Wher are you going?

The course would be 4 days - though you can start some of the theory at home (overall this will cost a bit more, and it's not hard schoolwork..!).
Cost - depends a bit on the dive centre, time of year, how you book, but about 300 Euro for the Open water course (plus you'll need the training materials - perhaps another 50Eu), this certfies you to dive to a depth of 18 metres. After that you can decide whether to do more courses...

probably sharm as we have been a few times and know the area
but if any other area is recommended we will try
as long as i've got a pool to lie at and in a safe complex cause i don't do boats

Hi

I can recommend Oonas Dive Club, they are located at the far end of the bay next to the Sonesta Beach Resort Hotel, they have been established for a long time and are very friendly and professional.

http://www.oonasdiveclub.com/?gclid=CLmw1MrKhJgCFUwb3godBgVUCg

Graham

Highly recommend the DiveTribe at the Movenpick Hotel in El Gouna. (Though you don't necessarily have to stay at the Movenpick as they collect from all El Gouna Hotels). Have certificated both my children (now 14 and 15) and we have been diving with them for over 4 years. I don't trust my kids lightly to anyone!!!

http://www.divetribe.com/home.asp

hi going to be near old sharm aqua blu
so if anyone can recommend anyone there
my son will be 14 then

My husband and 13 year old are out today at Stoney Cove doing their first open water dive for the PADI course. We opted for them doing the course here so that when they we go to Egypt in August they are all ready to dive. I have to say it is going to work out more expensive, but especially with my daughter doing it I am glad they are doing it this way. They've done two very full classroom mornings followed by pool work on a one to one basis and then Thursday evening they had dry suit training prior to today's outing. They also had to go through the book before hand and have been thoroughly tested on their knowledge. The course is 4 long Sundays plus an evening and I'm not a diver, just my observation, but it would seem that the training has to be more in depth than you would get from 4 days in resort. I'm sure my husband would have been fine doing it in resort, but as I say I'm happier with my daughter diving in Egypt knowing that she has been well instructed first.

Not yet sure who they will dive with in Sharm, but Camel and Emperor have been recommended. I know everyone is extra cautious when their kids are involved, so it is hard to know who to go with. We are lucky in that we have friends who are experienced divers coming out with us for a week, so even though we will pre-book they will know what to look for.

Pam

Hi cajd

My family all dive and I would recommend you attempt to find out who the dive centre is that your hotel uses . I'm sure they will have one and possibly on site . It's normally easier to use the dive centre on site or very close by if they are a decent operation . As pam says emperor , camel, red sea college are all reputable dive centres and will collect you from your hotel but this can be more hassle if they are not close by.

I would email them and ask .

hi we went to our local scuba dive club and was told son had to be 16 because of insurance purposes
we're in scotland
we will wait till sharm then n see what happens

Maybe it was a BSAC course as opposed to a padi Cajd.

Your son can do padi open water course from 10 years old .My youngest son did his at 10 and the older two were around 12 and 14 . He will only have junior certification until age 15 and from what I remember this limits their depth to 12 meters with a padi pro for under 12's and then over 12 they can go to the full 18 meters with an adult .

So no problem even if he want's to do the full course which would probably be 3 days if he takes to it with no problems

yes that was the course
i think that was the only one they did
been looking for local padi but nearest about at least 20 miles away
so quite a trek
i'll keep looking cause i recon it would be a good thing for him and he's enthusiastic about it

I am a diver and so is my partner. I have dived many times in Egypt and can recommend Emporer and Oonas in Sharm, Euro Divers in Hurghada and also I have dived with Red Sea World. My own preference would be to qualify at Stoney ( as i did)..and trust me, diving in Egypt in clear warm water is a total luxury once you have dived in UK waters. if you can dive in UK waters, you can cope with diving anywhere.

Qualifying abroad and then coming back over here to dive is a real culture shock..and it quite often puts people off diving.

I am not knocking anyone who qualifies abroad..the PADI course has the same skills etc to complete wherever you take it...and anyone who meets the criteria can rightly be qualified. You can do Junior OW from the age of 10 up to 15 which would qualify you to dive to 12m.

perhaps you could do a referral..eg: all the book work and pool work in this country but your 4 qualifying dives over in . Don't know if this would work out any cheaper..

As Val says much more demanding conditions here . My tribe have dived in Devon/Cornwall a few times . Totally different and they were suprised at how warm the water was . This was in August though . Val is a true diver . Diving in all UK weathers . Mine are strickly wet suit , warm weather divers

You can now do the bookwork online with PADI to save losing valuable holiday-time in a classroom somewhere. 3 days of study is a LONG time for a 12 year old when the beach and the sea beckon!!!

My kids used the CD Rom as backup to tuition (learned in UK) as they found the language (adult-speak) quite heavy going and therefore needed more repetition than an adult probably would - the course is a bit "scientific" in places for a child possibly not even in secondary school. On-line wasn't available then, but looks to be a useful tool.

http://www.padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/online-courses/default.aspx

hi all thanks for all info will check all your suggestions out and let you know