Posted by Oliver on March 30, 2000 at 15:40:49:
In Reply to: New diver in SF Bay... I'm hooked & want to go diving... any ideas? posted by Jack on March 24, 2000 at 21:54:37:
I'm in the same situation as you. Here's what I did:
Called the Cypress Charters people (they run Monterey
Bay's biggest boats) and found out dates when a dive
shop had bought the whole boat for a day. Then I
called that dive shop to see what their mission of
the day was, and whether they had an open slot
they'd sell me. The advantages are that when a
dive shop is running an open water checkout day, all
the dives are geared toward students, in other
words exactly what someone who's still on their
temporary c-card (like me) needs! And, since they
are (I believe) paying a flat rate for the boat,
any extra people beyond their class is money in
their pocket, so they should be glad to have you.
In fact, I'm diving on Sunday using exactly that
approach - and there are a few other non-students
also going whom I can buddy up with.
Good luck!
- Oliver