Diving on a budget - your tips?

[GlennL]

how budget is budget? I have been known to rent a cargo van, throw a blow up mattress in the back and drive down to wpb..spend the night...do a 2 tanker the next day and drive home after the dive. usually about $65 for the van rental, $70 for the charter. Then gas and food.

 

[rjgiddings]

Diving on a budget...at first I thought this was just a troll post. I was like...what budget? Most expensive hobby other than flying lessons.

But in seriousness- I would on occasion set up a boat charter - where if I could get 5 or 6 other divers to go along, the captain would comp me with a free spot. In that way I could get two fantastic boat dives for free. Just tip the crew, and gas to the marina and back. It was great.

 

[Russoft]

Not sure I can be very helpful. DC is very different from MN. But I'll share with you what I do to do more diving on fewer dollars.

I find diving trips to far away places always end up costing a lot (thousands). So these happen every few years depending on finances.

I dive locally a lot. Sure, it's not as exciting as destination diving, but it keeps me in practice and lets me blow bubbles. It's also way cheaper per dive.

Example:
When I'm vacation diving, for two divers (wife and I) we're paying upwards of $160/2-tank dive trip (and as high as $250).
Diving locally, I'm paying for gas (~$25 - $40), accommodations if it's a weekend long trip ($55), tank rentals ($10/tank x 4) and gas fills ($5 x 12). Wife and I each get 8 dives (over 2 days) for $200.

We own all our own gear. We got almost all of it used off craigslist. People sell old gear in practically new condition for a fraction of its worth.

To further cut the costs of diving, I'm learning how to do maintenance and repair of my own equipment. I don't have regulators serviced annually unless they show signs of needing it. I'm building my own dive lights. I own the cheapest available computer (Mares Puck). I shop around forever to get the best deal on equipment online (Diver Gear Express, Piranha Dive Mfg, etc).

 

[richdrogpa]

I can't seem to find anything that beats Cozumel in price for what you get. SW does not fly to Cozumel but you can get there from Cancun easy enough.
Easy to get a decent room in town for less than $50 a night, including breakfast. No rental car needed. No shortage of places to eat. Plenty of dive ops to choose from. The amount of flights to Cancun each day also helps make Cozumel a great place for a short trip.

That's what I ended up with a couple years ago when looking for a place to spend a week and dive on a budget. Loved it and can't wait to go back in Feb 2018...

My problem is though that I got spoiled by diving in Indonesia and prefer to stay away from quick weekend and weekly trips to Coz, save some money and fly over for a month and dive, dive, dive, in Bali mostly Such a biodiversity, it just cannot compare to the Caribbean... And nice variety of different type of diving: shore, boat, muck, drift, small critters, big pelagics... I mean, simply amazing, and that's just Bali, not even talking about Raja Ampat or Komodo and Flores... Sorry for my OT ramble

 

[Dan]

That's what I ended up with a couple years ago when looking for a place to spend a week and dive on a budget. Loved it and can't wait to go back in Feb 2018...

My problem is though that I got spoiled by diving in Indonesia and prefer to stay away from quick weekend and weekly trips to Coz, save some money and fly over for a month and dive, dive, dive, in Bali mostly Such a biodiversity, it just cannot compare to the Caribbean... And nice variety of different type of diving: shore, boat, muck, drift, small critters, big pelagics... I mean, simply amazing, and that's just Bali, not even talking about Raja Ampat or Komodo and Flores... Sorry for my OT ramble

Don't get me started to ramble about Indonesia It's my annual pilgrimage I've been diving in Bali every year for over 10 years now. It's also a hub to go to Komodo, Alor, Bunaken, Lembeh, etc. I try to avoid to go through Jakarta if I don't have to.

Going to Raja Ampat is better from Jakarta than from Denpasar since NAM (Sriwijaya affiliate) has a nonstop flight to Sorong. I'll be there again in 3 months. Had a roundtrip flight Houston-Jakarta for $680.

 

[richdrogpa]

Don't get me started to ramble about Indonesia It's my annual pilgrimage I've been diving in Bali every year for over 10 years now. It's also a hub to go to Komodo, Alor, Bunaken, Lembeh, etc. I try to avoid to go through Jakarta if I don't have to.

Going to Raja Ampat is better from Jakarta than from Denpasar since NAM (Sriwijaya affiliate) has a nonstop flight to Sorong.

Good to know about R4 going through Jakarta... I need to come back again in 2018. Since 2012, I've been here 3 times, I really need to pick up my pace to catch you up

 

[Dan]

Good to know about R4 going through Jakarta... I need to come back again in 2018. Since 2012, I've been here 3 times, I really need to pick up my pace to catch you up

Check this website for your next trip to Raja Ampat: Sriwijaya Air It has a 4-hour nonstop flight from Jakarta to Sorong with half the cost of Garuda, which you have to stop over in Makassar to change flight. The Makassar transit may take as long as 8 hours. At one time I ended up staying over night in the Makassar airport hotel. What a pain in the rear.

 

[richdrogpa]

Check this website for your next trip to Raja Ampat: Sriwijaya Air It has a 4-hour nonstop flight from Jakarta to Sorong with half the cost of Garuda, which you have to stop over in Makassar to change flight. The Makassar transit may take as long as 8 hours. At one time I ended up staying over night in the Makassar airport hotel. What a pain in the rear.

Thanks for all the insider info, really appreciated, maybe next year...

 

[motorref]

Look for flights from DCA to PBI (Palm Beach Int'l) - I usually get them for $130 - $180; rent a car and you can drive to Blue Heron Bridge in less than 30 minutes. Force E is on the right just before the bridge, and there is now a dive shopin the park: Blue Heron Bridge Scuba - The Best Shore Diving in the Americas - Blue Heron Bridge Scuba
You can be in the water in an hour!!
There are a lot of dive operators in that area, and a lot of different dives to do; I'll send you a PM and we can talk off line if you want.

KevinL

Right - if it's not too far I'd personally be OK with 2-3 full days of diving somewhere.

I'm thinking:
- fly in on a thursday afternoon (no PTO, work from home half day and make it up)
- Dive on a friday
- Dive on a saturday
- Dive 1/2 day on a sunday (24 hours decompression)
- Fly out Monday afternoon that's a holiday (so no PTO)

A little rushed, but seems like enough time as long as I'm not flying -too- far with too many connections. Downside is that flights will be more expensive on those holiday weekends if I can't use points. I could also easily be convinced to just burn 1 or 2 PTO days, but wouldn't want to spend a whole week.

 

[Rred]

One small thing. Depending on how aggressively you are diving, i.e. two dives per day? Three? Near decompression limits? Shallow?

You may find that you still need to spend 24 hours without diving before your flight home. Which can put an entire day of that 3-4 day weekend out of commission. Something worth checking in advance, either through the tables or some software.

If your profile is going to consume a "no dive" day before you fly, that might make it more worthwhile to wait a bit and do a week-long trip instead of two shorter ones. (Or, perhaps, to book the last flight out at night, with the fun that can entail these days.)