DIR F costs

[andrek]

Hello all,

I'm planning to take the DIRF course in august with a local instructor. He told me that it would cost 500$. Is that per person or per course session? Do the prices vary or does GUE keep one standard price? Does the F course give you a certain depth limit or is there no such concept as there is with the PADI courses

Regards
Jalal

I'm intigued as to who the local instructor is. As in this region instructors are usually flown in, although this should now be changing with the start up of the red sea operation. Or is this who you were talking to.

 

[topflowerrubberforever]

Hey Andrek,

Well the local instructor is in Oman.. Olly from wave action if you know him. he's not THAT LOCAL , but close enough for a flight or a car ride... I see this is your first post.. Welcome to SB. I hope us DXBers can form a group eventually..

Jalal

 

[Vie]

Does the F course give you a certain depth limit or is there no such concept as there is with the PADI courses

I was told by Gideon Liew (GUE instructor from Singapore) that the depth limit DURING DIR-F is 60 feet/18 metres.

Cost of DIR-F in Singapore is 830.00 Singapore Dollars

Includes:

• GUE Administration Fee
• 3 classroom sessions
• 1 pool session
• Weekend in P. Aur/Tioman (in Malaysia)
• Weights and tanks (single tanks/air fills)
• Quad share in A/C room w/attached bathroom
• Full board with hot/cold drinks available at dining area
• 4 training dives plus 2 leisure boat dives.

 

[andrek]

Hey Andrek,

Well the local instructor is in Oman.. Olly from wave action if you know him. he's not THAT LOCAL , but close enough for a flight or a car ride... I see this is your first post.. Welcome to SB. I hope us DXBers can form a group eventually..

Jalal

I know Olly very well as he is my dive guru.

He did my open water training under the BSAC banner but using DIR principles.

As you can see by my profile I don't have many dives under my belt but because of the way I've been taught to dive I could have done DIR-F after only 20 dives however I personally felt I wanted to do more dives.

He normally does all the organisation for instructors to fly in for the training sessions. I know he is going through the GUE instructor training process at the moment so that he can teach DIR-F locally but not sure exactly when he will get his ticket.

Where do you dive out of in Dubai?

 

[Vie]

I was told by Gideon Liew (GUE instructor from Singapore) that the depth limit DURING DIR-F is 60 feet/18 metres.

Just to correct my earlier post. The Living Seas in Singapore has informed me that the DIR-F dives will be conducted using EAN32; 4 dives, depth 20'-30'.

 

[drperi1]

GUE does NOT standardize the price(s) in any manner whatsoever. Each individual instructor is free to charge as much, or as little, as they see fit. Moreover, prices will naturally vary when you consider the cost of airfare, hotel(s), assistants and so on. I know that I've gone back and forth with respect to costs. For example, we used to charge a fixed price of $225, plus airfare and hotel. That became very problematic since often times it was a chicken and egg game. We couldn't price the class until we knew how many students, or if even the class would work, but students wouldn't sign up until they had a fixed costs. The way I resolve it currently is to explain that my class is $330 anywhere in the US [foreign classes may cost more]. That is broken down to $225 for tuiton, $75 for airfare and hotel and $30 GUE fee. Some classes I make a few extra bucks on the airfare component, but more often then not it's a break even or a loss. Other instructors may very well teach in their backyard and be able to pass the savings on to the student, or they may choose not to, but GUE has no say in that regard. Also, some instructors will travel with as few as 3 students in the class, whereas other instructors may very well require 6 students per class before they get on a plane, and/or charge $300 per student plus airfare, hotel and other related costs. It's all a business decision, based upon many variables, left up to the individual instructor.

I would suggest looking beyond the pricing game and consider the individual instructor. Some video tape the class, some of us bring 2 instructors irrespective of whether or not the ratio's require it, so my recomendation is too look at the value of the class, not necessarily the cost. We are trying very hard to avoid the pitfalls associated with the $99 pricing shell games that many other agencies play. My view, and I believe it is shared amongst other GUE instructors, is that we aren't about to sell each other out and undercut each other just to get a student. I believe that what we offer has tremendous value and that I charge a fair price. I have always said a couple of things about my class:

1) If you can honestly say after taking my class that you didn't benefit then I'll refund your money;

2) I give away more classes then anyone I know, so in my case it isn't about the money;

3) When you consider the investment all GUE instructors make [ internships, video camera's, laptops, opportunity costs, etc.] what we charge is more then reasonable;

4) When you factor in that given our limited availability, many of us spend an added day or two traveling to and from the location, so on a per hour basis we are earning peanuts;

5) Lastly, we recognize that what we offer isn't for everyone, and we don't want to dillute the level of our training, so we resist strongly the approach of making the class more inclusive at the expense of quality. That is a slippery slope that none of us want to begin.

I hope that adequately answers your question, but please feel free to follow up if necessary. I also caution that each instructor has his/her own pricing policy so the above merely reflects my thoughts and should not be viewed as a GUE "policy". I know Andrew G, Brandon Schwartz, Scot Wernette, Sonya Title follow the same policy, but beyond that I can't speak for other GUE instructors.

Regards

Thanks!

Now I'm really looking forward to starting with GUE- Dean Marshall is in my area, & High Springs is only a (long!) drive away. I'm looking for instructors who want to train other divers well. The standard "pricing game", as you so kindly put it, has produced some of the worst divers I've ever seen.