DIR F costs

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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
 
diver371:
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 not sure what the UAE is in your profile, but I'm guessing it's not in the United States. The price is usually per person, although there may be a discount for getting more people signed up for it.

I'm not sure what you mean by per session, the whole fundamentals class may be over a 3-4 day period. You'll be paying a fee that covers the whole class, although if you don't pass and get a "provisional" rating, you may have to pay later to retake/finish the class.

The prices do vary, most of the time it's based on the location of the closest instructor to you. If you're out in the middle of nowhere then the course cost will be higher to pay to bring in an out of town instructor.

The skills you'll learn in the class can be applied at just about any depth. There won't be some imaginary invisible boundary that will make you implode if you pass it. The class is called fundamentals because it's teaching the you basics of dive skills, teamwork and planning. Depth is something you and your team would discuss and plan around.
 
diver371:
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
The course is around $350, then add $30 for GUE registration, then add some cash to pay for the instructor to travel to your area...so $500 sounds about right.

The only thing that passing DIR-F does is allow you to continue with GUE Training....nothing more, nothing less.


Passing is not guaranteed....probability says that you will get a "provisional" pass....which means you failed. (Note: That doesn't mean you haven't learned anything...just that you shouldn't be taking a tech 1 class right away.)
 
Jalal,

Bottom line, the cost of the DIR-F course will vary from location to location and from instructor to instructor.
When quoted your price, be sure to ask:
1. If GUE registration fee (~$30) is included.
2. If instructor travel is included.
3. What other costs you will have to pick up on your own (i.e. admission, charters, rentals)
4. If flying in an instructor, how much of the logistics they are setting up for local dive sites/tanks/gas/hotels and how much you are responsible for setting up.

As for depth limits, if you subscribe to the GUE philosophy, you won't dive below 100' until you've received proper training on a helium based gas and other skills/experience required to take you deeper. Basic reason: narcosis and work of breathing. Long reason: you'll learn this in fundamentals... I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun.

No guareentees you'll pass either, but you'll get a really good chance to evaluate yourself (via video review) as well as to here your instructors evaluation. From there, only you can decided which road to take.

Happy journeys.
 
mer:
Jalal,

Bottom line, the cost of the DIR-F course will vary from location to location and from instructor to instructor.
When quoted your price, be sure to ask:
1. If GUE registration fee (~$30) is included.
2. If instructor travel is included.
3. What other costs you will have to pick up on your own (i.e. admission, charters, rentals)
4. If flying in an instructor, how much of the logistics they are setting up for local dive sites/tanks/gas/hotels and how much you are responsible for setting up.

As for depth limits, if you subscribe to the GUE philosophy, you won't dive below 100' until you've received proper training on a helium based gas and other skills/experience required to take you deeper. Basic reason: narcosis and work of breathing. Long reason: you'll learn this in fundamentals... I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun.

No guareentees you'll pass either, but you'll get a really good chance to evaluate yourself (via video review) as well as to here your instructors evaluation. From there, only you can decided which road to take.

Happy journeys.
Hey Mer,

I am pretty fit (ok a bit flabby but i'm not complaining) so is there anything I should pay attention to while doing the course? I don't want to fail it. I'll work hard for it if i knew where to concentrate on...

Regards,
Jalal
 
diver371:
Hey Mer,

I am pretty fit (ok a bit flabby but i'm not complaining) so is there anything I should pay attention to while doing the course? I don't want to fail it. I'll work hard for it if i knew where to concentrate on...

The most important thing I learned during my fundamentals is what I still need to learn. It helps to be comfortable with the gear you are going to wear during the course (so do not buy your first wing the day before ";-)
But it does not make any sense to practice things you don't know yet how to perform. The course is not about passing or failing. It is all about learning.
 
Reinoud:
The most important thing I learned during my fundamentals is what I still need to learn. The course is not about passing or failing. It is all about learning.

Truer words were never spoken.
 
I'm glad you said that I shouldn't buy my first wing the day before, i'm buyin it on tuesday and the F course will be in august. I hope to get as many dives in may and june. Thanks a lot for the feedback.

Jalal
 
diver371:
Hello all,

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

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
 
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