American Dive Institute

In preparation for a trip to the Caribbean my wife and I decided to finally take the plunge (so to speak) and get certified to SCUBA dive. Our schedule this winter was tight, so we had to do a little hunting to find a good match between our open days and class schedules. Ultimately, we decided on American Dive Institute. It was an absolutely fantastic experience. James and Alex, the owners of ADI, were fantastic teachers, very patient and accommodating. Along with their expert instruction, they set beginners up with top-​of-​the-​line dive gear: Zeagle BCs, Atomic regulators and fins. If you’re looking to learn to dive in Orlando I would recommend them in a heartbeat.
The open water checkout dives were a lot of fun, particularly the final dives at Blue Grotto. Blue Grotto is a freshwater cavern that goes down to a little over 100 feet. My wife was a little surprised to discover upon arrival that although the grotto is open water, the cavern receded back from its opening and much of the dive is spent with rock overhead instead of a straight shot to the surface. It’s to the credit of Alex and James’s instruction that we both felt prepared and relaxed about diving in these conditions. We dove to about sixty feet, checking out a limestone rock with carvings from previous generations of divers and through deep, turning passages of rock. More than once someone in our group stopped to wonder who was the first person to see a hole in their backyard and think, let’s see how deep that goes.
I’m now totally hooked on SCUBA and there’s no question that Alex and James will see us again soon as we sign up for advanced classes and head out on their monthly day trips to the coast (s).