[NickN]

My wife and I are taking a trip to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef next month and are wanting to do some scuba diving. We've never done this before. Should we get certified here in Hong Kong before we go?

I've reseached some diving companies in Cairns...some of them claim you can be scuba diving same day, with just a few quick lessons. Is this too good to be true?

What do you scuba pros recommend?

[sylvesterjay]

it will depend on how much time you have there. the diving is phenomenal, blows HK away by miles, but the schools there treat you like a factory...they just crank out students like an assembly line, no time to slow down just push push push...and you're certified 4 days later.

if you have time to do it here before you leave, at least the classroom and pool sections, then you can get a referral to do the open water in Cairns and not be so rushed. as for diving the same day, you can do a discovery dive with an instructor with no training at all, but its not recommended.

if you want more info, please feel free to post or pm me; however I'm in the UK now and my response times may lag. btw, I was trained as an instructor in Cairns and do it part time now in HK

[sylvesterjay]

also, if you get certified in HK first, you aren't going to waste 2 days in the classroom/pool in Cairns. you can do that here in HK at your leisure over a weekend and use that time in Cairns to dive for 2 extra days or do some other tourist things, rather than parking your butts in a school

[Pekkerhead]

I would get certified before your holiday, gives you max time for relaxation when away.

lots of schools here in HK (around 30 I think) but if you want English speaking then one of the schools here is SplashHK based in Hebe Haven.

There are lots of operations in Cairns to choose from, but one of my favourites is Passions of Paradise (hope they still run). They run day trips from the pier like a bunch of other people but I had a lot of fun with them when I was there.

[multivitamin]

i would get certified in cairns! yes, the schools like prodive, deppe sea divers den, cairns dive centre etc. may have a high turnover, but at the end of the day it still depends on the individual quality of the teacher.
plus, dive courses there are an absolute bargain, since you will do your training dives usually on one of their liveaboards out on the reef, food and accomodation included. its a rellxed and social way to learn to dive and you can extend your stay on the boat to get more practice (of course they will try to sell you the advanced course, which is an option worth considering if you feel like more training)
plus, many people find it easier to focussing on their dive course while on holidays and not inbetween their busy schedules at home
thats how i started to dive 11 years ago...