Advanced Certificate (PADI) and diving in Malta or Barcelona

I suppose there are arguments for doing more dives before doing advanced but I went pretty much straight on to advanced and that worked for me. After I did the advanced I did a lot more dives before I went on to the rescue diver course. Getting more experience whilst diving with an instructor has something to recommend it, especially if you have had some time out of the water since you did the OW course. There are lots of dive schools in Malta and Gozo and I'm sure a lot of them would be good. Went to Gozo on recommendation of friends and had such a good time went back to same place in June. Planning to go back later in the year if I can manage it. Dived there last year in October and it was fine. A bit cooler and possibility of storms but it didn't stop me diving. Dive school was small and friendly: Scuba Kings (www.divemalta-gozo.com)

I did my advanced soon after my open water and it worked well for me, too. The dive places in Barcelona will have English speaking staff, the best place is probably the Isles Medes a bit up the coast. You can get trips from town including travel up the coast and the dives and everything or you can spend a few days up there because the mainland area is pretty cool as well.

I did my advanced 10 years after my OW.

The only reason I bothered is because a couple of diveshops in turkey refused to take me on guided dives beyond 18m..despite my having logged over 100 dives in many different conditions and depths. Anyway, it doesn't matter when you take it. If you're the type of diver who goes out a couple of times a year, you'll still be rusty when you come to do your first dive in a while. Being 'advanced' doesn't really make a difference..

Malta is excellent for diving, but the weather at the end of October can be variable. You should always be able to get dives in though, 'cause the islands are pretty small and you can always find somewhere in the lee within 30 mins drive.

Barcelona is not a good place for diving. Malta should be much better.

The advanced course doesn't make an advanced diver. Only experience does. That said, it introduces you to 5 different types of dives and you learn a bit more than you would of done if you had gone on a fun dive. By learning the theory behind the dives you increase your knowledge.

On a practical point, having done it allows you to dive to 30m. This is worth having as there are lots of good dives between 18 m - 30m around the world and you are slightly resticted when you only have your open water qualification.
Learning the basics of underwater navigation is very useful.

Besides, it is a stepping stone to the rescue course which is awesome !

I think the diveshop in turkey was right not to let jimr1 dive beyond the depth that he was certified for. If anything had gone wrong then they would have been criticised.

Hope this helps
Matt

HI everyone,

Thanks for all your answers, very helpful. I think I'm gonna go ahead and do my advanced certificate in Malta, hopefully in October.

Cheers!