NudeDiver
Contributor
Perusing a number of threads here, I see a number of posts asking about diving in/around Anchorage by people who are passing through. For my own purposes, I worked up a little chart to indicate the costs of diving in Whittier - I thought I would post it here in case it is useful to anyone. Use or lose as you see fit.
The cheapest, most simple thing to do is to dive in nearby Whittier, at a place called "Smitty's Cove". It's about 65 miles from Anchorage and requires a drive through the Whittier Tunnel. For more info about diving there, read this article.
Overall cost information is attached in the charts, for 2-tank and 3-tank diving. It assumes splitting fixed costs with a buddy, that you're not renting a car, you have no extraordinary expenses, etc. The most variable part is the cost of a room, which can vary wildly, depending on what time of year you go. It's a good estimate anyway. What it indicates is that if you own your own gear, you can get a cheaper cost per dive by going just for a day. However, if you have to rent a full set of gear, you get a cheaper cost per dive by staying for the weekend (even if your overall costs are higher).
Of course, you can save money by traveling back and forth every day - but then it's not really a "weekend away" as much as it is two seperate dive days that happen to be on the same weekend.
You can of course also lower your "cost per dive" by making a third dive. It's only another $10 per day in expense for a rental tank, but can have a significant effect on the cost per dive.
The cheapest, most simple thing to do is to dive in nearby Whittier, at a place called "Smitty's Cove". It's about 65 miles from Anchorage and requires a drive through the Whittier Tunnel. For more info about diving there, read this article.
Overall cost information is attached in the charts, for 2-tank and 3-tank diving. It assumes splitting fixed costs with a buddy, that you're not renting a car, you have no extraordinary expenses, etc. The most variable part is the cost of a room, which can vary wildly, depending on what time of year you go. It's a good estimate anyway. What it indicates is that if you own your own gear, you can get a cheaper cost per dive by going just for a day. However, if you have to rent a full set of gear, you get a cheaper cost per dive by staying for the weekend (even if your overall costs are higher).
Of course, you can save money by traveling back and forth every day - but then it's not really a "weekend away" as much as it is two seperate dive days that happen to be on the same weekend.
You can of course also lower your "cost per dive" by making a third dive. It's only another $10 per day in expense for a rental tank, but can have a significant effect on the cost per dive.
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