Budget Diving Questions

[spoolin01]

You are responding to a thread about budget diving possibilities. Given that you don't indicate any pricing in your post and pricing on your website, if it exists, is difficult to find, I suggest it is highly likely you are not exactly student budget friendly.

If you're all about the diving and your comparison is daily 1-3 tank boat trips, the price for these Channel Islands liveaboards is pretty competitive. Bunk, board, and 5-8 tanks per day for a couple hundred $$ each day. I haven't checked prices in several years, but 14-17 dives for well under $600, on a 2.5 day trip, always seemed a great bargain. Plus, the chance for lobster, or spearfishing.

A bigger concern on one of these trips might be finding a compatible buddy. The hunters will mostly want to go solo I'd expect, and I don't know if a DM is an option. The accommodations are spartan, though the food should be plentiful, and it is about 100% about the diving. At least one of the boats has a hot tub, which can help pass the surface time.

 

[fjpatrum]

You are responding to a thread about budget diving possibilities. Given that you don't indicate any pricing in your post and pricing on your website, if it exists, is difficult to find, I suggest it is highly likely you are not exactly student budget friendly.

FWIW, YMMV

For the record, Truth Aquatics isn't exactly "cheap" but it's not particularly expensive either. I've only done one overnight with them but it was a good operation. That said, diving in the channel islands as a new diver in need of an instabuddy may not be the best choice.

 

[industrious95]

On a trip to San Diego, I hooked up with a local Meet-Up group called "Power Scuba." They run several beach dives a week. The organizer suggested several local dive shops for tanks & weights. You just park your car in the lot and you'll find the whole group gearing up. Everyone's really friendly and helps each other and buddies up and you just walk into the surf.

I ended up buddying with two others, a local guy with a lot of experience at the site, and a newly certified diver doing her first beach dive. It was an easy and fun dive. Go to meetup.com and search for Power Scuba.

 

[kathydee]

The best deals are over in SE Asia, but getting there is spendy. Top-side fees in Florida and California will chip away at your budget quickly (unless you have a friend with house/car locally) Utilia is a great place for break, lots of young divers, tons of fun. Several years back I sorta remember paying $3 a night and $25 a dive at Captain Morgans Kay Homestay? Not positive . Food was low cost. Best to google "Lonely Planets "Thorntree" forum for advice on best budget scuba destination. Roatan was nice, but Utilia was younger.

Have fun!

 

[kristen8416]

We've done multiple trips with Rainbow Reef as well. We dive with them and very time we go to the Keys. Top notch operation! They always put a divemaster in the water with you which should make you more comfortable.

 

[ams511]

As a college student your best bet would be to check with student travel for Spring Break destinations that are close to diving and call the ops there to check on conditions. If you go to Florida, I am thinking Panama City, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, the Keys may have good diving. There maybe some destinations in Texas. If your university does not have a scuba club you could always contact another one that does and see what they are doing over break. I agree with another poster I would not recommend west coast diving for a novice without a guide or an expert buddy.

 

[blueorbdiving]

I was recently at Scuba Club, Cozumel - great diving resort! I came across some folks shore diving for the day, at lunchtime. The spent all of lunch telling me about their dive vacation planning. They paid for a budget berth on a Caribbean cruise. They made arrangements at the dive operations at the various stops they made. It sounded wonderful. Every time they stopped for a visit to a Caribbean port, they got off the boat and did some diving. What could be better. I am sure it took a lot of planning. But, what a vacation! So, that would be one of my budget diving vacation suggestions, I plan to try it myself soon. Thing is, you would definitely want a buddy on this type of excursion. Between buying used scuba gear, not getting caught up in that whole "buy new gear are your own LDS" brainwashing, and careful planning on vacations, you can enjoy the sport a lot less expensively than the dive pros let on!

Oh, and Scuba Club rocks - they sent me a brochure for 7 nights lodging, 5 days 2 tank boat dives, unlimited shore diving, and 3 meals daily (all inclusive), for under $700 (no air)...in Feb. The reefs are gorgeous, especially anything Palancar. Can't beat that. Lots of good deals out there if you look. Bypass the LDS and ads and go straight to the resort folks. NO - I don't work for them and am not getting paid! I do blog, offer vacations, and buy and sell used gear, for a living.


BlueOrbDiving
NO - I don't work for them and am not getting paid! I do blog, offer vacations, free gear value estimates, and I buy and sell used gear, for a living.

 

[RJP]

Between buying used scuba gear, not getting caught up in that whole "buy new gear are your own LDS" brainwashing, and careful planning on vacations, you can enjoy the sport a lot less expensively than the dive pros let on!



BlueOrbDiving
NO - I don't work for them and am not getting paid! I do blog, offer vacations, free gear value estimates, and I buy and sell used gear, for a living.

You just HAD to go there... didn't you. You were so close to actually looking like you were contributing to the discussion. Then you lifted your skirt. That's actually worse than your earlier pure-spam approach. Consider it sort of a bait-and-switch that you'd decry a dive shop for doing.

As an aside, I went into my local dive shop today to buy $1,500 dollars worth of video lights for an upcoming last-minute trip. Even though I've been a loyal customer for years, the owner wouldn't give me a deal on the lights. You wanna know what that sneaky LDS owner did instead? He loaned me HIS lighting rig, light arms, and camera tray for the trip. This is the same rip-off artist who loaned me a full video rig for a trip a few years ago. Come to think of it he also made me borrow his Halcyon 40 wing for my last Truk trip... refusing to sell me a wing I was only going to use once. But like a brainwashed sucker, I'll be back in there next week. Need to pick up my replacement SP fins that the shop was able to get SP to cover under warranty several years after purchase.

Quick back of the envelope calculation says my local dive shop prevented me from making $3-$4,000 in gear purchases over the last 5 or so years.

Bastards!

 

[mselenaous]

As a novice diver, I am hungry for more, but being a college student in Minnesota makes scuba diving a little difficult. I have been looking for somewhere to dive in mid-March over spring break. I plan on making this trip solo and on a budget. I originally was looking into diving in Utila as I have heard it is great for solo travelers and those on a budget. I looked into diving with Alton's dive shop while staying in one of their dorm rooms for practically nothing. However, the flight would take up most of my budget. So, I have looked into flying into Florida or SoCal, staying with a friend or in a hostel and diving as much as I can with a local outfit. I have a couple of concerns with this plan. First, how difficult is it traveling to these places and being able to make a relatively large number of dives in a weeks span especially traveling solo. Is it easy to find dive packages with a local dive ops? Also, as a novice diver I would like to be able to dive with a buddy, but I am concerned that everyone on the dive trips will already have a buddy or don't plan on buddying up with a novice diver. Feel free to share your experience, give advice, or recommend some places/dive ops for a novice solo traveler looking for some great diving at a great price.

I remember/sympathize. I got certified while in college but felt I couldn't afford to dive afterwards.

To answer some of your questions, the bigger/busier the dive op, the easier to find insta - buddies on a boat.
The most economical diving is shore diving (just the cost of fills or tank/weight rentals).

I would recommend staying with friends, couchsurfing.com or airbnb.com, then mixing in shore dives & boat dives. In SoFL (WPB & FLL), Lauderdale by the sea, Blue Heron Bridge for shore dives and plenty of dive ops with boats.
Many dive ops wiil presell multiple dive trips at a discount (think trip puch cards) which can save you $.
There are ongoing threads in the FL Forum, ie Blue Heron Bridge Trolls where you can ask & find local buddies/guides (the BHB is tidal dependent).

Also, I don't know what your field of study is, but have you considered internships? Spend 3 months diving in Key Largo, fish counts or planting coral. Plenty of diving & opportunity for more training. And something amazing to brag about on your resume. Check out REEF.org and coralrestoration.org, they each take 3-5 interns, 3 times/yr.

The opportunities that open up from the contacts you meet will surprise you.

I will also add, if you get through Rescue diver, the Boy Scout Sea Base Camp in the Keys during the summer will keep you in the water diving while paying a stipend, housing, & offers training opportunities.

These are but a few opportunities out there for young divers, college students/recent grads to dive and share that love of diving.

Feel free to PM me for more info.

 

[blueorbdiving]

I didn't lift my skirt - I didn't wear one LOL. And my skirt was OFF with the spammy thing too lmao. I fully expect to get slammed by LDS owners, dealer reps, and instructors for telling the truth...no biggie. You will notice though - I didn't link, spam, or promote my product. I promoted a resort I love. And called a spade a spade. Sorry, I am really not the jerk you want folks to believe I am...I am just honest, and fed up

That is cool that your shop loaned you stuff. But, most don't do stuff like that. You know that. I actually have a great LDS, I do. There are some really good ones out there. BUT, they make money by 1. keeping you loyal, and 2. keeping you spending. No way around that fact. Manufacturers make money buy controlling who sells their gear, for how much, and when. Scubapro has a $10,000 gear buy in...and a 2 inch think contract. Not picking on Scubapro, just happened to know that one. I think diving is expensive enough, without the manufacturers making it hard for the shops to make a living, and the shops brainwashing clients into believing they are cheating on their dive shop if they even so much as glance elsewhere. A local vacation hawker was charging twice what it cost to go to Scuba Club...to go on their group "discount".

---------- Post added February 12th, 2015 at 10:53 PM ----------

You just HAD to go there... didn't you. You were so close to actually looking like you were contributing to the discussion. Then you lifted your skirt. That's actually worse than your earlier pure-spam approach. Consider it sort of a bait-and-switch that you'd decry a dive shop for doing.

As an aside, I went into my local dive shop today to buy $1,500 dollars worth of video lights for an upcoming last-minute trip. Even though I've been a loyal customer for years, the owner wouldn't give me a deal on the lights. You wanna know what that sneaky LDS owner did instead? He loaned me HIS lighting rig, light arms, and camera tray for the trip. This is the same rip-off artist who loaned me a full video rig for a trip a few years ago. Come to think of it he also made me borrow his Halcyon 40 wing for my last Truk trip... refusing to sell me a wing I was only going to use once. But like a brainwashed sucker, I'll be back in there next week. Need to pick up my replacement SP fins that the shop was able to get SP to cover under warranty several years after purchase.

Quick back of the envelope calculation says my local dive shop prevented me from making $3-$4,000 in gear purchases over the last 5 or so years.

Bastards!

I didn't lift my skirt - I didn't wear one LOL. And my skirt was OFF with the spammy thing too lmao. I fully expect to get slammed by LDS owners, dealer reps, and instructors for telling the truth...no biggie. You will notice though - I didn't link, spam, or promote my product. I promoted a resort I love. And called a spade a spade. Sorry, I am really not the jerk you want folks to believe I am...I am just honest, and fed up By the way, I notice you are in "STRATEGIC MARKETING" AND ARE AN iNSTRUCTOR...double threatened. I apologize for that - but truth is truth.

That is cool that your shop loaned you stuff. But, most don't do stuff like that. You know that. I actually have a great LDS, I do. There are some really good ones out there. BUT, they make money by 1. keeping you loyal, and 2. keeping you spending. No way around that fact. Manufacturers make money buy controlling who sells their gear, for how much, and when. Scubapro has a $10,000 gear buy in...and a 2 inch think contract. Not picking on Scubapro, just happened to know that one. I think diving is expensive enough, without the manufacturers making it hard for the shops to make a living, and the shops brainwashing clients into believing they are cheating on their dive shop if they even so much as glance elsewhere. A local vacation hawker was charging twice what it cost to go to Scuba Club...to go on their group "discount".

Have a great day...

PS I am seeing A LOT of ads, marketing, advertising signatures with .coms and whatever else....not really seeing the error of my ways here...unless your peeved for paying for it?

---------- Post added February 12th, 2015 at 11:01 PM ----------

Hi Scot758,

Here's a great scuba diving option for your Spring Break...

Truth Aquatics is an award winning liveaboard dive fleet, offering unique diving experiences around the California Channel Islands. We've a fantastic 5-Day Dive trip to San Clemente Island already scheduled for March 22nd. With all your meals and air fill included it's a great option for this coming Spring Break.

Please, do not hesitate to contact us for more information.

Let's dive!

So RJP...you don't think this is marketing, pushing your product, spammy? Sorry truthaquatics...just making a point to someone chasing me around mouthing off!

---------- Post added February 12th, 2015 at 11:02 PM ----------

Thank you for making one of my points...great place to dive cheap. It is even cheaper if you go thru them and not an LDS or operator