How much should Diver Training cost?

[supergaijin]

A recent thread got me thinking about what people expect when it comes to learning to become a diver. Firstly we need to decide on 'What makes a diver?' For me, a diver is self-sufficient, has some experiences in a range of conditions and can perform basic rescue on themselves and their buddy. They are not Cousteau, however they can perform in 'typical' conditions and can adapt appropriately if the conditions worsen.

If you personally disagree with this definition, that's OK but for the purpose of the thread, let's please assume that this is the definition.

This training has been broken up (modularised) by the popular recreational training agencies (PADI, SSI etc), so that not all the training needs to be done at one time. This in turn means that people can complete portions of the training while 'on vacation' and this led to a boom in recreational diving, which led in turn to dive centers opening in thousands of popular holiday destinations around the world.

However, again for this thread lets assume that all this training is done together (ie. no time constraints). A complete beginner walks in to a dive center and walks out as a 'diver', with the aforementioned skill set.

I'd be interested in hearing what beginner divers believe should be the cost of learning to become a diver. $500? $5000? No equipment purchases- just the training.

 

[Progen]

It's pretty cheap where I am (I paid more somewhere else but the cheapest local price is about USD300 for the full package with original PADI materials) but I think USD400 - 500 for an open water level certification will be about there.

 

[RJP]

A recent thread got me thinking about what people expect when it comes to learning to become a diver. Firstly we need to decide on 'What makes a diver?' For me, a diver is self-sufficient, has some experiences in a range of conditions and can perform basic rescue on themselves and their buddy. They are not Cousteau, however they can perform in 'typical' conditions and can adapt appropriately if the conditions worsen.

If you personally disagree with this definition, that's OK but for the purpose of the thread, let's please assume that this is the definition.

This training has been broken up (modularised) by the popular recreational training agencies (PADI, SSI etc), so that not all the training needs to be done at one time. This in turn means that people can complete portions of the training while 'on vacation' and this led to a boom in recreational diving, which led in turn to dive centers opening in thousands of popular holiday destinations around the world.

However, again for this thread lets assume that all this training is done together (ie. no time constraints). A complete beginner walks in to a dive center and walks out as a 'diver', with the aforementioned skill set.

I'd be interested in hearing what beginner divers believe should be the cost of learning to become a diver. $500? $5000? No equipment purchases- just the training.

How long should a piece of string be?

From a "customer" standpoint the cost of training should be as low as possible, while still offering a reasonable quality of training. From a marketing/economic standpoint the cost should be as high as possible, while still filling a shop's given capacity to train divers.

 

[graham_s]

Mine came free with club membership.
Up to Sports Diver, I think cost me around $200 all told.

 

[supergaijin]

It's pretty cheap where I am (I paid more somewhere else but the cheapest local price is about USD300 for the full package with original PADI materials) but I think USD400 - 500 for an open water level certification will be about there.

Do you believe the end result is a diver that has reasonable experience and rescue abilities? As I mentioned before, the modularisation of the old method of 'becoming a diver' means that quite often the typical recreational OW certification does not give enough time nor experience. 'Becoming a diver' often meant diving weekends over an entire summer season with a mentor.

Mine came free with club membership.
Up to Sports Diver, I think cost me around $200 all told.

Indeed if you are living in an area with an active 'club' scene as run by many BSAC/CMAS branches, training can be very affordable.

 

[Gren]

Maybe I misread... Is the question how much should OW cost or how much would it cost if you built the perfect class that prepared someone to be a quality diver? If it was the latter, I think you could do it for $700-$1000. One of the biggest problems being 4 dives 0W + 5 dives AOW, isn't enough to make most people good divers. On top of training, you need time in the water preferably supervised.

 

[Progen]

Do you believe the end result is a diver that has reasonable experience and rescue abilities? As I mentioned before, the modularisation of the old method of 'becoming a diver' means that quite often the typical recreational OW certification does not give enough time nor experience. 'Becoming a diver' often meant diving weekends over an entire summer season with a mentor.
...

BIG NO! My open water certification came higher than most (compared to the local rate) because I paid for eLearning and the dive resort where I completed the 4 open water dives didn't give any discounts to people who didn't opt them as the completing centre. However, I've discussed this with some people and yeah, the 'average' instructor and 'average' open water course was like what I and a few thousands in my area have gone through. The basic minimum with no extras. Even if you couldn't perform some of the skills, you still passed.

My sister had a more comprehensive experience because she spent quite a number of dives in a swimming pool before doing 6 dives for the open water one.

To cut the long story short, how good a diver ends up depends on the diver him / herself plus the company which he / she dives with. If you dive with people who jump into the water the moment the anchor goes down, with no buddy or self checks, chances of you ending up that way's pretty high.

BUT yes, a more comprehensive course should be the norm which is why I think should I become an instructor one day and should the dive centre boss be supportive, I'll offer the 'normal' course and a comprehensive one. Fees will of course be different to avoid the 'I'm offering more than you for the same price' potential clashes.

 

[supergaijin]

Maybe I misread... Is the question how much should OW cost or how much would it cost if you built the perfect class that prepared someone to be a quality diver?

Sorry the question wasn't clear.

I'm talking about "the perfect class". Basically someone walks in a complete novice, and walks out as a reasonably proficient diver capable of handling 'typical' oceanic conditions with ease, and the ability to adapt to more difficult conditions when/if they arise.

 

[turnerjd]

Mine cost very little.

When I was learning at Uni, it cost club membership, plus PADI materials and a PIC for each cert. This probably worked out at about £60 - 100 per certification upto an including divemaster. Now with the French system it costs about the same, buy the book (about 40€) training is free in the club, and then 13€ for the card. Club membership is about 150€ per year whether or not you do any training.

So all in, training upto divemaster probably cost around £300, (then add in costs of all the dives I did between courses). Only now do I see how good the training I got was, and how great the value for money was.

Hindsight is always perfect. It is only now that I realise that if I was to start over again and get as good a training commercially I would have to be prepared to pay a lot more, probably in the order of 2-3k€ to get similar quality training upto the same standard. However, If I was starting off, this would seems like an unrealistically expensive proposition.

HTH

Jon

 

[TSandM]

I think the ideal OW class would be sort of like taking OW, AOW and Rescue all together (with a Fundies flavor, of course!). I paid about $500 for my OW, when materials cost is included, and about $250 each for AOW and Rescue, which would make about $1000. I know that, if I had gone to the dive shop to sign up for a class and discovered it cost $1000 to learn to dive, I would have gone home and ridden my horse.