>thanks bob, they went and did their own thing. Not 100% sure what it was, but I think the cert advice is good in general.

I figured you'd know all this anyway as you're a DM ( or did you do AI). I'll finish my Instructor Cert one of these days.

Anyway as far as Bamboo Reef, I hear you. I get the impression that if you do your cert there, your experience will be completely different when it comes to their customer service. I know Sean who runs their program. He''s a great guy and as a shop they dive a lot.

>-depends on what your goals are. If your only goal is to do easy vacation dives in warm clear water with no current, why subject yourself to >cold water, low vis, currents or other challenges?

I hear you, I just found that learning in cold water made me better prepared for anything that came my way in warm water. You never know what's going to happen down there. Lets say you're in Hawaii doing some shore diving in Kona. When you surface things have changed, the waves have kicked up significantly, the exit looks pretty shaky now. Having dealt with rough exits in cold water, I was able to evaluate the situation calmly, determine a plan of action and exit safely making sure my buddy who had no cold water experience got out safely as well.

Maybe you're just going on easy tropical dives with a group. What if you get separated? Happens all the time. Better diver means safer diver.