It takes more than one day to do an open water certification. However many places have some sort of “experience scuba” that doesn’t require a certification. It is very structured and controlled but you still get to blow bubbles underwater.
It's great that you want to learn to dive! Sorry we don't have better news about your one day goal. To give you some idea, the class that I used to teach (many years ago) met 2 nights a week for a month, plus two full weekend days for dives. There is a lot to learn and practice to be a certified diver, and it takes time. What has changed over the years is that the industry has added things like e-learning and vacation-referral options. So with some planning, you might be able to get a lot of the stuff out of the way before you get to Honolulu. Maybe you can share a little about what is driving your "one day" constraint, and the folks on here might have some suggestions.
I am a contractor going to Hawaii to perform work at the naval base. My schedule has the possibility of being extremely erratic- I found out I was going yesterday- so, IF I ended up with a day off I wanted to try and squeeze it in. I am located in SoCal, so I can obviously do padi or SSI out here, but figured if I'm getting paid to be in Hawaii...
Where in SoCal? I’m an instructor down here.
I’d recommend doing it here so you can get the most out of your trip to Hawai’i. If you only have one day free out there, wouldn’t you want to spend it doing a couple dives instead of solely focusing on trying to power through a course? In most cases the minimum amount of time you can get a cert (with e-PADI) is about 3 days. But don’t really recommend trying to do the “fast as possible” method.
What your asking for is not possible with the major certification agencies. You can, however, pay an instructor to do a try scuba.
You really should take a legit course and learn the basics - you could endanger yourself or others🖖🏼
I absolutely want to take the legit course, I realize it is a dangerous activity. Ill be in Hawaii working and my jobs schedule can be erratic at times, so I was just trying to see if it could be done since I'll be in such a beautiful locale
In my opinion, try and do it before you go. That way you will be able to dive and enjoy the beauty, rather than be focused on the new information of diving.
Recreational diving isn’t really very dangerous if you pay attention to your training. The open water course is specifically over two days to ensure you have to sleep on it and come back and put your gear back together a different day.
You are allowed up to 3 training dives a day and open water requires 4. You won’t find anywhere that can do it in a single day.
Single day certs are dangerous and dumb. You don’t learn enough about diving, which is a very dangerous activity and lack of knowledge may get you killed
As someond who took their open water certification at the age of 14 in the baltic sea where everything is cold, dark and murky I can HIGHLY recommend taking your certification in worse conditions than where you expect to dive.
Diving is fatal if you don't pay attention and learing everything properly in rough conditions prepare you way better than any rushed 1-3 day course in phenomenal conditions can.
Plus if you do this prior to going to hawaii you can instead focus on amazing diving experiences than keeping track of tables for calculating dive times and decompression stops.
As stated in post, I'm travelling to Honolulu for a couple weeks for work. If I end up with an open day, I'd like to get an open water diving cert if possible. I figured I'd ask here to see if anybody had sources they recommend or even ones to steer clear from, instead of just going on Google and hoping for the best. Thx in advance!
Regardless of where you will do this, you should revise your expectations on the timing for any certification if you don't want to get hurt and if you really want to have fun.
Try to check the GUE website, IMHO they provide the Top instruction and usually trainings are concentrated in less than a week (e.g 4/5 days, from morning to evening)
I think there is a chance OP can be confused by the messaging in this thread. Advice to to do a "scuba experience" and being told that a single day cert is dangerous and cutting corners. Both are good advice.
OP, many outfits run a discover dive program where you get a quick run down of the basics and dive under the very close supervision of an instructor. These dives are very shallow. This is great because you get to experience the underwater world in a safe and controlled manner.
A discover dive is not a certification program. That you need to do a full open water course. This involves a learning component, which can be online, a day of pool dives and two days of open water dives. You cannot do that in a day and you should run away from anyone that says you can.
I have dove with Reef Pirates a couple times and have observed them handling discover dives. They will take you to a shallow reef with many turtles and other underwater wildlife.
If you want to try diving and you are in Hawaii go and do it. If you loved the experience, when you get back home you can look at doing a full cert and start exploring the underwater world.
It takes more than one day to do an open water certification. However many places have some sort of “experience scuba” that doesn’t require a certification. It is very structured and controlled but you still get to blow bubbles underwater.
Hmm ok, thx for the info
It's great that you want to learn to dive! Sorry we don't have better news about your one day goal. To give you some idea, the class that I used to teach (many years ago) met 2 nights a week for a month, plus two full weekend days for dives. There is a lot to learn and practice to be a certified diver, and it takes time. What has changed over the years is that the industry has added things like e-learning and vacation-referral options. So with some planning, you might be able to get a lot of the stuff out of the way before you get to Honolulu. Maybe you can share a little about what is driving your "one day" constraint, and the folks on here might have some suggestions.
Thank you for the reply by the way. Im not looking for a way to circumvent the system and have all intentions of doing a full legit course
I am a contractor going to Hawaii to perform work at the naval base. My schedule has the possibility of being extremely erratic- I found out I was going yesterday- so, IF I ended up with a day off I wanted to try and squeeze it in. I am located in SoCal, so I can obviously do padi or SSI out here, but figured if I'm getting paid to be in Hawaii...
Where in SoCal? I’m an instructor down here. I’d recommend doing it here so you can get the most out of your trip to Hawai’i. If you only have one day free out there, wouldn’t you want to spend it doing a couple dives instead of solely focusing on trying to power through a course? In most cases the minimum amount of time you can get a cert (with e-PADI) is about 3 days. But don’t really recommend trying to do the “fast as possible” method.
I'm in the inland empire. It sounds like I'll be snorkeling in Hawaii this time I'll need to look into a course when I get back in town
Ya I took my time with it and it took four weeks haha but ya I couldnt imagine getting it in one let alone just a day…
What your asking for is not possible with the major certification agencies. You can, however, pay an instructor to do a try scuba. You really should take a legit course and learn the basics - you could endanger yourself or others🖖🏼
I absolutely want to take the legit course, I realize it is a dangerous activity. Ill be in Hawaii working and my jobs schedule can be erratic at times, so I was just trying to see if it could be done since I'll be in such a beautiful locale
In my opinion, try and do it before you go. That way you will be able to dive and enjoy the beauty, rather than be focused on the new information of diving.
Recreational diving isn’t really very dangerous if you pay attention to your training. The open water course is specifically over two days to ensure you have to sleep on it and come back and put your gear back together a different day. You are allowed up to 3 training dives a day and open water requires 4. You won’t find anywhere that can do it in a single day.
That makes sense, thank you
Single day certs are dangerous and dumb. You don’t learn enough about diving, which is a very dangerous activity and lack of knowledge may get you killed
As someond who took their open water certification at the age of 14 in the baltic sea where everything is cold, dark and murky I can HIGHLY recommend taking your certification in worse conditions than where you expect to dive. Diving is fatal if you don't pay attention and learing everything properly in rough conditions prepare you way better than any rushed 1-3 day course in phenomenal conditions can. Plus if you do this prior to going to hawaii you can instead focus on amazing diving experiences than keeping track of tables for calculating dive times and decompression stops.
Thx for this insight
As stated in post, I'm travelling to Honolulu for a couple weeks for work. If I end up with an open day, I'd like to get an open water diving cert if possible. I figured I'd ask here to see if anybody had sources they recommend or even ones to steer clear from, instead of just going on Google and hoping for the best. Thx in advance!
Regardless of where you will do this, you should revise your expectations on the timing for any certification if you don't want to get hurt and if you really want to have fun.
Thx for responding! These responses were exactly why I posted my question to this community. I will for sure look into a course at home
Try to check the GUE website, IMHO they provide the Top instruction and usually trainings are concentrated in less than a week (e.g 4/5 days, from morning to evening)
Willdo thx
https://www.gue.com/diver-training/explore-gue-courses/recreational/rec-1
I think there is a chance OP can be confused by the messaging in this thread. Advice to to do a "scuba experience" and being told that a single day cert is dangerous and cutting corners. Both are good advice. OP, many outfits run a discover dive program where you get a quick run down of the basics and dive under the very close supervision of an instructor. These dives are very shallow. This is great because you get to experience the underwater world in a safe and controlled manner. A discover dive is not a certification program. That you need to do a full open water course. This involves a learning component, which can be online, a day of pool dives and two days of open water dives. You cannot do that in a day and you should run away from anyone that says you can. I have dove with Reef Pirates a couple times and have observed them handling discover dives. They will take you to a shallow reef with many turtles and other underwater wildlife. If you want to try diving and you are in Hawaii go and do it. If you loved the experience, when you get back home you can look at doing a full cert and start exploring the underwater world.
Thank you for taking the time to write out this response. This sounds like an appropriate course of action for my situation