Hi all,

can anyone recommend a good place to learn to scuba dive in Madrid? i want to get the PADI certification (during August if possible).

It doesn't need to be any exotic location, and I don't have any special requirements (i.e. the instructor speaks english etc.). I just want to go to a decent place that won't require me selling a kidney to pay for it!

Thanks,
Daniel

Hi Daniel-Madrid,

Sounds like we have similar likes. I looked into this and was going to go to the casco antiguo
http://ww2.cascoantiguo.com/runtime/mostrarpagina.asp?idniv=519

partly because I knew where it is and the shop looks impressive. Not sure which course you are interested in, but expect to pay around 350,00 € for an open water course for example. I don't know if they speak English though.

In the end, and to be honest I would recommend the same to you, I tried a school in Calpe and am planning to do the above course there next month. It's just that diving in a pool doesn't hold the same appeal as the open sea to me, and the guys at Calpe have really friendly English instructors too.

Their web site is www.buceo-costa-blanca.com, just in case you can be persuaded.

Jamongris,

thanks! i agree, the thought doing it in a swimming pool is not very enticing, but i assume it is the only way i'll get to do it here in madrid. no chance of going to the coast to do it :-(

I don't need an english teacher, so i'll check out the casco antiguo you mention, or else i'll take a lucky pick from the yellow pages.

Is this the place in Jorge Juan ? I don´t want to repeat information , but I know I have a shop around the corner from me that is devoted to Scuba Diving .

Yep that's the one Steve, it also has the pool there and it's own parking, although that's not too much of a problem in that area.

so it is diving in a swimming pool for the entire course? IIRC, in the UK it is the same, but the last class (in order to get the PADI certificate) you are obliged to do it in a lake somewhere outside.

No, to get the official PADI you do need to do the last dive in open water. As far as I know, that means a trip to the coast from Madrid, I don't think they dive in any of the lakes or reservoirs around here.

Whether or not the diving schools insist on this is another matter. Casco Antiguo said that they do carry out the last dive in the sea. What I have found here, with regards to other courses carried out under a joint European authority (and I'm not talking about diving now), is that sometimes a certificate will be issued without the full required training being carried out. So you never know, you may find a school that doesn't insist on a open water dive, but PADI do state that their qualification requires it.

ok thanks, I'll see what I can find out :-) Although a trip to the beach would be nice...