Certification Prices

[Addicted2H2O]

I strongly recommend trying different things to see what YOUR preferences are. What I prefer may not be what you prefer. Hopefully you can join a dive club where people will loan you gear and you can get in a couple dives.

Echoing this response, but one change. See if you can try or rent different BCs from your LDS and try them in the pool. From the looks of it, the Soul i3 seems to be a jacket-style BC. I know I don't speak for everyone, but the problem (for me at least) with this style is that it makes me roll one way or the other underwater. Plus, I just don't like them hugging my sides the way they do. I prefer a back-inflate because it's less cumbersome and helps keep me more stable underwater. Granted if you're trying to dive in an upright position, or say Buddha, then a jacket-style might be better, but I'm usually horizontal (ish) so having the air on my back instead of all around me works better for me. But again, all personal preference. I'd recommend trying the Soul i3 if at all possible before you drop the coin on it, though. It might fit completely different underwater.

And just so it gets said.....methinks this thread went a bit off the rails from the original topic of discussion. OP, please accept my apology for my part in that.

 

[Dogbowl]

Carries a Hermes handbag, drives a Toyota?

The guy who built a submarine to rescue the boys trapped in a cave. He also owns a car company. That one! Not uber expensive but I hate sitting in one of them - I can't get back out.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

The guy who built a submarine to rescue the boys trapped in a cave. He also owns a car company. That one! Not uber expensive but I hate sitting in one of them - I can't get back out.

So she must be a Justin Bieber fan, too, huh?

 

[yle]

The guy who built a submarine to rescue the boys trapped in a cave. He also owns a car company. That one! Not uber expensive but I hate sitting in one of them - I can't get back out.

I did think about that after I posted, and I was going to edit my post. But figured it was more amusing as it was.

 

[Dogbowl]

So she must be a Justin Bieber fan, too, huh?

Not in the same age category!!! But if she told me one day that she likes him, who am I to judge? (Sorry, I just had to throw my all-time favourite quote in there.)

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Not in the same age category!!! But if she told me one day that she likes him, who am I to judge?

It was a dig at the fact that the particular brand of car you reference seemingly became extremely popular after Th' Beebs started driving one.

 

[Dogbowl]

It was a dig at the fact that the particular brand of car you reference seemingly became extremely popular after Th' Beebs started driving one.

See what I mean? We're not in the same age category...didn't even know the Biebs had one. Nope, my friend's love affair started with the original roadster. And while all her friends secretly "hated" the dang thing, cause at our age, none of us could get back out without spraining our backs (or mooning everyone if we were wearing a skirt), we didn't tell her that. She still loves it and why ruin it for her?

 

[Addicted2H2O]

See what I mean? We're not in the same age category...didn't even know the Biebs had one. Nope, my friend's love affair started with the original roadster. And while all her friends secretly "hated" the dang thing, cause at our age, none of us could get back out without spraining our backs (or mooning everyone if we were wearing a skirt), we didn't tell her that. She still loves it and why ruin it for her?

I only know that about him because my wife had an affinity for celebrity gossip magazines/apps.

 

[Tribal]

Spending money on dive gear is fun. But like many did mention in this post, as a new diver you will end up spending more money soon.
I did start diving like 2 years ago, i did spend over 3000€ before i did my first real dive. Now 200 dives later i only use my regulators and computer from the original stuff, all the other gear got replaced because it wasn’t what i realy wanted.

Try Some gear and get enough experience before you buy to expensive stuff.

 

[aldertyler]

SSI open water was around 350 if I recall correctly. SSI advanced open water was 499 if you paid for all four specialties at once, 150 per specialty if you paid for them one at a time.

Edit to add: OW was three weeks. We met two nights a week plus one weekend. There were a total of four students in the class and two instructors. We did the eLearning at home on our own and then spent time during each meeting reviewing. Each meeting was followed by several hours in the pool. The final weekend was two dives a day for two days.

AOW varied by specialty.