$CUBA Diving Price$

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TheAlphaMag

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Location
Quincy , MA
Basicly my situation is this: I have about $10k and 3 people who would like to do something fun for the summer. We have a 30 foot RV and a will to go just about anywhere...

How much does an intro class normally cost?

What about group rates?

Would it be cheaper to get certified in my home area (Boston), or to go somewhere else on the east coast?

I'm about to crunch some numbers on SCUBA Toys, but how much would full equipment (minus tanks) run us?

If anyone is an instructor and can strike up a deal, please let me know. Anywhere on the east coast US is kosher for us.

Thanks in advance

-SAm
 
Classes in my home town run about $250 a person. You can get a full set of decent gear for about $1,000 a person but you can spend that just on a regulator if you want?
 
TheAlphaMag:
Basicly my situation is this: I have about $10k and 3 people who would like to do something fun for the summer. We have a 30 foot RV and a will to go just about anywhere...

How much does an intro class normally cost?

What about group rates?

This can vary from instructor/shop to instructor/shop, but I would figure on somewhere in the range of $200-$500 would cover tuition and books. You'll probably also need to get personal gear (mask, snorkel, fins, booties, gloves, hood) on top of that.

Would it be cheaper to get certified in my home area (Boston), or to go somewhere else on the east coast?

Not sure, but this isn't really the area to skimp on... Find a good instructor and get good training the first time around.


I'm about to crunch some numbers on SCUBA Toys, but how much would full equipment (minus tanks) run us?

This can vary quite a bit too... I would get certified first before crunching too hard on this. For one thing, you'll get a feel for the rental equipment and what you like/dislike. Also, you'll get a better idea of what options are out there.

Plus then you can come onto SB and fan the flames of endless gear debates.

But to give you a datapoint, my wife and I bought our first set of gear new (7mm wetsuits, BCDs, regs/gauges, computer) from a combination of scubatoys and LDS for about $900/person. Still using everything except the wetsuit (went dry) 100+ dives later.

good luck.
 
I'll tell you how much it cost me.

Classes and course material = $375
Equipement = $2800 (reg's, bcd, fins, mask, computer, etc)
Checkout dives = $275

You can do it for less. The equipment was the most expensive, you can do it for less if you shop online.
 
AlphaMag:

Where in the Boston area are you guys located? I'd be glad to refer a couple of local dive shops depending on what town you are in. I'd say get certified locally then you can dive for fun on your trip without worrying about classes/checkout dives.
 
It sounds like you're looking for a bit of a crash course so you can maximize your fun for the summer. I would suggest taking your O/W training somwhere where it's a little warmer but also represents practical diving situations. South Florida comes to mind.

It would be a good idea to strike a deal with a shop to rent gear, conduct O/W training and checkout dives, do a couple more shallow charter dives on the reefs, then take AOW with the same shop/instructor. The cool thing about going this way is that you can try progressively more challenging dives under the supervision of an instructor. After you get through that, you can spend the rest of the summer seeing a different site every day.

I think a lot of people who want to get into diving jump the gun with buying their own gear before they even know they like diving. If you prepay O/W and AOW training with a shop, I'm sure they would give you a great deal on an extended rental. They might even let you try out different equipment over that same span. If you get through a few dives and find it's totally not your cup of tea, you can walk away free and clear without having to Ebay the gear you just bought.


If you really want to buy something to get started that has a reasonable resale potential, I would recommend getting a dive computer. This will track your activities from day one for logging purposes and your instructors will help you understand the proper usage at the same time.

Bobby
 
Bobby_M:
It would be a good idea to strike a deal with a shop to rent gear, conduct O/W training and checkout dives, do a couple more shallow charter dives on the reefs, then take AOW with the same shop/instructor. The cool thing about going this way is that you can try progressively more challenging dives under the supervision of an instructor. After you get through that, you can spend the rest of the summer seeing a different site every day.

I think a lot of people who want to get into diving jump the gun with buying their own gear before they even know they like diving. If you prepay O/W and AOW training with a shop, I'm sure they would give you a great deal on an extended rental. They might even let you try out different equipment over that same span. If you get through a few dives and find it's totally not your cup of tea, you can walk away free and clear without having to Ebay the gear you just bought.

Bobby


How is it helpful to take AOW training after only a few dives? Isn't a diver supposed to have at least 50 dives in his log before attempting AOW training? I'm pretty sure there's a purpose for that.
 
DawgDiver:
How is it helpful to take AOW training after only a few dives? Isn't a diver supposed to have at least 50 dives in his log before attempting AOW training? I'm pretty sure there's a purpose for that.


I think they should combine the skills learned in OW & AOW into a harder to get OW certification.


To answer the original question, If you are looking for something fun to do for the summer, I would reccomend rental gear. It takes many rentals to add up to the cost of buying a set of gear.
 
I agree with Bobby M
Go some where warm and inexpensive. Do a deal with a LDS for OW, 10 dives, then AOW. The 2 together should take about 2 weeks.
He should give you a good deal for both equipment and dives as you are doing the courses. He will hope that you buy gear from him, and to be honest if you are going to continue then you should consider it as you can try before you buy.

Have fun, diving is a great sport.
 
victor:
I agree with Bobby M
Go some where warm and inexpensive. Do a deal with a LDS for OW, 10 dives, then AOW. The 2 together should take about 2 weeks.
He should give you a good deal for both equipment and dives as you are doing the courses. He will hope that you buy gear from him, and to be honest if you are going to continue then you should consider it as you can try before you buy.

Have fun, diving is a great sport.

One thing I forgot to mention, some shops will actually discount gear purchase by a certain percentage of your previous rental price. I know for a fact that Fillexpress in Pompano, FL does this. If you rent, then buy immediately following, you get 100% of the rental price in the discount. Granted they mostly stock Dive-rite so selection isn't all that, but it's not bad gear either.

Bobby
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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