East coast diving

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Diver_937

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So I'm curious If South Carolina has any decent places to diver for Open Water Diver. It seems that the charters I find are ridiculously expensive. When we went to Florida it was extremely cheap comparatively. We just want to go for the weekend and do a couple simple dives. We only have our oped water cert. what kind of diving can we do?
 
Give us some examples of what you deem ridiculously expensive.

In the Florida Keys, out of Key Largo last September, I found a package with Rainbow Reef Dive Center that basically added up to $600+tax (& tip) for 10 2-tank boat trips, tanks & weights included, with no added charge to follow the guide who was in the water for every time. So, $30/dive + tax & tip, with tanks, weights & guide. Awesome.

Also better than charter boat pricing I've seen anywhere outside of the Florida Keys. If I'm on a cruise in the Caribbean and do a 2-tank boat dive, I expect to pay close to $125 + tip for similar service.

Some charter offerings farther north in Florida look cheaper, but take a closer look; tanks may not be included in the price. By the time you rent tanks, it adds up.

So, explain what you think a dive trip ought to cost, and perhaps folks can give you some feedback as to whether your expectation is realistic.

Richard.

P.S.: With OW, not AOW, you need to check with the op. whether you'll be allowed to do all the dives on a given trip. Fear of legal liability leads to requiring AOW for some dives, particularly in the U.S.
 
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I did a couple of charters in 2011 with Coastal Scuba of N. Myrtle Beach (on the Sherman wreck--50' or so). Cost was similar, maybe a little less than for an inshore 2 tank dive on the FL Panhandle.
 
So I'm curious If South Carolina has any decent places to diver for Open Water Diver. It seems that the charters I find are ridiculously expensive. When we went to Florida it was extremely cheap comparatively. We just want to go for the weekend and do a couple simple dives. We only have our oped water cert. what kind of diving can we do?

I don't know about South Carolina, but in North Carolina most of the wrecks that I did were long runs from shore (2 hours or so). That translates into a lot more gas, which means more cost. Up here (NYC) the prices for a day trip vary with the distance offshore as well.

Also, a Florida dive op can plan on running their boat for most of the year, and often during the week, since there are a lot of vacationing divers. The further you get from the tropics, the harder the business is. At the other extreme, the guys who run boats here have a season from basically June to October, weekends only, with lots of blowout days.

But as drrich2 says, give us an idea of the numbers that you have seen...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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