Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

PADI certification

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Palau

Does anyone know if you can get certified to dive while in Palau? I have scuba dived using friends equipment but am not certified . I plan on visiting next year.

I haven't checked it out in a couple of years but if you contact PADI (or maybe even check out their website), you might be able to find out if there are any instructors in Palau (I imagine that there would be). You could also try posting in the diving and snorkelling section.
Secondly I would get certified before going, it will make your trip more pleasant and you can enjoy the diving more.
Thirdly, I wouldn't recommend anyone to try diving without a suitably qualified instructor (such as using your friends equipment) - that is just too dangerous.

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Almost certainly yes. We got certified in Palau years ago- Sam's usually has several instructors on board. But I rather agree that getting certified first makes sense- or at least doing everything but the final dives. Why spend you time there in shallow boring water when you could be seeing the sights?

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Thanks guys

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Yes, there are many dive shops but as 5Waldos stated why spend time just in the shallows. Plus do you really want to spend days in a classroom which you can complete in most dive shops around the world or even online through PADI. Another thing about Palau compared to many other places it's not cheap to dive or to get certified.

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