Cheapest OW Certs Possible, FL, Kids, Ideas?

[GJC]

I was first certified in 1970 and got recertified with my son, when he turned 12, in 1997. My wife was certified with my daughter, when she turned 12, in 2002. We've been diving together, whenever possible, ever since, priceless. Between the 4 of us, just under 2,700 dives, and counting

Bonaire, October 8, 2019, Small Wall
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I really like the kid on the right. Mask on forehead and looking at the rest of the family to see if anyone notices.

 

[The Chairman]

Have you told us how much you're willing to spend? If you don't like the status quo, rewarding horrible instructors just because they're cheap seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I get that your mind is made up, so I'm writing this for those that come after you...

Choose your instructor well. A crappy instructor will result in crappy performance and you simply won't enjoy Scuba diving much. Many people expect us to work for free or almost free which has given rise to the joke:

Spoiler

What's the difference between a Large pizza and a Scuba Instructor?

A large pizza can feed a family of four!

It used to be that Instruction was a loss leader for dive shops. They get you in and then make their money on selling you gear. The advent of the internet has deeply impacted the shop's ability to pay everyone a living wage. I charge $450/student plus expenses. A quarter of that goes to pay for the online portion of the class and certification. I spend anywhere between 25 to 40 hours face to face with each student. If they have issues, it could easily approach 50 hours. Out of what's left I have to buy/repair gear as well as pay for instructor fees and insurance not to mention gas both for the tanks and my van. It's just not worth it any more, especially since so many just want a card: not the skills or knowledge. I haven't registered as an instructor this year, and I'm inclined just to give it all up. People don't value me as an instructor, so I'll find something else to do. And so many wonder why the current state of Scuba Instruction sucks?

 

[scubadada]

I really like the kid on the right. Mask on forehead and looking at the rest of the family to see if anyone notices.

We like him a lot too. My son is a 35 year old child, and not afraid to demonstrate it, pretty sure he is smiling. I'm a child too, but keep it more to myself.

I sent the picture to both my kids on the 1 year anniversary and my son's comment was, "At least we all have our masks on, well, except for one of us"

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Have you told us how much you're willing to spend? If you don't like the status quo, rewarding horrible instructors just because they're cheap seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I get that your mind is made up, so I'm writing this for those that come after you...

Choose your instructor well. A crappy instructor will result in crappy performance and you simply won't enjoy Scuba diving much. Many people expect us to work for free or almost free which has given rise to the joke:

Spoiler

What's the difference between a Large pizza and a Scuba Instructor?

A large pizza can feed a family of four!

It used to be that Instruction was a loss leader for dive shops. They get you in and then make their money on selling you gear. The advent of the internet has deeply impacted the shop's ability to pay everyone a living wage. I charge $450/student plus expenses. A quarter of that goes to pay for the online portion of the class and certification. I spend anywhere between 25 to 40 hours face to face with each student. If they have issues, it could easily approach 50 hours. Out of what's left I have to buy/repair gear as well as pay for instructor fees and insurance not to mention gas both for the tanks and my van. It's just not worth it any more, especially since so many just want a card: not the skills or knowledge. I haven't registered as an instructor this year, and I'm inclined just to give it all up. People don't value me as an instructor, so I'll find something else to do. And so many wonder why the current state of Scuba Instruction sucks?

Actually, my mind is not made up. I always try to stay open minded as to what could be out there. To be honest, I thought your price was more along the lines of $600 / per student? $600 x 4 is $2400 and that was too much for me to spend.

Now @ $450 / kid, well that's closer to my budget and totally worth it. I was hoping to spend $350-$400 / kid, but to get awesome instruction I would spend what you were asking. But I also know that you don't certify under the age of 14, and that you're located much farther north than where we'll be vacationing. If you were my neighbor, this post would have never been made.

Mr. @The Chairman, in no way did I want my post to offend. I'm sorry to see you step out of the instructor world as everyone says your top notch (and fun.....don't forget fun).

 

[The Chairman]

Mr. @The Chairman, in no way did I want my post to offend.

I was never offended.

But you ultimately get what you pay for.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I was never offended.

But you ultimately get what you pay for.

Actually, in my neck of the woods, you don't get what you pay for....or maybe it's a misrepresentation of what's on paper and what you actually get. I'm sure there are good instructors around here, but it's not the norm.

 

[The Chairman]

Actually, in my neck of the woods, you don't get what you pay for....or maybe it's a misrepresentation of what's on paper and what you actually get.

You get a card. Whether it's worth it, is up to the user.

 

[ChuckP]

I'm concerned that you're laughing at my opinion that taking your kids scuba diving without formal training and looking for the cheapest way to get a C-card isn't very responsible.

You seem to think that none of it matters, and it's not just your own life you're risking.

There are scuba diving instructors and certification agencies for a reason. Saying "most certified divers don't have a clue" or however you put it, is irrelevant.

But yet you wonder why folks don't like your "dive plan" of you the non tech trained diver leading two friends on a tech penetration dive of the SG.....

 

[rob.mwpropane]

You get a card. Whether it's worth it, is up to the user.

Paid for instruction, got a card....now I'm looking for cards, and all I can find are instructors

 

[rob.mwpropane]

But yet you wonder why folks don't like your "dive plan" of you the non tech trained diver leading two friends on a tech penetration dive of the SG.....

I even started a private message with him to see what was up....and that was before I saw the other thread????

So judgement passed on me for wanting to take kids 10', but it's ok to rock and roll with deep penetration with single 80's with people who aren't cert for that??? Interesting...