[ACPlayer]

Getting PADI certified is very easy. Here in Vietnam (and this is common and accepted practice in all resort areas) we do one full day in the pool with a lot of exercises and then two days (four dives) in the ocean where some of the exercises are repeated. There is also videos to watch etc.

In the US, they will take more time overall to do the exact same thing. That is they will break up the pool sessions over a few weekends and probably the four dives over four days. There is a shop in New London with a very pleasant young lady who can take you through all this, is you like.

The longer method has advantages in that you spend more time with the skills in the pool. If you get a sloppy instructor at the resort he will hurry through the skills, rather than assuring mastery of the skills in the pool. The open water dives are pretty much the same.

if you do plan to get certified talk to a couple of instructors (as in interview them) and find someone who's style you are comfortable with. Also make sure they do the pool sessions in a pool with a shallow end (like 1 meter or less) some places will take you out into a bay rather than pay for a pool-- I would not recommend that.