$500 for OW course, I supply my own mask, fins, snorkel and booties. 5 nts/2.5 hrs ea

[CptTightPants21]

for the uneducated, absolutely.... seen some real bad stuff regarding that.

IIRC, their rentals for the OW aren't too bad. Just need to avoid equipment purchases....

FWIW - They have no requirement to rent/purchase from them during classes...

Yeah, I have no problem with a shop making their money on the equipment rental part except for the mandatory lead purchase. I know lead keeps a lot of it s value, but still.

In my mind I don't like the make up for the lower class fees with equipment rental strategy because in my mind it diminishes the value of the instruction and gives me the feeling of being nickle and dimed on equipment. I would have felt much better paying the same price as equipment rental only not had to "pay for equipment rental"..no buddy likes seeing all the parts of the sausage.

 

[Finding Thomas Paine]

After checking - my course will be 4 nights, no e-learning/all live, they supply all but the mask, snorkel, fins and booties for everything - including the 4 open water dives. And I don't believe there is a cost charged to me to access the quarry for the o/w dives. And after checking around, the shop and owner/lead instructor does, indeed, have an extremely good reputation. Been in biz here for almost 30 years. Feel good about the choice and excited to get going. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Neilwood]

GO ahead and enjoy it. Just did mine last week and loved it. My instructor got me to think a lot about my buoyancy in the pool which was well worth the time spent when we got out in to the sea - could hover with virtually no problems.

Lot to take on board during the course (getting the drills right) but it is well worth it when you get out into open water!

 

[freedc]

Can I revive this thread from last August because I'm shopping around for an OW class for my son and am having a little sticker shock: $720 for PADI OW. These are not private lessons.

That includes e-learning + pool sessions + open water dives in a quarry. Includes gear rentals. Excludes mask, snorkel, fins, booties, and log book.

I'm not trying to cheap out, and I will screen the instructors and shops carefully, but this seems really high.

By the way, dive shops in my area make it really hard to compare prices apples to apples. Price transparency in this industry is really poor.

 

[fjpatrum]

@freedc, which shops have you contacted? There are a handful of shops left out here in the burbs of NoVA that, last I checked, are cheaper than that on paper. All told, though, with what's included versus "extra cost" I think it breaks out to about that. Quarry entry (I'm assuming they're doing Millbrook) is $25/day this year, and OW dives require at least 2 days. Wetsuit/gear rental is usually on the order of $20/day as well. Air fills are another $8/tank. Right there you're looking at ~$100 of that cost, whether included or "extra". (Consider a pool rental is usually ~$20/hour--for a class of 3 people-- for two 4-6 hour days as well.)

That price seems about right to me, when getting down to brass tacks.

 

[scubadiver888]

Is this a reasonable price? Reasonable number of hours? The class is 2.5 hrs one night a week for 4 weeks. PADI. Guy has a good reputation around the area.

My shop does eLearning + pool dives + 4 open water dives for $449. The previous shop I worked in didn't do the eLearning. They had around 10 hours of class in total but it usually went a little longer if students had more than the usual questions. For you 4 weeks * 2.5 hours = 10 hours. That seems about right.

You just have to find out if there are other things not covered by this cost. I work at a PADI shop. You want to know if any of this is extra or included:

• Classroom and pool training
• Four open water checkout dives
• Certification card and all associated fees
• Open Water Diver Manual
• Scuba equipment for pool
• Scuba equipment for open water checkout dives
• Tanks, air fills and weights

These are the basics. For around $500 you should get all this. We do $449 plus the scuba gear is extra (some people don't need the gear). Some shops will use the eRDP (electronic Recreational Dive Planner). Some will rent you a dive computer. Some will ask you to buy the computer you will use when certified and train you on it as well.

The most important thing is whether or not the instructor is a good instructor. If you were hiring a plumber or auto mechanic, you'd ask friends, get a referral, etc.. It sounds like you did for the instructor and he has a good reputation.

 

[The Chairman]

an I revive this thread from last August because I'm shopping around for an OW class for my son and am having a little sticker shock: $720 for PADI OW.

It is a bit high for one person, but probably not for your area. For two people, it's stupid cheap and I would be suspect of the quality.

FWIW, you're allowed to post in any thread, no matter the age of it.

 

[Doby45]

SDI in my area is $400 and that includes mask, fins and snorkel. I did have to pay my quarry entry for 2 days, approx. $80.

 

[diver 86]

$299 for PADI OW includes dives in local quarry. I can see boat dives adding to cost.

 

[Kairoos]

I paid $400 for my PADI OW, but the instructor owned a charter boat and the confined water dives were shore dives in a sheltered marine area. So those things probably brought the cost down a bit. If the instructor needs to pay for a pool to use, or pay for the boat dives, then I'd expect higher prices.