Resort Diving, get a course first?

[JonT]

Originally Posted by PoonTang

Set the open water certification before you go. Way better value and allows you to dive anywhere and good for life. Resort corses are only good for that location I believe and are almost as expensive. I got my full certification just recently before I went to the Bahamas and it was way cheaper and allows you to go alot deeper than a resort course too I believe

True,

I know that you can also (depending on the cert your getting PADI or _____ forget the other one) do the full course minus the open water dive (they forward your progress up to that point) and do the last part at the resort.

Personally, I would want to have it all complete before I left.

Also note: if your luggage is over weight, make mention of the flippers/mask/snorkle or whatever else you might have. It gets you some extra weight allocation.