Looking for a NYC course

[callagk1]

Hi - I live in Manhattan and would love to get certified around here this summer. The courses in Manahattan are incredibly expensive though - upwards of $800 for your course, your certification dives (which are not included in the course fee) and your equipment. Is that normal? Can anyone recommend a course in or around Manahattan (Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island are fine as long as its accessible by the subway/LIRR) that is less than $600, including the dives?

Thanks!

 

[MHK]

callagk1 once bubbled...
Hi - I live in Manhattan and would love to get certified around here this summer. The courses in Manahattan are incredibly expensive though - upwards of $800 for your course, your certification dives (which are not included in the course fee) and your equipment. Is that normal? Can anyone recommend a course in or around Manahattan (Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island are fine as long as its accessible by the subway/LIRR) that is less than $600, including the dives?

Thanks!

Try Stingray Diver's in Brooklyn. 718-384-1280

www.stingraydivers.com

Hope that helps

Later

 

[raviepoo]

Who quoted you that price?

Pan Aqua charges anywhere from $215 - $295 for the class portion of the training, plus $225 for the OW check out dives at Dutch Springs. The $225 is not expensive. It includes transportation to and from Dutch Springs, the Dutch Springs entrance fee ($22 each day), tanks, and weights. You can get away with being certified for $440.

Gear is an entirely different matter. You need to buy a mask, snorkel and fins before your class starts. You have to spend that money wherever you do your training. Don't think of it as part of the cost of the training. It's actually part of the cost of the ongoing pleasure of diving. Hopefully you will like your first mask and fins (who cares about a snorkel anyway?) enough to amortize thier cost over years of diving. You should do a bit of research and make sure you get equipment that fits you and fits the type of diving you are going to be doing.

I assisted with a class a few months ago where two of the students bought gear at campmor. They didn't have any help picking out the gear so one of the guys ended up with fins that were WAY too small for him. I'm sure that the money he saved on those fins way more than eaten up by the replacement fins he ended up having to buy.

Aside from the cost of the certification, have you thought at all about which agency you prefer or what type of diving you would like to do? These questions should factor into your decision of where to go for the class.

I could send you a list of local dive shops if you don't know where to find them. Or you could type "scuba NYC" into a browser and see what you come up with. Don't forget to check into Hoboken divers across the river. Hoboken might as well be part of New York.

 

[kevink]

Most NYC classes are geared towards people with very little time and screwy schedules. Getting them into the shop for evey two days is rough. These people tend not to be very price sensitive. Also most classes are geared towards class and pool work, with the eventual dives being done in a tropical location. Certifcation around the NY Metro area tends to be the exception to the rule.

In Manhattan you are left with Adventure SCUBA, Pan Aqua, or SeaHorse. The courses tend to be priced ala-carte so that you need to ask a lot of questions to get an 'out-the-door' price for your C-Card.

If you want to get certified cheap. Hop Jet Blue to West Palm Beach ($179 RT) and hook up with one of the super weekend courses ~ $225 for class, pool, and OW.

Have someone that knows what they are doing fit your mask and fins. DONT SKIMP on this basic equipment. If your mask sucks why do you even want to be underwater?

 

[teamheatwave]

$800? That's insane. You can get a 4 day / 3 night package in the Sunday travel section of your newspaper for about $400 - $500 to places like Florida, Bahamas, Punta Cana, or Cancun and you can get certified for $300. You spend the same amount and get a nice little trip for the same price!

 

[raviepoo]

If you want to dive up here, it's probably a good idea to get your certification here. Warm water diving is very different from the diving we do here. I had 80 dives under my belt before I started diving in the Northeast and I felt like an absolute beginner on my first cold water dive. Your OW class will help orient you to local conditions. It may be worth the extra expense to do it here.

If you want to dive in warm water, by all means, go some place warm and take a course at a resort. That's what I did, and my regret is that I had to spend time in a classroom when I could have been exloring a really beautiful part of Australia.

 

[runvus4]

I'd reccomend that you look at Village Divers in Manhatten. They have good instructors and are an all around nice bunch to hang around with as well pre/post dive. They also seem to be the most active in "local diving" and also AFAIK are the only diving shop in NYC that offers local tech classes should you go that route. Mad Dog being the other, but they seem to be geared to the well heeled globe trotters, not local diving by regular people. Village Divers is SSI/IANTD if that matters to you.

After Village Divers, I would reccomend Pan Aqua in Manhatten. They are a pretty good bunch as well but seemed less of the "hang out after a dive" type and more business oriented.

I met a very good instructor from Seahorse divers as well, but I personally prefer Village Divers and Pan Aqua over Seahorse.

 

[scuubaadoo]

... just over the bridge in brooklyn,718-802-0700 very nice man, great instructor and he has a 2 for 1 deal on instruction ( if you buy your gear there). I know he cost less and he does not skimp on the teaching. Good luck wherever you go

 

[kevink]

I think Raviepoo was on the right track.

If your intention is to dive locally, you MUST learn locally. A Caribbean C-Card does not mean that you are ready to dive in cold / lower vis waters up here. If you want to do Tech-Diving start off with someone that is geared to this and can work with you through all of your training.

If you want to do only Blue Water diving, try to do your Open Water dives while on vacation somewhere. You don't save much by doing the OW work up here, and it make only ruin your interest in diving to jump into 55 degree low vis water wearing a ton of exposure protection.

In any case shop around. Don't concentrate on finding the lowest price, because eventually you will (and this may not be a good thing). This is a big nut to crunch, and it is your money. Try to talk with the Instructor that will be teaching you, not just the lackey at the shop. If it feels like you are buying a used car, you probably are, walk away.

If you find someone that does the type of diving your like, and you can talk to them like a human being, and you feel safe around them, put your money down and prepare to have fun.

 

[OrionQuest]

I was in the same position you were last year. . i needed to get certified quickly before my honeymoon.

Seahorse prices are decent, they are PADI, and you can study the academic work on your own time, and schedule your tests on your own. . this is extremely flexible for NYCers and that's why I chose Seahorse.

of course, you gotta be really diligent about studying but the flexibility is the nice trade-off.

JOHN (www.owos.net)