How much would you be willing to pay?

[Belmont]

Here's what I did: took OW and AOW in the Caribbean for 300$ each. Got hooked on diving there. After that I knew I needed serious training. I took DIR here in Canada and with the same instructor did Cavern and Intro-Cave in Mexico, now back home I'm presently doing advance Nitrox-stage deco with the goal of completing Cave and wreck penetration.

That first 300$ turned into more than 20K$ with equipment and travel.

Loved every minute of it

 

[The Horn]

Basic: get you in the water vacation diver $200....no diving without DM and C-card cannot get you air fills
Diver: Combo of ow, aow and rescue including first aid and CPR $600
Instructor assistant/Dive guide: $300

 

[Scott M]

What a person would be willing to pay is going to be in direct relationship to what they understand about the sport, pre-certification. Many do not know there are better instructors or that anything they were taught may be sub par until they find out through a forum like this or from other divers. Kind of a what you don't know type of thing. For me, I would pay whatever I could afford for proper training and did just that. My dive buddy and I went to an instructor and said, we want to be trained but not in a group. Just the 2 of us, he agreed.

I have since met who I consider to be one of the most thoughtful, safe and consciences instructors I have ever seen. He is now one of my dive buddies, he is excited about my enthusiasm and I am excited about his knowledge, it's a perfect match and we both could not be happier.

So what is it worth.......priceless.

 

[Kevua]

Here's what I did: took OW and AOW in the Caribbean for 300$ each. Got hooked on diving there. After that I knew I needed serious training. I took DIR here in Canada and with the same instructor did Cavern and Intro-Cave in Mexico, now back home I'm presently doing advance Nitrox-stage deco with the goal of completing Cave and wreck penetration.

That first 300$ turned into more than 20K$ with equipment and travel.

Loved every minute of it

So true, it is sorta like crack. They get you with the teaser price of $250-$450 then once you get done with the OW you have the AOW, Wreck, Nitrox, Deep Water, Rescue, Shark diver, Deep Diver, night time, cave, dry suit, Master Diver, Assistant instructor, instructor, and next thing you know you are stuck in the middle of the ocean on a living/working on a live-aboard with 3 shirts, 3 shorts, and a crap load of scuba gear to your name.

Wow, sounds like fun, may try it

 

[HenrikBP]

<snip> What's a course like that worth, would you take it if the price was right?

I would consider paying $1500 plus for a course like that, and I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Henrik

 

[TSandM]

What would I pay for a class like that NOW, or what would I have been willing to pay for it when I got certified?

When I got certified, I knew absolutely NOTHING about diving (but somehow, I had HEARD of PADI). Nothing. Nada. Squat. Standards? Agencies? Non-silting kicks? Hah! I wasn't sure I wanted to learn to dive in the first place, and the $275 or so I paid for my class seemed completely reasonable. If the class had been $500, I probably still would have taken it, because I was doing so out of shame (long story) but I might have shopped around to see if somewhere else was cheaper. I certainly would not have been persuaded to take a long, involved and expensive course to learn to do something I wasn't sure I'd continue doing at all (and certainly didn't EVER envision doing in Puget Sound).

THAT'S the problem. It's only a very rare student who is so sure he wants to be a diver that he's willing to do a long, complicated class . . . and pay for it.

 

[OldNSalty]

the is a shop here that charges a bit over $500 for their course-higher then most shops around but they have a good program for OW. If my wife ever decides to get certified I will probably take her there.

 

[OldNSalty]

One more question, is the cheap price and short class time the reason PADI is so large and YSCUBA is so small?

 

[spectrum]

THAT'S the problem. It's only a very rare student who is so sure he wants to be a diver that he's willing to do a long, complicated class . . . and pay for it.

Interestingly what Thalassamania has described sounds like a typical 1970s basic certification program if I'm not mistaken. That was the price of admission to the few veteran divers amongst us.

For a number of reasons I never pursued my dream of diving during that era and had I dug into it then I don't know if I would have signed up either.

Pete

 

[daniel f aleman]

Interestingly what Thalassamania has described sounds like a typical 1970s basic certification program if I'm not mistaken. That was the price of admission to the few veteran divers amongst us.

Pete

Agreed - I was NAUI certified in 1974.

But, one can get all the dive instruction one wants. I would advise a new student to understand that the agencies have a ladder structure of basic courses and speciality courses for the student to choose from. If you want the 1970's experience, take Open Water, dive within the limits of the class for 25 dives, then take Advanced Open Water from an interested instructor.

One should consider the Open Water and the Advanced Open Water courses connected as a continuous learning experience. After those courses and 30-40 dives or so, a diver should be capable of doing most of any real recreational dive.

Figure US$250 (in today's dollars) for each class, worth it...