Posted by Jason on August 22, 2001 at 17:16:49:
In Reply to: Rookie - need to get certified. Anywhere near the Bay Area? posted by Sharkbait on August 22, 2001 at 10:50:38:
Do you work near Berkeley as well?
For that area, I'd suggest Bamboo Reef in SF (soma). They do the typical OW class, either 3 weeks by two weeknights, or one weekend. A bit shorter than I like it, but pretty normal and they do a decent job. SSI is the agency.
If you were down the penisula part of the time I'd have different recs for a longer cert class.
Virtually all places (except Wallins in San Carlos) are priced nearly identically, so you're not going to see much variation, at least not once you've added in all the costs of certification. You need to buy a little bit of snorkel gear, plus the class and the trip to Monterey. Figure 500-600$.