Pro Dive
International - Fort Lauderdale, FL
Pictures, a review, & visitor info from a
trip to the Pro Dive International scuba gear store in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
| Pro Dive International is located at 429 Seabreeze Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316. The staff can be reached by phone at 1-800-PRO-DIVE or 954-PRO-DIVE. The dive shop is open from 9 AM to 6 PM on weekdays and from 8 AM to 6 PM on weekends. Park in the larger lot next to Coconuts Restaurant, rather than the small lot on the side of the building. | ||||
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| The Pro Dive International store is just a few steps from Fort Lauderdale beach and it's attached to the Coconuts "Waterside Dining" restaurant on the intracoastal waterway. They have a nice variety of products to suit most budgets including masks, snorkels, fins, neoprene wetsuits, BCD vests, regulators, underwater cameras, underwater camera cases, air tanks, flash lights, dive knives, dive gear bags, gloves, nets, and beach towels. Students get a discount on dive gear, so I paid even less than I had expected for my new mask. The staff member who helped me answered all of my questions and had me try on several masks to ensure that I chose the one with the best fit. Overall, I would highly recommend the Pro Dive store to anyone looking for scuba or snorkeling equipment in the Fort Lauderdale area. | ||||
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Pro Dive International
offers the PADI Open Water Diver Course as either a two day weekend course
or a four day course during the work week (Tuesday to Friday). I chose to
complete the academic part of the course online with the PADI eLearning
Program for a fee of $120, which is payable directly to PADI. Completing the
online PADI course was very straightforward with a combination of text,
spoken voice, pictures, illustrations and videos. I finished in about 12-15
hours spread out over three days. According to the PADI eLearning course
completion print out, the dive instructor will perform a "quick review" of
the material. Due to rough seas from a passing tropical storm, a representative from Pro Dive called to say that my originally scheduled open water dives would not be possible. He offered me the option of either completing the course at nearby Tigertail Lake Park in Dania, or waiting for another weekend. I chose to wait for another weekend since I'd rather learn to scuba dive with a view of the colorful coral reefs off the Ft. Lauderdale coast. It's nice that they have other options for students who don't have time to wait to get their scuba certification. Check back soon for pictures and a report from my open water dives. Update - I successfully completed the Pro Dive USA PADI Open Water Diver Scuba Certification Course. To view the pictures and read about my experience, click on the preceding link. |
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