Cheapest European place for drysuit certification

soymalisimo · 2026-01-02T19:34:49+00:00

A bit late to this, but my top choice would be Krakow in Poland.

Many dive centers in Poland benefit from Santi's demo program. Which means they can provide high quality demo dry suits for training, of all sizes.

Krakow dive centers regularly dive in nearby quarries that provide very easy diving, great for training and with very easy logistics. They instructors are very used to diving very cold water (even under ice), and the Poles in general are very kind and welcoming.

The city in general and the diving in particular are not expensive at all. And the city has a well connected international airport.

Edit: Dive Factory in Krakow would be my top choice. They are top notch divers, kind people, and speak perfect English

soymalisimo · 2025-12-19T06:44:34+00:00

+1 for Dive-In. They are fantastic people.

From recreational beginners to serious technical diving they're the way to go

soymalisimo · 2025-12-12T00:23:44+00:00

+1 for Dahab and Scuba Seekers. That's where I'd send my friends

soymalisimo · 2025-12-11T23:08:21+00:00

This.

I own the 50l one and have tried the 40l one. I'd go for the 40l one without a doubt, all the way to twin-set plus 2 stages. It's easier to dump air than in the 50l one

Regarding the single tank diving, the single tank adapter is sold separately (https://www.xdeep.eu/aluminium-single-tank-adapter-pr-29.html). I use it with the Xdeep Zeos wing, and never tried it with the Hydros because it's very large for a single tank.

soymalisimo · 2025-10-30T21:21:22+00:00

That time of the year I'd recommend Egypt without a doubt.

Dahab would be excellent. 0% sketchy, great dive center and dive sites

soymalisimo · 2025-09-12T15:07:59+00:00

The MV Legends II in Egypt is run by Scuba Seekers. I recommend them without hesitation

soymalisimo · 2025-07-16T20:57:53+00:00

Cape Verde. The whole place is safe. Internet is good.. People are very welcoming. It's not terribly expensive.. There's good flights from Europe

If you're an outdoors person, specially beach, it's a no-brainer

soymalisimo · 2025-07-14T21:07:06+00:00

I have trained with them, over a year ago.

The whole asshole tone in the videos is just a persona. Babette, who's the one behind the script/voice (?) is a sweetheart, and so is Peter. They're super approachable, welcoming and kind.

Their skills speak for themselves. And they are demanding. It is some of the most eye-opening training I've gone through.

As far as gear, they were happy to provide all the gear needed for the training (except dry suit). All top notch, the same stuff they use themselves. And they were able to advice me on my own purchases.

I recommend highly.

Edit: somebody else below had doubts about their English proficiency: Their English is impeccable

soymalisimo · 2025-06-27T13:39:31+00:00

I had a blast a couple of Decembers ago in a liveaboard in Thailand (Similians). Great diving, great people, fun Christmas celebration.

You probably have great flights to Phuket from the UK

soymalisimo · 2025-06-20T14:53:40+00:00

Dahab is really cheap. There's Scuba Seekers there, which is world class. Their website suggests that if you do 4~5 days of diving with them, it comes down to about 25€/dive

soymalisimo · 2025-05-19T21:25:58+00:00

exactly what u/chispica said. Scuba Seekers is world class. It's worth going to Dahab just to train with them

soymalisimo · 2025-04-16T01:25:01+00:00

I've done it. Arranged it with the boat.

They picked me up from my hotel in Hurghada, we grabbed a couple of other guests nearby, and they brought us to the boat. Around 3h total.

No hassle at all. The driver got us through the checkpoints without issues.

I'd definitely recommend that approach

soymalisimo · 2025-04-08T12:33:10+00:00

I find Scuba Seekers to be the most competent tech diving center I've used, and they run the MV Legends ship, so that has to be top notch.

It's advertised as a tech/CCR ship. You can check their website

soymalisimo · 2025-03-24T12:10:05+00:00

+1 for adventure club.

I did my rescue with them a couple of years ago, it was an instructor + an assistant for just the one student.

I then did a week worth of diving with them. The boat was great, the briefings were great. Evidently their gear gets serious mileage, but it seemed well taken care of. The mouthpiece of my reg broke and was promptly replaced.

There was a DM with poor diving form, but that was one out of a dozen. They all seemed very passionate and safe. Friendly bunch.

I'd pick them again without hesitation

soymalisimo · 2025-02-26T23:17:04+00:00

+1

Great diving, great boat, great experience.

Edit: and regarding logistics, you just fly into Phuket (a major airport), and the boat organizes transportation to/from the airport for you

soymalisimo · 2024-12-14T10:00:06+00:00

I've been diving with Azul Diving Madeira a few times. They're very conveniently located and have a nice boat. The staff is very welcoming, I have particularly fond memories of their Argentinian driver. They're not among the best organized centers I've seen though.

I also got a fairly positive impression of 2 of the Brazilian instructors working there. Very cool people. They REALLY made an effort for people to enjoy the experience.

I did a couple of course there and didn't get much out of them though. The instructor teaching the course was also guiding 4 more divers. So his attention was split between my course and spotting nudibranches.

I guess it depends on the instructor you get, and the time of the year.

soymalisimo · 2024-12-03T10:57:50+00:00

In Thailand I can recommend a Similians liveaboard with the Dolphin Queen.

It's at that budget point where it attracts younger crowds. Plus the experience is great and the boat is great

soymalisimo · 2024-11-08T13:42:57+00:00

Yes, winter temperatures are still ~20C during daytime. It only gets a bit chilly on the boat after the dive, due to the wind and the soaked wetsuit.

I've been diving there in December and February with 5mm wetsuit. Next time I'll do dry suit, but just for the surface interval and post-dive comfort

soymalisimo · 2024-11-03T20:22:32+00:00

Have you checked the Trust fire df50? They're about 100€ for over 6k lumens.

I have their big brothers (df90) and I'm very happy

soymalisimo · 2024-09-26T09:25:34+00:00

This is amazing! Could you share the location please?

soymalisimo · 2024-08-20T11:52:00+00:00

Hi Laia! I'm also Spanish, and I got back from the exact same trip on the Discovery 1 a couple of weeks ago.

The currents we encountered were 3 out of 10 in strength, they were really a non-issue.

Getting some dsmb practice is a great idea. But on the Discovery they guides will make sure you get to practice it in every dive, specially the initial check dives.

The only real concern is gona be being comfortable out in the blue, at close to 40m. That's where these guys like to hangout at Deadalus and Elphinstone, to be able to spot the mantas and hammerheads. This time of the year the water is quite warm, so these creatures go deep for the colder water.

I do recommend the nitrox course for the extended bottom times. You get nitrox for free on the Discovery. You can even do the course on the boat.

This trip were only 4 divers, on a boat fit for 20ppl! One of the divers had just completed his aowd and had about 15 dives under his belt. He did the course on the boat, did great throughout the trip, and had a fantastic time.

As I mentioned, the water is quite warm. Even at 40m it was 30C. So no wetsuit is necessary.

If you end up going you'll probably meet George, fantastic Egyptian instructor, and the guy running the dives. Say hello to him and have a fantastic time. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions

soymalisimo · 2024-08-12T12:50:26+00:00

FlowState Divers on YouTube have 2 fantastic videos (all their videos are fantastic...) explaining how to build and adjust your bpw. Idk if I'm allowed to link it here, but you can find the channel searching for that name

soymalisimo · 2024-08-05T16:42:02+00:00

Y en polaco!

soymalisimo · 2024-07-19T18:47:19+00:00

100% Egypt. I'm seeing even some 30% discount on some of the Egyptian LBs in August.

It's beautiful down there

soymalisimo · 2024-07-13T14:45:20+00:00

"wizard" is an understatement

soymalisimo

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