Cost of each dive when starting

[2airishuman]

About how much is it for each dive after when you are still new?

A two-tank dive from a boat, with tip, is going to set you back $80-$100 depending on operator, location, and whether you want nitrox.

If you dive from shore, or have your own boat, then you'll just pay for air fills. I find that I typically end up paying around $7 for an air fill. This assumes you have your own cylinders.

Maintenance and replacement expense for gear works out to a few dollars a dive as long as you dive fairly frequently. Wetsuits, wetboots, and gloves wear out the fastest, but should be good for at least 100 dives if you're careful with them, maybe more.

 

[scubadada]

The trips I was talking about are one day trips around Florida that are in driving distance.

You're quite far away from the good ocean diving in SE Florida, 235-265 miles, 3 1/2-4 hour drive to Jupiter, West Palm, or Boynton Beach. I don't know anything about the springs that are closer to you.

 

[Fisck]

Thank you for the quick responses. It’s definitely in our budget from the sound of it.

I’ll be hanging around here reading and I’m sure we’ll have a lot more questions later.

 

[arew+4]

I would recommend you don't buy a ton of gear until you have better sense of how, and how often your going to use it. Try to rent different equipment/brand each time get a sense of what works for you. As long as you are diving with reputable shops the rental gear should all be good quality and well maintaimed. You can get some really good bargains when they turn over their rental gear.

Also the cost info seems to be similar to my own experience. Round about $100-120 for a two tanks with weights and tanks. other gear at $10-$20 per item per day.

 

[stepfen]

Be careful! Once you do few dives you might feel addicted. If you do, it's a very slippery road. Cost per dive might be what people tell you above, however there are numerous other things that potentially will cost you lots of money, if you get hooked. Examples include dive trips (liveaboards etc), equipment, camera rigs etc etc. Nonetheless if you do get addicted (as most if not all of us in SB do) every penny spent will worth it.
You will also find unimaginable ways to cut cost from other activities so you can spend more on diving.
And a final advice: there might be a problem if only one of you (you or your partner) gets hooked while the other one doesn't. People that don't get hooked find it difficult to understand our actions.
Good luck

 

[BlueTrin]

I do not believe scuba clubs exist in the US as they are structured in Europe. We have scuba “clubs”, though they are more about selling trips and meeting up at a quarry to dive and BBQ... they don’t really supply gear, provide training, etc.

There are scuba clubs in Europe close to the sea and which provide gear and training.

 

[TMHeimer]

FL panhandle fees for inshore (10 miles out) 2 tank dive charters: $90-$100 + tip. Based on my experiences with 2 shops in Destin and one in Pensacola.
That's what I paid, but have all my equipment.

 

[Neilwood]

As a few have mentioned above, diving costs what you let it.

If you want all your own gear and the ability to dive on a whim, then you have outlay up front and small ongoing costs (gas fills, gear servicing etc). Shore diving is pretty much free apart fro the cost of fuel to the site. Boat diving is a bit more depending on how far you want to go

The other option is rent gear in which case your up front costs are training and you pay a bit more for each dive.

A lot of the above decision ends up being down to how many dives you plan to do per year and how easy it is to rent gear. If your nearest dive show is an hour or more each way then it could be a bind to rent gear every time.

 

[TMHeimer]

As a few have mentioned above, diving costs what you let it.

If you want all your own gear and the ability to dive on a whim, then you have outlay up front and small ongoing costs (gas fills, gear servicing etc). Shore diving is pretty much free apart fro the cost of fuel to the site. Boat diving is a bit more depending on how far you want to go

The other option is rent gear in which case your up front costs are training and you pay a bit more for each dive.

A lot of the above decision ends up being down to how many dives you plan to do per year and how easy it is to rent gear. If your nearest dive show is an hour or more each way then it could be a bind to rent gear every time.

Agree. You can get "hooked" and still spend relatively little money (it's called being Scottish--yes I can say that, being one. I just have a German name).

 

[jonhall]

In short I’m worried we’ll spend our money getting certified and then not be able to afford to go but 2 or 3 times a year afterwards.

In 1998, I took the PADI OW course with my wife and son at a local dive shop. The cost today (I looked) is about the same as back then, $325, although now they teach SDI. That included classroom, pool sessions, materials, and gear use, with the exception of mask, fin, snorkel. With the cost of mask, fin, and snorkels, we paid about $425 apiece (mine was a little higher due to prescription lenses.)

We only took the course as we were going to go on our first trip out of the USA, to Grand Cayman, with some friends who suggested the diving. We did our checkout dives in GC. We didn't dive again until 7 years later which was the next time we left the USA. For a couple of years afterward we vacationed once a year to someplace we could dive. Retired in 2012 and now take 2-3 trips a year to places we can dive. I have never dived on the mainland of the U.S. - yet! Eventually we'll plan something in FL.

The 2 LDS's that are in Indy both offer dive trips throughout the year and I think some of the price are good, but we plan our own trips to go places where we can dive. We generally can do it cheaper because of timeshare/vacation club deals, but that's another story. We plan everything ahead of time, including dive ops, so we know the costs.

What I would say is that even 2-3 times diving a year is better than no diving. And if you have to take a year or 2 off, you are still certified when you come back.

Although the local diving is no where as nice as the tropics, it is diving, and it is cheap. If you can comfortably dive the cold dark quarries and lakes here, diving in clear open water is breeze.

Exactly (almost) what the guy at the LDS told me when I was thinking of getting AOW, but since he knew where I do my diving, he suggested getting in on a trip to the Caribbean since that is what I mostly dive. As I typed the last sentence it hit me that the 3 trips we have planned for 2019 will all be diving in the Pacific!