Reply With QuoteWhy do you need to do another qualification?, can't you just dive on your ticket you have now?, I would be using the money for enjoyment dives not lessons!!
mike
I will be going to Mauritius at the end of July for two weeks on a last minute holiday. My partner is Mauritian and we have never been together before and unfortunately her grandma isn't very well so it will be the only opportunity to meet her along with our son. My partners mother and sister will be staying with her in Vacoas that is inland and me, partner and son(1) will be staying in a hotel. Does anyone have any hotel recommendations? I completed my PADI in 2014 and would like to expand on that. I realise that July is not actually the best time to dive there but it's the only time we can all get off to go. What qualifications should I be looking to do and are there any dive centres that can be recommended?
Cheers
Why do you need to do another qualification?, can't you just dive on your ticket you have now?, I would be using the money for enjoyment dives not lessons!!
mike
I assumed I needed to do additional dives with an instructor before I could do them on my own i.e. wreck, night and deep.Originally Posted by seadog1408
If I don't then I absolutely won't be doing any "lessons" although it was over 3 years ago that I did my last dive
We've been twice - stayed once in the North West - Le Victoria and once in the South - Le Paradise (I think). Weather was very different and was much better in the North West (which I think is normal for Mauritius. From memory, both had diving facilities at the hotel.
A
ah, not sure then, I have never sport dived!, you might be right if you are going in a group or with an instructor.
Lux le morne is apparently excellent (bil went there and he is usually demanding, as he always goes to fancy hotels) but he doesn't dive so no pointer there.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Lux Belle Mare is great (been twice) on the east coast.
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Definitely expand on your PADI OW. Opens up a whole new set of possible dive sites and locations. Advanced is the obvious next step, but I believe PADI has an intermediate qualification - Adventure, perhaps? I don't know anything about the latter qualification, by the way, so please don't take that as an endorsement. I'm a NAUI diver myself, having learned in Africa, so there may be other options available.
I think July is the "winter" season, so you may also want a 5mm wetsuit!
With a three year gap it's likely the dive centre may require you to have a check dive with one of their instructors, most require this after 6 months out of the water. Even then, it's unlikely you'll be able to dive 'on your own' i.e. solo. ;-)
R
Last edited by ralphy; 3rd May 2017 at 14:01.
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I think the next step after OW is AOW, nothing in-between AFAIK and any other course needs an AOW certification, again AFAIK.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
The turtle Bay Area on the NW coast is amazing. We stayed in the Maritim hotel and Spa for our honeymoon and couldn't recommend it highly enough.
I think you can do a few extra specialities and I believe there's an Adventure Diver category once you've done so many, but that sounds (in my head) as if it should be above AOW, not below.
Anyway, to the OP, if you're going with a dive centre (and not just someone you know), they'll want you to exhibit some skills - 4 years from OW is a long time (did you do any other diving than the OW course?)
That said, my daughter, who did her OW in Mauritius was fine after such a break when we went to Lanzarote last year - She has a dizzying 10 dives now, but she's got better buoyancy control than some divers with 100+ dives!
When we were there, we stayed on the East coast and I'm pretty sure one day they taxied me over to the North West coast as the wind was strong (this was July) locally.
The East coast diving tends to be a bit more challenging - We did The Pass (a fast drift out through the coral reef) a couple of times and it was pretty enjoyable, although the water there was a bit murky.
On the North West(?) coast it was more like you expect the Indian Ocean to be, clear and calm. Lauren did her first two Open Water dives in a lagoon on the East Coast near the Toucherok hotel. That was gentle easy diving (pretty shallow - 10M?) with loads of fish life - I tagged along, for free, with them as the two of us were the only two people diving that day!
We stayed at the Ambre, at Trou d'Eau Douce, which we found excellent for the price - Not Toucherok glitzy, but peaceful and tranquil in a lovely location.
M
Last edited by snowman; 3rd May 2017 at 16:23.
Thanks for the hotel recommendations. Here is a photo of my dive log showing I did a deep adventure dive as well.
Ah. It seems to be an add-on from OW covering certain aspects of AOW - https://www.padi.com/padi-courses/adventure-diver.
Mr Chef has already notched up a Deep Adventure Dive (presumably as credit towards AOW).
I'm planning Rescue Diver next. Only been diving recreationally for 24 years, but probably about time I got round to actually doing it!
Funnily enough I have a gold(?) rescue diver card from padi......... I got a dive school out of trouble when they were sinking back in early 90's they gave me a ticket as payment .
mike
I too have stayed at the Maritim. Absolutely top hotel, but a bit remote. You dont actually need to leave the hotel and its grounds, but if you do, the taxis really have your eyes out. What would be a tenners journey over here, expect to pay fourty plus there. Oh, and theres a michelin star chateau restaurant on site as well, and yes, it is fantastic. Enjoy yourself wherever you decide to stay. We flew Air Mauritius, never again. Would do Emirates if I ever went back.
Stuart
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I would have thought that sinking is rather good for a dive school
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Not their new boat!!!!I would have thought that sinking is rather good for a dive school
I've stayed in Flic en Flac which was nice, the diving there is also good.
There's a few wrecks including a smaller boat in about 20m which is full of life and great for photography.
I'd also recommend hiring a car as the island is not massive, so you can explore a fair bit of it in two weeks.
(If you do visit Flac en Flac try the burgers/pizzas here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...c_En_Flac.html
Ask the owner for a shot of his home brewed rum! Its amazing)
The Chamarel rum distillery is also worth visiting as theres a few other things to do in the area and the food is good too.
*Iirc we dove with Sea-Urchin dive centre which is based very near the beach in Flic/Flac.
Last edited by ArcofZen; 4th May 2017 at 15:42.
I did some drift diving outside the reef on the East coast. Quite a bit of current so you can cover a lot of ground in quite a short period. Cool, but watch out for stone and lion fish.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
It'll be accepted as an AOW credit and will need two more to go with it.
The Rescue Diver course is both challenging and rewarding, I've just left a location where a group were doing it and they were all dog-tired by the end of day 3 but still buzzing. Do make sure you've got recent CPR and First Aid course certification before starting it though.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Thanks R!
Next trip is back to Lembeh, and then off to Halmahera (Weda) to see Wallace's Standardwing.
I've seen some great stuff from Weda.
Just back from Aqaba and Dahab, back again there next month then (hopefully) down to Zanzibar for Nyange Island.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
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