where to learn to dive

[reactan]

seeing we have quite a large diving crowd here...want to ask you guys, which dive shop wpuld you all recomend for basic open water course?

Thanks,
AT

 

[Koelsch]

Tioman =D. if not, i remember seeing this diving shop in concourse. could start asking from there. anyway it's not a cheap hobby

 

[seankyh]

Not that bad lar. Check out Friendly Waters at Concourse. They own a dive place at Pulau Aur which is not bad. At least the last time I went..

 

[Taurean]

U can try Sunnycove located at River valley area.

 

[reactan]

thanks!! anymore suggestions? more specifically, i'm lookig for dive shops, not dive sites. Thanks!

 

[Sharpion]

you could try www.livingseas.com.sg, they have really skilled instructors and seriously focus on diving skills instead of just try to pass you. One of the few places that offer the GUE DIR Fundamentals course :thumbsup: Of course there is the standard PADI stuff for beginners (look for Raymond).

 

[stonefish35]

I have a zip file of the dive shops in Spore. Pm me if interested. Dun think able to attached the file here. I'm not in the dive industry. Just a recreational diver who's into uw photography also.


With regards to the GUE DIR Fundamentals course , I think there's enough debate on this topic on the diving forums. :bsmilie:


Alot of divers can recommend alot of shops, there's no the BEST DIVE shop. It just sums up to be what are you looking out for.

For me, safety is the no 1 issue.Therefore I do not drink alcohol and party at night and dive the next day.Therefore I will not dive with a certain local dive operator known for their booze party and HUGE speakers at their resort. Last Feb, this operator had 1 of their boat sunk, enroute to their resort. Reason being, boat was being overloaded,my fren lost his entire set of dive equipment due to that. The yr before this incident, someone drown at the diving platform infront of this resort. Why drink alcohol and dive when you can get high on nitrogen when you go diving ?:dunno:

For me, its just the diving, marine life and the photography that attracts me. Good luck for your search for a dive shop.

For a start, maybe you can check out with your diver frens. There is a Dive Expo in coming soon. April 21-23 suntec City, ADEX ( Asia Diving Exhibition ) is in town. This is a good time to shop for dive courses and leisure diving trips. Just be careful when you sign up, if the course cover everything from , Food, accomodation , transport, course material, dive equipment and cost of certification etc. Some operators will excl some costs, in order to make it appear "cheap".

 

[jsbn]

Hmm... Interesting. I'm looking forward to learning diving this year having only 'dived' in swimming pools, looking for something with more kick.

Thnx for the headsup on the show. Maybe can go and look-see.

Any admission fee involved?

 

[Ah_Seng]

you could try www.livingseas.com.sg, they have really skilled instructors and seriously focus on diving skills instead of just try to pass you. One of the few places that offer the GUE DIR Fundamentals course :thumbsup: Of course there is the standard PADI stuff for beginners (look for Raymond).

Gideon Liew from the livingseas.:thumbsup:

Don't know if he teaches OW though.

It's impt to learn from a good instructor rather than going for the cheapest course. Remember that safety is No.1 .

 

[stonefish35]

Hmm... Interesting. I'm looking forward to learning diving this year having only 'dived' in swimming pools, looking for something with more kick.

Thnx for the headsup on the show. Maybe can go and look-see.

Any admission fee involved?

There is a admission fee of $6, but if you fill up a online survey form , you can get free admission. Search for Suntec Integrated Media -> ADEX. Think there is a quota on the free admission.

 

[HeWolf]

I totally second that: Safety is No 1

I did an emergency ascend due to faulty equipment provided by the operator.
Close shave! I must say.
When the air didn't get into my mouth smoothly as I suck, I almost wanted to instinctly remove the regulator from my mouth to breath. Luckily my cool told me that it's insane to do such thing in the deep water. So blew bubbles all the way to the surface. phew!!

for beginers, I strong suggest NOT to dive in local water (as a start). Not that there's nothing to see, but the visibility is so poor, that one would have to go very near to see things.
For a beginer, one would probably has too many things to fiddle: how to breath, how to fin, depth check, time check, orientation, buddy, etc.
So before these have become a diver's instinct, one probably won't enjoy much in local water.

Cheap and good would be islands along East Malaysia (Tioman, Aur, etc...). These locations almost become 'industrial standard'.

 

[stonefish35]

I totally second that: Safety is No 1

I did an emergency ascend due to faulty equipment provided by the operator.
Close shave! I must say.
When the air didn't get into my mouth smoothly as I suck, I almost wanted to instinctly remove the regulator from my mouth to breath. Luckily my cool told me that it's insane to do such thing in the deep water. So blew bubbles all the way to the surface. phew!!

for beginers, I strong suggest NOT to dive in local water (as a start). Not that there's nothing to see, but the visibility is so poor, that one would have to go very near to see things.
For a beginer, one would probably has too many things to fiddle: how to breath, how to fin, depth check, time check, orientation, buddy, etc.
So before these have become a diver's instinct, one probably won't enjoy much in local water.

Cheap and good would be islands along East Malaysia (Tioman, Aur, etc...). These locations almost become 'industrial standard'.

I must say, you are well trained. Able to think calmly and react well to this kind of life threatening event. :thumbsup:

But what happen to your spare regulator a.k.a octopus ? And your dive buddy ? And ain't we suppose to do a buddy check before hitting the water ?


With regards to learning to dive in local waters, those divers that i know who took up open water in spore, end up being one of the better trained divers.

We have this saying : If a diver is trained in Spore, then he/she can dive anywhere in the world :bsmilie:

 

[thomas.h]

www.leeway.com.sg

i did mine with these guys.

 

[HeWolf]

I must say, you are well trained. Able to think calmly and react well to this kind of life threatening event. :thumbsup:

But what happen to your spare regulator a.k.a octopus ? And your dive buddy ? And ain't we suppose to do a buddy check before hitting the water ?

It's the 1st stage that was faulty, hence octopus won't help. even the meter on the console dipped (and bounced back thereafter) as I suck (very very hard).

Pre-dive check was ok, the equipment failed halfway thru the dive.

Buddy huh? :bsmilie: Being over confident, we only maintained 'visible' distance, not arms-length. I think we were helping different weaker divers swiming thru strong current when it happened.

My judgement THEN was that it would be faster and easier to hit the surface then to swim against the strong current for my buddy's octopus, especially when I was desparate for AIR then.

 

[HeWolf]

With regards to learning to dive in local waters, those divers that i know who took up open water in spore, end up being one of the better trained divers.

We have this saying : If a diver is trained in Spore, then he/she can dive anywhere in the world :bsmilie:

I agreed with the saying, which I've heard from many operators.

And I believe our Navy divers are one of the best trained in the region, as their training ground is the milky, coffee-liked water at SBW base.

However, many beginers are just recreational, hence BEFORE one could become a good diver, one may just quit the hobby as there're less 'fun' factor as compare to the scenary where other places could offer.

Of course, those who persist, and obtained their skill in the local water, will find it so much easier and enjoyable when come to other clear waters.

 

[stonefish35]

It's the 1st stage that was faulty, hence octopus won't help. even the meter on the console dipped (and bounced back thereafter) as I suck (very very hard).

Pre-dive check was ok, the equipment failed halfway thru the dive.

Buddy huh? :bsmilie: Being over confident, we only maintained 'visible' distance, not arms-length. I think we were helping different weaker divers swiming thru strong current when it happened.

My judgement THEN was that it would be faster and easier to hit the surface then to swim against the strong current for my buddy's octopus, especially when I was desparate for AIR then.

Just as I had suspected 1st stage failure. That is really very rare for the 1st stage to fail halfway thru a dive. Care to share which resort/ dive centre was that ? :angry: .

Btw, you really can react well in an out of air situation, saluate you. I think you did a textbook example as to what to do in an out of air situation. Think can write to the dive agencies to include you as a case study for the new Edition of OW text :bsmilie:

 

[stonefish35]

I agreed with the saying, which I've heard from many operators.

And I believe our Navy divers are one of the best trained in the region, as their training ground is the milky, coffee-liked water at SBW base.

However, many beginers are just recreational, hence BEFORE one could become a good diver, one may just quit the hobby as there're less 'fun' factor as compare to the scenary where other places could offer.

Of course, those who persist, and obtained their skill in the local water, will find it so much easier and enjoyable when come to other clear waters.

Agreed. Actually my personal advise for my frens is that, train in Malaysia waters, at least until they can control their bouyancy, then dive in spore to train to be better divers.

That way, they will not be put off by the low visibility of local waters, and have enough skills so as not to damage our delicate corals, and can discover how rich our local marine life is

 

[HeWolf]

Just as I had suspected 1st stage failure. That is really very rare for the 1st stage to fail halfway thru a dive. Care to share which resort/ dive centre was that ? :angry: .

Btw, you really can react well in an out of air situation, saluate you. I think you did a textbook example as to what to do in an out of air situation. Think can write to the dive agencies to include you as a case study for the new Edition of OW text :bsmilie:

Just checked my Log:

Date: 2 Sep 2001
Location: Rayner's Rock, P. Aur
Operator: Scuba Connection (not sure still exist, after so long)


Wah lao I'm not so Wei2 Da4 to include this incident in the text book as case study. I'm just glad that I'm still living. :bsmilie:


It's all fated. I broke my personal gear (the valve on the BCD) on the previous dive. Hence just used the provided 'house-gear' that was assigned to a friend whom was a beginer (under-goning OW couse), as she was too tired to do that extra leisure dive.

Had she used that set for that particular dive .... I dare not think further. :embrass:

 

[stonefish35]

Just checked my Log:

Date: 2 Sep 2001
Location: Rayner's Rock, P. Aur
Operator: Scuba Connection (not sure still exist, after so long)


Wah lao I'm not so Wei2 Da4 to include this incident in the text book as case study. I'm just glad that I'm still living. :bsmilie:


It's all fated. I broke my personal gear (the valve on the BCD) on the previous dive. Hence just used the provided 'house-gear' that was assigned to a friend whom was a beginer (under-goning OW couse), as she was too tired to do that extra leisure dive.

Had she used that set for that particular dive .... I dare not think further. :embrass:

I think i'm blur. You broke a part on your own BC, but end up using your friend's Reg ?

1st stage do not usually just fail suddenly.There should be signs and symptoms prior to that.

I suspect the failure occurs gradually, and your fren's tireness may be due to this. She maybe be having slight difficulty when she breathe.The resistant when she breathe may cause her to "suck" harder, hence causing her to " work" harder. And cause carbon dioxide retention in her body.Did she complain of headache ?

Anyway, a dive operator have no excuses for failure of regulator.:nono: Especially 1st stage.

Btw, that operator is still in existence. But it seems to me that their scale of operation seems small.

Anyway, i'm really glad that your quick thinking and good training had saved your live :thumbsup:
Cheers to you


;p hurray next weekend doing the warm up trip to tioman. 2006 W.Msia dive season had opened .

Btw, you are an UW photographer too ??
hope to dive with you someday.

 

[yanyewkay]

i was with divercity at international plaza.

cool and great instructors I must say. had a great time with them.

http://www.divercity.com.sg/en/

They do progressive training to get newbies adapted to u/w in the first 2 dives.