Cost of Tec Diving?

[boulderjohn]

And having previously done a lot of rock climbing, i have learned to love technical aspects of sports. Im more excited to learn to tec dive than i have been about anything.

I would say that the majority of the people with whom I dive regularly are rock climbers, and several are very accomplished in that pursuit, people with a number of first ascents and other accomplishments that rock climbing enthusiasts would recognize. (I am not among that group, so I hesitate to give inaccurate specifics.) There seems to be some affinity between the two pursuits.

 

[ADeadlierSnake]

I would say that the majority of the people with whom I dive regularly are rock climbers, and several are very accomplished in that pursuit, people with a number of first ascents and other accomplishments that rock climbing enthusiasts would recognize. (I am not among that group, so I hesitate to give inaccurate specifics.) There seems to be some affinity between the two pursuits.

Back when i rock climbed, i was very accomplished for my age (ranked nationally). I think there must be an affinity between them. diving and climbing are both technical sports that require a lot of unique training and gear. And they both come with a high degree of thrill. In my opinion. Ive also noticed a number of people around the forum make posts saying that they rock climbing. Theyre both amazing sports. But scuba is far more expensive xD

 

[rigdiver]

An old saying: If you have to ask, you can't afford it. But, 400' on a wall in Cayman=priceless. How many people have or ever will see that one little place that me and my buddy looked at?

 

[Phreatic Fanatic]

I found out long ago that the easiest way to make a small fortune in the diving business is to start with a large one.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Sounds like some great dives. I'd love to check those out at some point.

Multi-level profiles where you can deco up a reef (or along any structure) sure beat mid-water deco (which is usually what I do).

It's not that I've done a lot of bad T1(+) dives, it's just that our recreational dives out here in SoCal are that good. It takes a pretty special deeper/longer dive to make the 5-10x cost difference justifiable (especially when the deeper dives involve usually half the bottom time). Simply doing something "different" isn't always a great reason to empty the bank.

One of my favorite local deep dives is Ship Rock. There are chimney sponges below 200' with various rockfish milling about, and you end the dive with garibaldis in kelp.
As far as affording diving, I've sold off more gear than I now own. I got rid of my scooter, several sets of doubles and anything with a blue H on it.
I don't eat at restaurants, go to movies or sporting events any more. I buy cheap jeans once every couple of years only if needed. I drive a 1994 Mazda four cylinder pickup with almost 300,000 miles. I beach dived a lot during the years between boats. I usually have to save for a year or more for nice dive gear, but I enjoy and use what I have. I appreciate it more that way.

 

[Rainer]

One of my favorite local deep dives is Ship Rock. There are chimney sponges below 200' with various rockfish milling about, and you end the dive with garibaldis in kelp.

I think Ship Rock offers *great* diving. It's definitely one of those sites where there's always something to see whether on the bottom or on deco. I've only been down to around 170' there, but hear of people pushing 300'.

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[MaxBottomtime]

 

[ADeadlierSnake]

An old saying: If you have to ask, you can't afford it. But, 400' on a wall in Cayman=priceless. How many people have or ever will see that one little place that me and my buddy looked at?

How many 19 year olds do you know who can afford tec diving? Of course i cant afford it, thats why im asking. So i can plan my life a little.

I found out long ago that the easiest way to make a small fortune in the diving business is to start with a large one.

Can you elaborate on that a little? Because my "college fund" is now my "diving fund" that i am using to pursue diving as a career and lifestyle. So i dont have a "large" fortune, but i have a bit to work with.

 

[fire_diver]

IF you are using a college fund to pursue a diving lifestyle you need to seriously sit down and rethink your priorities. The facts of life are that SCUBA is a hobby. If you want to go into the teaching area of the hobby, don't expect to make any real money.

There are very, very few people who can make a good living only from the dive industry. It takes money to make money. Want to own a shop, and be the boss (the only way to come close to making money) you better have a LOT of money starting out. You asked one poster to elaborate on that thought so here goes.

You will need money for shop space rental
You will need money to purchase the "rights" to sell scuba gear. Every brand has there own minimum starting order, often $50,000 or more per brand.
You will need money for advertising
You will need money for air compressor and nitrox blending equipment
You will need money to get yourself trained to instruct
You will need money to purchase your rental fleet of BCs, regs, tanks, computers
You will need money for someone to run the shop while you are out teaching
You will need enough money to live for one year with making money at the shop.
And lastly, you will need to convince enough people to buy your training and gear to pay the bills.

Quarter Million to get through your first year probably wouldn't be too much.

 

[Elvistheking]

Much better bet is go to college and join the Uni diving club which will mean cheap diving whilst you do your degree,I dunno how your clubs are setup in the US, but over here you could end up with boat driving certs, blending certs, instructor certs and tech certs (I really wish I had started diving at Uni) then get a good job so you can pay for the tec diving.