lord1234:
I live in the Massachusetts/New Hampshire area. I am looking to find a place to learn how to dive. How much do diving courses run? What is too much/too little? What should they include for a good course?
Group classes as mentioned usually run between $225 - $300., I'm seeing some movement slightly beyond $300 but that's the neighborhood. If you have a demanding schedule or think you may be uncomfortable etc. you can have private clases usually in the $600. range. Plan on another $200 -$250. for your mask, snorkel, fins and Booties. You will need these personal items for hyiene and because you will be learning skills that can be influenced by their fit and style. You can spend a little less but it may not go the distance.
lord1234:
There are number of good recent threads that list details. Pay particular attentoin to those posted by "Walter", I like his perspective.
The activity mix varries from agency to agency and with some stuff being optional also from instructor to instructor. It will include 1. Bookwork, some mix of home study and class or 1:1 time. 2. Confined water, from skin diving (snorkeling) to SCUBA skills either in a pool or shallow calm open water. 3. Checkout dives where the instuctor takes you in the ocean (or you regions most significant body of water) and you repeat what you learned in the pool under actual conditions. For you I'd insist on the ocean, you may be offered lake depending where you are in NH. You will most certainly find your way to the sea and should be checked out there, that's my opinion.
Don't get hung up on which agency, it's the instructor that is critical, ask around ask questions and be comfortable with your choice.
lord1234:
How long should it take to get certified for basic diving?
The time to complete all of this varries, avoid anything that seems too fast. Life may be the limiting factor as much as anything, a cold, bad weather, you or a partner who needs a bit more time are examples. Don't rush, absorb all you can, here and elsewhere, be a sponge. Nearly everything, especially gear selection has some more than one viewpoint, in the end it needs to work for you. Getting a handle on the flavors of gear has been more duanting than learing dive skills!
lord1234:
What are the different levels of diving? Also, living in the MA/NH area, the water is cold, what should I expect for equipment costs?
I'm in Maine and just ahead of you in the process. As far as geography your basic cost is slightly impacted. You will need to spend a little more than a tropical diver on exposure protection, assuming you start with a wetsuit. 7mm Suit/hood/vest/booties/gloves should come in under $500 in most cases. A tropical diver can get going for about half. Your BC, Regulator set and basic instumentation will probably be $1200. - $1500. These are all ballpark numbers. Add a gearbag, ballast wieights, knife and a few more accesories and you begin to see the common $2500 - $3000. amount. A drysuit may be in your future but set that asside for now.
EBAY, buying used, buying turned over rental gear and buying online can all seem like savings. For a new diver be careful since you may not be able to try the gear, used regulators and BCs will need to be serviced for safety at a cost before use. There are ways around some of these pitfalls but for the new diver the support of your local dive shop (LDS) is a very valuable asset. It's good to shop around online though so you have some idea what you might try baragaining to!
You will start as an Open Water Diver, this will give you training to go to 60 feet. That's where most of the color and shore diving will be. Through follow-up training and or mentoring you can go to the recreational limit of 130 feet before going techical. Specialties can include deep, nitrox diving (for deeper/ frequent back to back dives), night diving, UW navigation, rescue, photography etc. Some of these in some places will require you be certified even though a mentor may have taught you the skills.
Advanced Open Water (AOW) lets you bundle a colection of specialties together and gets you certified and introduced to the new skills. Diving with a seasoned group can be very valuable for your safety and learning.
lord1234:
Also what should I do regarding purchasing/renting?
IF you can rent good gear that you're interested in buying new it's a great way to try before you buy. You want to do this as much as possible. The truth I'm finding is that rental gear is usually very limited in variety and quality. Unless you rent the same items you will be constatntly re-learning buoyancy and where things are. I enjoyed that during my pool sessions as it forced me to keep paying attention but when I head out on my own I want to know my rig like the back of my hand.
To answer what I think is your biggest question, find a shop you may use and ask about a Discover Dive. The cost is usally well under $100. They will give you some basic safety instruction, set you up in gear and an instructor will take you down for a shallow dive in a controlled enviornment. You're getting into the season where you can probably get this at a local pond as opposed to a swimming pool. This will let you experinece the thrill of diving and in a heartbeat I bet you'll know it's for you or not. You may not be entirely comfortable especially if you have not snorkeled but you will know if it's something you want to learn.
Good Luck
Pete
