AOW Certification (Dominican Republic), Dec 1 - 6, 2013

Advanced Open Water Certification (5 specialty dives) with Diving Dominican Republic aka Sharky's Crew in Bayahibe. Vlad Heger was our Instructor, Pierre Pletinckx our Divemaster.

Dive 1 - Viva Shallows
Dive 2 - Dominicus Reef
Dive 3 - Parque 1 (Guaraguao), Peak Performance Buoyancy Dive (1)
Dive 4 - Atlantic Princess, Wreck Dive (2)
Dive 5 - St. George Wreck, Deep Dive (3)
Dive 6 - Coca Reef, Underwater Navigation Dive (4)
Dive 7 - Viva Shallows, Night Dive (5)
Dive 8 - El Penon
Dive 9 - Aquarium (La Tortuga)

Firsts: First Night Dive! First Octopus. First Wreck Dive.

 

This is the TripAdvisor review I wrote up on the Dive Shop.

OW Certification. Tropical Referral (Cozumel). Dec. 4 - 7, 2011

Went the tropical referral route. Chose a small dive operation, Buena Ventura Diving, in Cozumel for the open water part of our OW  certification.

Mario spent the 4th and 5th with us covering all the skills at Palancar Gardens (twice), Delilah Reef and Paso Del Cedral.

We followed up with a 2 tank dive on the 7th with Jorge, their Divemaster. This was at Palancar Horseshoe and Delilah.

Firsts: 1st Certification! 1st shark! 1st drift dive!

Open Water Certification. November 12 - 13, 2011

Did the Open Water Certification course and pool work in Vancouver with Diving Locker. Paul Quiggle was our Instructor. Each day started with videos and tests followed by pool work out at UBC's indoor and outdoor pools. Colin Duffy was the assistant instructor and there were 5 of us in the group, 2 male teenagers and a man about our age whose wife dives.

Firsts: 1st walking any distance in full gear!