SCUBA certified. I would appreciate any tips, advise, recommendations anyone could share :rollface:. I'm not really sure where to begin, I have lots of questions. Where is a good place to start getting info? :reading: Can anyone recommend any websites they feel are worthwhile? Is there a ReefCentral for diving?

Also, I need a prescription mask and I have a rather large :bigeyes: astigmatism. A friend of mine got one online. The one I have is a cheapy, (nonprescription) but has worked well for me without any problems (except I need to be no more than :bigeyes: 6 inches away to see things clearly:eek2:! ). So I'm not really sure what to look for. Is it ok to buy online or is this something you need to try on? Is it difficult to get a good fit? Is this like buying a pair of shoes (you need to find your size, and then find a pair that feel good) or more like buying a baseball hat (will more or less fit anyone) (once you give them the correct prescription).
Thanks

 

[maractwin]

For online information, try www.scubaboard.com.

My first advice is to find a local dive shop where you live and sign up for a course. It is much better to do this at home than to spend part of your vacation in a classroom to get certified in the tropics. If you don't want to do any cold water dives at all, you can still do the classroom & pool part of your certification at home, and get a referral for the final open water dives at your tropical destination.

It's very important that a mask fit properly. They should always be purchased in person, rather than by mail order. As for the rest of the equipment, opinions vary. I've bought nearly all of mine locally. I feel that is particularly important for life support equipment like your regulator and BCD which also require annual maintenance. If you do shop for dive equipment on the net, be aware that most is sold without a manufacturers warranty.

-Mark

 

[rmougey]

I'd agree that you should buy your mask at a local dive shop as fit is critical. Other equipment can be purchased on-line, with a warranty, or at your local dive shop. Once you find a mask that fits, it can be sent out to several different companies in order to have a prescription lens installed. Your dive shop may be able to help with this as well.

By all means, take your training locally. Once you get to your destination, you can spend time enjoying the under water world rather than practicing your skills and sending time in the classroom!

Enjoy....

-Rob

 

[csherlock]

You got some great advise in the previous posts.
As far as the mask goes...have you tried contacts? Many people dive with contacts and purchase a non-prescription mask.

BTW Scubaboard.com is GREAT!

 

[Cshradr7]

i dive with contacts...works great plus you save on the mask. def get the mask at a local shop, fit is extemely important. for information about different dive locations, www.scubadiving.com is a pretty decent site. one thing that i did when getting trained was i went to the local dive shop and took all of my classroom and pool stuff and then did my open water dives in florida though a dive shop there. worked out great and had a guide to point everything out that i would have missed