Groupon Deal - is this course recommended?

[bubba k]

Hi there. I've been wanting to get my open water certification for quite some time but i've put it on hold with two young kids at home. I just came accross this deal today and it appears to be a good value, but i'm not sure if I fully understand if this is what I need. Would this course give me everything I need, or do I need to completed additional dives? I just want a certification to do some basic diving on my own when away on vacation and then continue to advance myself if i find it's something I'm really interested in. I realize I need to do my research but the deal is only offered for a few more days. I would really appreciate any feedback...

Brampton Scuba Deal of the Day | Groupon Toronto (GTA)

 

[t-mac]

It is confusing to me too. It does indeed appear that they are offering a certification for $399, but it is hard to tell what that is. Brampton appears to do PADI courses. The PADI O/W course is done in two parts. The first consists of the classroom and pool and the second is the open water portion. You can break between the two parts and do your open water portion elsewhere as a "referral." So I would call them and clarify what they are offering. If it is a PADI open water certification (or other agency), that's what you want. You do not want "discover scuba." If it is O/W certification, you will want to make sure that you are getting both parts, not just the classroom and pool (doesn't sound that way from the groupon). And you should ask them if this includes all of the equipment. You will pay $300-400 just for referral dives, so if this is a complete certification for $399, it sounds like a good deal. If you have to rent equipment, that will get expensive it starts to go downhill from there and you might want to shop around.

 

[mselenaous]

The description leaves out details of what exactly is included. Does not mention which Agency the certification will be issued through, though that is not a big deal at OW level. The competency & experience of the instructor will be the key element for the class to be successful. Ask if EVERYTHING is included: training materials or e-learning fee, certification card fees, pool sessions, rental gear, and of course what additional expenses you might incur on the Open Water Dives (like transportation to & from, or tips to the boat crew, etc.)...AND what equipment you are required to purchase. Many require personal gear like mask, snorkel, fins, boots, gloves, weight belt and weights (or some combination of those items). A deal may not be such a deal prices ala carte rather than all inclusive. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples and not oranges. Ultimately only you can decide if this course will work for you based on the information you get from interviewing the Dive Shop and Instructor making the offer. Ideally get certified and go diving, make new friends/dive buddies, and find some more experienced divers who will mentor you along as you gain experience.

Here are a few threads to read so you can educate yourself on making the right instructional choices for you.

Lots of good info in this forum: New Divers and Those Considering Diving

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ng/287780-how-find-excellent-scuba-class.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne.../166469-what-consider-new-student-diving.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ering-diving/283566-who-responsible-what.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...35-pet-peeves-safety-concerns-new-divers.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...514-what-if-what-do-when-things-go-wrong.html

Have fun in your class, and dive safe.

 

[bleeb]

You may also want to consider that while price is important, it's not the only factor. Diving involves both knowledge and physical skills to do it both safely and enjoyably, so instructors have to be both good classroom teachers and decent coaches in the water. If they don't mesh with your learning style, you might not enjoy the process or get good enough at the skills to enjoy the activity once you're out doing it on your own, so to speak. Think of it like learning to ride a bike. You don't have to be a world class racer, but you need to be good enough and do the routine stuff like staying upright automatically enough that you can enjoy your Sunday ride.

If you haven't seen the sticky and have some time to plow through the discussion, here are some thoughts on what makes a 'good' course:

How To Find An Excellent Scuba Class

 

[Lemna]

You really should call them and ask what's included. The school I used did a groupon coupon a few months after I got certified and at first I was quite unhappy about it. But the price difference was not that much after adding all the things that were included in my course, such as the book. People using groupon found it much harder to reschedule classes and you'd have to pay for extra pool time or an extra open water dive if you needed more time. I paid full price, but they threw in a bonus dive with an instructor at the end of the course and offered private instruction for free when I had a scheduling conflict.

 

[t.pickett66]

It appears as though the CA$399 option is a complete course that would end in you receiving you C-card. You'll probably get a lot of people here telling you to run the other direction when a shop does a groupon deal because they tend to cram WAY TOO MANY people into these classes (see: This Thread).

I think the most reasonable course of action would be to go into the shop and ask about class sizes and try to get to know the staff at the shop. To me the most important question here is what is the ratio of students to assistant instructors (AI). This will give a reasonable indication of the shop's attitude toward instruction, too many students per AI (to me) indicates they just want your money and don't care if you are a safe, competent diver. In my (admittedly limited) experience having more than 6-8 attentive adults per AI just can't result in quality instruction, this number by necessity must go down with "young adults" thrown into the mix.

 

[elan]

If you are looking for an ow my friend s got certified with aquarius scuba (dundas& royal york) 2 weeks ago and the price for the Ow cert if i remeber was around 300 including checkout dives and the materials. They usually do OW at gouliver lake

 

[beaverdivers]

It looks like a good deal.

However, these Groupon deals can be risky for both the consumer and supplier.

What if they get too many students? How will they handle the crowd? Will there be too many students in the course?

Will you get a quality education?

Will it end up being a deal?

 

[electrix]

My LDS has been doing them, the main difference is no excuses and no hand holding.

 

[k_im]

It depends on the shop. If they value their reputation they'll give good value. I bought 5 groupon OW courses for my family, we're 1/2 way through and completely satisfied that we're being treated like any other customer.