The wife and I went on an introductory dive on the Great Barrier Reef during our recent honeymoon, which ranked as the best non-sex thing we did on that trip (at least for me - hers was bottle feeding a lame merino lamb in New Zealand).
Anyway, having had a taste of scuba diving, I would love to learn how to do it properly (i.e. get certified), and was wondering if anyone had recommendations for schools/ programs in the Chicago area. I’d prefer in the city or in a proximate suburb (e.g. Evanston, Oak Park) rather than one in a further suburb (e.g. Naperville). Also, are there any programs/ instructors to avoid?
There’s one in Evanston where our mutual friend who introduced us got certified for his marine bio program in St. Croix some years back. I can’t remember the name right now, but you might drop him an e-mail.
My husband used to scuba dive in Lake Michigan (it sure doesn’t seem like a place where you’d find cool looking fish. But, whatever). He is the Last. Person. On. Earth. who I would figure for scuba diving. Picture Gandolf the Gray with tanks on his back. That would be Mr. Kalhoun. Anyhoo, that’s all I’ve got.
Second the recommendation for the Underwater Safaris on Lincoln. Just make sure that you only use them for the book and pool training portion of the certification. Do your open water certification dives somewhere warm and tropical, rather than in Lake Michigan or one of the abandoned quarries they sometimes use. Alternatively, Underwater Safaris also sponsors dive trips, so you could work it out to get certified on one of those.
You’ll probably get lots of opinions on where to go, but as beginning divers I’d recommend that for your first dive vacation you hit Bonaire. It has spectacular and easy diving (both boat and shore diving). The one downside is the lack of wild nightlife (but I never worried about that since I’m generally too exhausted after 3-4 dives and 3-4 post-diving margaritas).
Second the recommendation for the Underwater Safaris on Lincoln. Just make sure that you only use them for the book and pool training portion of the certification. Do your open water certification dives somewhere warm and tropical, rather than in Lake Michigan or one of the abandoned quarries they sometimes use. Alternatively, Underwater Safaris also sponsors dive trips, so you could work it out to get certified on one of those.
You’ll probably get lots of opinions on where to go, but as beginning divers I’d recommend that for your first dive vacation you hit Bonaire. It has spectacular and easy diving (both boat and shore diving). The one downside is the lack of wild nightlife (but I never worried about that since I’m generally too exhausted after 3-4 dives and 3-4 post-diving margaritas).
Second the recommendation for the Underwater Safaris on Lincoln. Just make sure that you only use them for the book and pool training portion of the certification. Do your open water certification dives somewhere warm and tropical, rather than in Lake Michigan or one of the abandoned quarries they sometimes use. Alternatively, Underwater Safaris also sponsors dive trips, so you could work it out to get certified on one of those.
You’ll probably get lots of opinions on where to go, but as beginning divers I’d recommend that for your first dive vacation you hit Bonaire. It has spectacular and easy diving (both boat and shore diving). The one downside is the lack of wild nightlife (but I never worried about that since I’m generally too exhausted after 3-4 dives and 3-4 post-diving margaritas).