Scuba Diving Certification

I haven't been to Sesimbra so will leave that to others (it looks like a good destination to me).

As to SCUBA diving, I would caution you to be careful with time management and to calibrate your expectations.

The short version: Do all the studying, learning and practicing the SCUBA skills, at home - in an (indoor, heated) pool at a local dive shop near you. Do all this well before you depart for your trip (start working on this now, it will take time). Basically, do everything except the actual open water ("OW") certification dives. Arrange all of this (ahead of time) to just complete your OW certification dives and last administrative tasks at a dive shop at your destination. Then go diving with them as newly certified divers and have fun.

The details... First, getting your SCUBA certification is a wonderful thing, but it needs to be taken seriously. Getting certified is not especially difficult. You just need to meet certain standards, demonstrate a handful of basic skills, and pass a (surprisingly easy, maybe too easy...) knowledge test. Once certified, your life underwater is (mostly) in your own hands, and you will be free to dive almost anywhere you choose (whether you have the required knowledge and experience or not). You will not always have someone along to hold your hand and save your bacon if things get challenging. So, anyone learning to dive should respect mother nature's awesome power, take things seriously, and approach diving with care (especially early on).

You're going to have to study to pass the exam, and you're going to have to practice some things underwater (maybe more than a few times) to get comfortable. For me, that's not how I want to spend my very limited time in Europe (and I bet for you and your kids, too). Be smart about your time. Don't waste time in Europe with your nose in a SCUBA textbook, or watching SCUBA videos to cram for the test, or sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool practicing how to clear your mask of water, how find your regulator if it gets knocked out of your mouth, how to control your buoyancy, and all the other things you need to learn. Do all that, take the classes and learn (and practice) all the basic underwater skills at home. Save only the required certification dives (out in open water) for Europe. Your time in Europe is precious, spend it wisely. This is a common practice, and the smart way to optimize your vacation time.

You need to make these arrangements in advance. Shop around for a good local dive shop near you where you can take classes, use (mostly) their gear, and let them know you want to do your certification dives in Portugal. Around Boston you should have plenty of dive shops to choose from. Take the long view: once you're certified, you can all dive for the rest of your lives all around the world (I have and do - been diving for decades, going diving in Honduras in a few weeks). It's a wonderful experience.

Some things to know:

The quality of your dives in Europe may just be so-so (compared to the best dive locations around the world). For your first dives, it will be perfectly good, you will be thrilled with the experience (even if you don't see colorful vibrant reefs, lots of big fish, and crystal clear water). I'm very spoiled by diving in exotic locations, you won't be (yet). But set your expectations to "Good" (not "Gobsmacked") as diving in Europe is not quite like the incredible photos/videos you may see from exotic, tropical destinations.

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Wow, this is INCREDIBLY helpful feedback. Thank you so much!

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You will want to buy at least some of your own gear, right form the start. Get a mask - one that fits your face well. Every face is different, your dive shop can help you choose a good mask for your face; you'll want your own snorkel, too. For a trip to Europe, that's probably all you should bring (dive gear is heavy and bulky, and for what will probably be mostly a "non-diving trip" there's no need to drag all the heavy bulky stuff along). Besides the mask/snorkel, you can rent all needed gear at the dive shop in Portugal. You may or may not want to buy fins now (you will want your own fins eventually) but fins are so big and heavy I would think three times before schlepping them to Europe.

Having your own gear is great (just like skiing: buying it all immediately is expensive; you can rent gear and most people do for a while, but eventually it just costs less to own better gear and you have a MUCH better experience with your own). I have dived thousands of times (stopped counting dives years ago) and love going to Europe often, but will confess I’ve never dived in Europe — at least not yet (will do my first semi-dive trip to Europe in September). I’ve been tempted (and we have gone snorkeling in Europe) but dragging along a lot of dive gear changes the trip quite a bit. That, plus the quality of European diving being quite different from even easy-to-access places like the Caribbean, has always made us decide to leave the dive gear at home. YMMV.

Be aware: There are multiple dive certification “agencies.” In the USA, almost everyone gets certified through PADI. PADI is widely recognized around the world (because so many Americans go diving overseas) but you should know there are other agencies. SSI is #2, NAUI is #3. Practically speaking, virtually all US-based dive shops will teach to the PADI standards. When you shop for a local dive shop/dive school, they’ll be PADI. You will also need to shop for a dive operator at your destination in Portugal. Make sure that they can help you complete your PADI OW certification (your local dive shop should coordinate the “handoff” with them, so things go smoothly). You will see more people with SSI certifications in Europe (and Asia). PADI largely “owns” the Americas, less as you go further overseas.

When you shop for a local dive shop, consider establishing an ongoing relationship with them, beyond the certification. Most people end up buying some (maybe a lot) of gear online, but eventually you will need something from someone local in the future. I try to help my local dive shop stay in business because I want a local option to be available (so I don’t just buy everything online).

I will be doing my first SCUBA dives in Europe this September, on a trip to Malta and Gozo. It appears the diving around Gozo is among the best in Europe, so I’m looking forward to it. We will only be diving a couple days, most of our trip will be “topside” so we are trying to limit how much of our gear we will be dragging along.

I hope the above is helpful, you have a wonderful trip, and enjoy a lifetime of great dive experiences ahead. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions. Eventually, for dive-specific advice, you’ll want to check out the ScubaBoard.com dive forums, it’s a great resource.

Have fun (and keep blowing bubbles). 🤿

If you need another "vote", I agree with David. We are PADI SCUBA certified. We got ours in the Cayman Islands. We did everything up to the open water diving before our trip. I sure wouldn't want to waste valuable time on my trip doing the classroom and pool work.

We have been diving in a few different places. What we have done is asked our local SCUBA shop prior to our trip for recommendations for instructors/SCUBA businesses in the areas we planned to visit. That may impact where you decide to go. We wanted instructors that were high quality and vetted for safety.

EDITED TO ADD: Regarding your own equipment--Both my husband and I wear glasses. I am able to wear a regular mask because my vision isn't that poor and underwater things are magnified. I also occasionally wear contacts. My husband has terrible vision. He had to order lenses and have the lenses put on his mask. This took quite a while.

Thank you so much for your help!