Wow, that’s nuts. My friend at work got his certification in a River in NY. If you go farther out in the ocean we have shipwrecks. The visibility in better than a few feet. But I skip all of that crap did my classes & pool work at my college then heading to the Caribbean. My first dive in my Freeport, Bahamas, they pushed me off the boat literally. After standing on the edge of the boat for like 10 mins I felt a foot on my butt. I sunk down about 25ft, they weighted me too many much, had to remove weight & adjust my BC. There nothing like clear blue water. I dived in Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, Cancun, Cozumel, Hawaii, Puerto Rico. The strictest place was Jamaica, make sure you have your certification card or you’re taking the resort course. Warmest was Aruba, like a bathtub, they have a couple shipwrecks off the coast. Then they tell you they eat the sharks on the other side of the island. Can’t they swim around, was my question. Jamaica, I believe I have video of the dive. Puerto Rico I did a night dive in the cove. That is something I’ll never do again, you can only see what you shine your light on so something could be inches from you and you won’t know it. Never again