Scuba training costs..........

[owlbill]

I am curious as to why most dive shops and/or instructors (not all, but certainly most) seem to want to give training away dirt cheap. Especially at the basic level. No problem charging 500-700 bucks for tech stuff, but to charge more than 300 for Open Water seems like a ludicrous idea to most. Is their time not worth money? Is their course not worth money? Just looking for opinions and feedback.

Bill

 

[PerroneFord]

Seems the majority of divers don't want to pay more than $99 to get certified. So most charge a low price to get divers in the water, and hopefully, they charge more as that diver continues their education.

 

[SparticleBrane]

If you can get them in the shop and get them hooked it isn't rare for someone to spend $1500 on gear right after spending $99 for an OW class.

 

[rocketry]

Don't forget, for a local dive-shop, an Open Water course is only the beginning. For the shop, its a way to get the diver (1) into the store and (2) coming back for more. Almost all divers will purchase snorkling gear (mask, snorkle, fins), and they will probably come back for more serious gear like BCs or regulators, and probably even tanks. Losing a couple of bucks on an OW course is an acceptable loss when a diver will spend close to $3000 on gear, better gear, more gear, more advanced courses, air fills, etc.

 

[BarryNL]

I am curious as to why most dive shops and/or instructors (not all, but certainly most) seem to want to give training away dirt cheap. Especially at the basic level. No problem charging 500-700 bucks for tech stuff, but to charge more than 300 for Open Water seems like a ludicrous idea to most.

Same reason heroin dealers give away the first few hits free!

 

[owlbill]

So, the instructors work on commision then? Cuz after the books, pool, some cost for gear use (scuba that is, I hope to god they need to get their own snorkel gear), that leaves mere pennies to pay the instructor. They/we are professionals and should be paid more than 2 bucks an hours. Especially at the basic level. That is where the time and headaches are.

 

[owlbill]

Same reason heroin dealers give away the first few hits free!

Yeah, but heroin customers are more likely to come back. Most student divers do not, no matter how much fun they had. We are raising our prices, slowly, but they are going up. Our instructors are getting paid more for their time. We are not seeing drops in enrollment yet. Quality costs money in pretty much everything. Just in Ottawa here, the price a student pays per hour for a scuba course (based on 40 hours) ranges from 6.88 up to 11.00 per hour. Hell, minimum wage is 9 bucks an hour. Sheesh.

 

[mike_s]

Most of the shops in my area charge about $230 for the open water class (class, normal gear(reg,bc,wetsuit), books, pool sessions). Most then choose their option of checkout dives (quarry fees or boat trip weekend).

For $230 per person and a course that covers 4 days and requires paying an instructor, dive master, insurance, rental gear and fills, pool rental, etc, PADI/NAUI/etc fees, I don't see how they make any money to be honest with you.

Now when they give the class away for $99 (+ books), they surely aren't making money.

 

[ReefHound]

So, the instructors work on commision then? Cuz after the books, pool, some cost for gear use (scuba that is, I hope to god they need to get their own snorkel gear), that leaves mere pennies to pay the instructor. They/we are professionals and should be paid more than 2 bucks an hours. Especially at the basic level. That is where the time and headaches are.

Nobody is forcing you to be an instructor. It's a free market.

 

[rocketry]

Now when they give the class away for $99 (+ books), they surely aren't making money.

I have heard stories about some of these cheap---weekender/resort-two-dayer courses. Teach someone basic princples, touch upon some things once, throw them in the water, and give them a c-card, and whoop, you're now a competant/safe diver/buddy. *sigh* My PADI OW class involved at least 15 hours of instruction, exams, and a thorough understanding of the material. Our checkout dives were in Rhode Island, 4 foot vis with 7-inches of neoprene, a hood and gloves. I don't know how that could compare to some of these insta-certification programs (sorry for the harsh language). Just my feelings. What do you instructors think?