stupid questions about scuba...stuart cove ex

[Deb Quen of Colorado]

I just noticed the Scuba at Stuart Cove excurtion... and it doesn't say anything about actually know how to scuba or being certified in the description. Has anyone done this? What can you tell me? It sounds so neat but the scuba part has me perplexed.

 

[IncredibleboysMom]

We have done the Stuart Cove scuba excursion twice with Disney. We are certified divers. I know that there were snorkelers joining us on our bus ride to Stuart Cove, so they must do that too. Not sure if it is a Disney excursion.

Hope that helps!

 

[Deb Quen of Colorado]

Ok.. I ended up called them directly.
The scuba is certified required. BUT, they have a 'resort course' that you can do. They do a pool training and all that and then a 45 minute dive. She said you can book it through them but there are time considerations. The first one picks up at 7:30 and the afternoon one returns at 6.

I think the resort course sounds wonderful!! Once I figure out when we are actually in port I'll see if it works out. They also have a SUB thing you can ride that looks like fun ... I wonder if it is.

 

[brucechase]

Just my 3 cents worth. If you want to do SCUBA, then forgo the resort course and take a real class before your cruise. I am just finishing up my course this weekend (6 Saturdays worth of training and 5 open water checkout dives) and I am now waiting for my next cruise. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable knowing enough with a few hours in a resort swimming pool.

 

[nick262]

Just my 3 cents worth. If you want to do SCUBA, then forgo the resort course and take a real class before your cruise. I am just finishing up my course this weekend (6 Saturdays worth of training and 5 open water checkout dives) and I am now waiting for my next cruise. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable knowing enough with a few hours in a resort swimming pool.

^^^^^THIS!!!! You will learn so much more and be SO much more comfortable in the water. However, if you decide to do the resort course keep your cert from that because if you finish your cert at home within the first year, PADI will count it as one of your cert dives.

 

[dragonfly08]

I just noticed the Scuba at Stuart Cove excurtion... and it doesn't say anything about actually know how to scuba or being certified in the description. Has anyone done this? What can you tell me? It sounds so neat but the scuba part has me perplexed.

It's somewhere in the fine print.

DH registered for this excursion and, although he is certified, he forgot to bring his dive card. The Shore Excursions staff were unable to help him get verification in time and he was not allowed to board the bus. On the upside, Disney did not charge him for the excursion even though, technically, they could have.

So yes, you do need to be certified for the Stuart Cove dive.

 

[Dicecatt]

We always use Stuarts Cove, and we book through a different excursion company rather than with Disney because it is less expensive, and because they have an awesome two tank shark dive. Stuarts Cove does have the ability to look up dive card information if forgotton, but if Disney was there verifying it without the Stuarts Cove computers, that would mean they wouldn't be able to look it up. They are extremely strict about certification.

I've done their diving with only a resort certification as well, and it was great...it was a two tank, one shipwreck, and one shark, although to be honest I think they were stretching it by letting me do the shark dive, because 1) it was a LOT of sharks and 2) it was too deep for the resort certification. I had my own dive master and my husband is a very confident diver, so basically I had the two of them looking out for me.

I agree with the other poster, it would be better to get certified first, that way you don't have the restriction. We just did the shark dive two weeks ago...my husband LOVED it. I didn't dive, I have some ear issues, but the video is really amazing.