New diver, simple question.

[herman]

I found a class. It costs $375 but says NOT INCLUDED: Rental equipment ($85.00) or your Personal Snorkeling System for openwater dives ($140.00 to $300.00)

So, $500-$700. Is that an ok price? They also do SSI or PADI. Any preference?

Price varies widely depending on location. Around here that price would include everything except your mask, fins, booties and snorkle (MFBS) and entry fees to the quarry where we do our OW training dives. All rental gear and pool access is included.

MFBS cost can vary widely. There is nothing at all wrong with used equipment if you can find some good gear at a good price. Don't spend a lot of a fancy snorkle and don't go to the other extreme with Kmart fins and mask. The one place where you need to totally forget price is the mask. FIND ONE THAT FITS and buy it reguardless of cost. That might be a high end mask or maybe a low end one, fit is all that is improtant. I am lucky, one of the mask that fits me the best is a low end ($35ish) mask that has been made for decades. I just replaced my second mask from wear after several hundred dives and who knows how many air miles.

 

[moose200x]

Once my gear is purchased and I've passed my tests and became Cert'd , what would be the average cost for diving for 2 hours? Just trying to get some figures in my head.

 

[Aggiebq86]

Your best bet on figuring how much diving will cost is to check at a local dive shop and find out how much they rent gear for. You can also check out dive locations that may have a shop onsite with a place to fill tanks. You might be able to get away with only one rental tank instead of two that way.

Around here, rentals are as follows:
Daily Weekend Week
Regulator $15 $30 $45
BCD $15 $30 $45
Tank $15 $20 $35
Computer $20 $30 $50
Wetsuit $15 $20 $40

Tank fills will vary in cost, but if you budget $10 per tank fill you should be OK. Boat dives can vary from $65 for a two tank dive in Cozumel that includes your tank, to $125 for the same thing in St Thomas, USVI.

 

[Cave Diver]

Once my gear is purchased and I've passed my tests and became Cert'd , what would be the average cost for diving for 2 hours? Just trying to get some figures in my head.

A lot of this is going to depend on the type of diving you're doing. If you have access to shore diving and all your gear, you're just paying for tank fills, probably averaging between $5-15 depending on location.

If you're having to rent gear, or do boat diving, expect that cost to go up quite a bit.

Also, as a new diver, figure that unless you're pretty shallow (20-40') your tank wont last quite an hour until you get comfortable and your consumption rate goes down. So for two hours of dive time, that will probably be a 2 or 3 tank dive (2-3 separate dives).

 

[tengsr]

When I took my open water certification, I didn't have to buy anything. I think it was about 400 bucks with all the needed gear, so ask about that because they rent it out anyway. When you get yourself certified, the gear rental will be for the day after you're certified, if you go on more than one dive that day your gonna pay another 10 bucks to refill your tank. If you buy all of your own gear, after the initial cost of gear, budget 20 bucks a day for air, or say 30 if you do a quick oxygen enriched air course. One girl in my course was fine in the pool, but wouldn't get in open water, so be sure you want to do it, don't go just to see if you like it... Good Luck

 

[divermike1011]

Moose:

First off let me say welcome to SB, I think you'll find the people here are very helpful and the above posts bear this out. I have trained a couple of obese people in the last few months and the only two things that stood out were: it can be difficult to find gear that fits. We had one young man who was about 350 lbs. and it took some creative gear adjustment to get him kitted out. The other issue we had was getting enough weight on him safely so that he could be neutrally buoyant. Other then that he seemed to enjoy himself and passed his OW certification with no problems, in fact he came back and completed AOW with us as well.

You are to be commended for looking for ways to SCUBA. As someone who has struggled with weight for years I like both the fact that I feel weightless and the fact that ever so slowly SCUBA has gotten me in better and better shape.

Good luck!

Michael

 

[FireInMyBones]

John,

Welcome aboard. While diving itself is a relatively easy sport, it has to be to have so many followers, it is not for everyone. From what I can tell from the tone of your post, this does not hold true for you. I would set down and consider a few points for your contemplation:
-Are you a good swimmer?
-How do you handle stress?
-What level of commitment are you willing to put into something new?
-If you are met with difficulty, are you willing to push on?
-Are you in reasonable physical fitness?

A great option to see what i is all about is swinging by your Local Dive Shop and signing up for a Discover SCUBA course. These are usually a cheap way to see if this sport fits the ticket you are looking to pursue or if there is another option that you may prefer.

I wish you the best. I think you'll like it. It is not too hard. Some of us just like to make it harder for the fun of it. Kind of like walking down the street vs. running a marathon. Some people just get their kicks by pushing what they enjoy a bit further.

 

[moose200x]

I would consider myself an above average swimmer. I've swam quite alot in my life and feel very comfortable in the water. I can easily swim without a life jacket and actually prefer to not wear one. (my friends and family all wear them 100% of the time in water)

I do ok under pressure. I've played sports so I am able to focus in trouble.
Would be willing to put some time into this. It's something I've always wanted to do.

 

[herman]

I would consider myself an above average swimmer. I've swam quite alot in my life and feel very comfortable in the water. I can easily swim without a life jacket and actually prefer to not wear one. (my friends and family all wear them 100% of the time in water)

I do ok under pressure. I've played sports so I am able to focus in trouble.
Would be willing to put some time into this. It's something I've always wanted to do.

The more you post, the more I think you will do well. Equipment fit is quickly becoming your biggest issue and that is one that can be overcome.....although it might take a few dollars. (custom wet suits are expensive but can be had).

 

[Cave Diver]

I do ok under pressure. I've played sports so I am able to focus in trouble.
Would be willing to put some time into this. It's something I've always wanted to do.

Then I would say take some of the suggestions that have been given to you, do some research and go for it! One of my only regrets with diving is that I waited so long to finally get certified.