I got my certification through the local Rec Center. You can try to contact the dive shop in Cedar Rapids. They should know where you can get it done. They are called Sea to Sea.
There are 3 or 4 now in the Des Moines metro area. There is also an ISU professor who certifies students and the general public alike (affiliated with PADI). I can get you his name and number if you like. He does all his open water dives up by Mason City. The others are all in the phone book under Scuba Diving.
If you are very comfortable in the water and willing to commit to learning the physics and such by reading, there is a dive shop in KC (also PADI) that offers a 3-day crash course (Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning) and then you do your 3 open water dives anywhere with a PADI instructor. I went this route and have logged hundreds of dives and have never felt like my training was inferior to those whom I've dove with. Here is the link It's definately not for everybody but I know a lot of very good divers who have taken this route (and I've seen some very BAD divers as well).
It depends a lot on what type of diving you plan to do. If you just want to dive in the warm waters of the Carribean then this is route worth considering. The tropical water is warm and visibility is generally very good which tends to minimize a lot of potential problems. If you plan to do much diving in the midwest or even work you way towards wreck diving the Lakes, then you would be better suited to take a local course that involves considerably more training time plus you'll have more options for advancing your certification in other areas.
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