Groupon Deal Questions

[shark.bait]

So this has probably been asked but I am in a bit of a hurry. I saw a groupon for scuba diving and it is for an open water certification with 1 classroom session, a pool session, and 4 open water dives. The groupon price is 200 for the listed above and everything is included except for a snorkel,mask,and fins. I just wanted to verify this so I called the actual scuba place and spoke to one of the trainers. She told me that on top of the price i would have to pay a 75 dollar fee for the academic material as well as purchase my own equipment. Ok sounds good. When I asked her how much the scuba gear I need to purchase costs she told me an average quality set would be around 245.

My questions:
1. Is this an overall good price for certification? I live in Miami and this is a PADI course that averages around 445 reg price + 75 for materials.

2. Is this person trying to take advantage of me and make me purchase an above average quality scuba set? Obviously I am not trying to go scuba diving with a walmart set of fins I purchased for 20 dollars but surely as a beginner and someone who merely plans to do this recreationally or may not even enjoy the experience there has to be a cheaper option.


I am really excited to do this especially with the seemingly great price but I am not willing to spend 200 dollars on a set of fins, snorkel, and mask. For all I know I do this and say never again and I am left with expensive gear. I mean if I like it and want to make it a reg thing I would invest in better gear sure but what do you guys think?

 

[TSandM]

First off, I think that's a too-compressed class and not a good learning experience. But that's often true of classes that are cheap. Also, search on "groupon" on this board for some stories about groupon-associated classes and the experiences people have had with them.

$245 for mask, snorkel and fins is, sadly, not entirely out of line. A mask needs to fit -- leaking masks are a big stressor for students, and one I see all too often. A mask will run you anywhere between $30 and $100, depending on features and brand. Fins can only be found below $100 on rare occasions, and those tend to be VERY low quality fins -- good fins will run in the $100 to $200 range, and shops often try to talk new students into the most expensive ones. Snorkels also come in a wide range of prices, and shops often try to talk students into the fancy "dry" ones with purge valves and the like. Really, such snorkels aren't necessary and sometimes are a pain (the ones with the big ball assemblies on the top of them tend to twist the mask strap).

But if you were to budget $125 for fins, $60 for a mask, and $30 for a snorkel, you'd be at $215, and that's pretty close to what you were told, and those are fairly budget prices on such things.

 

[Badge353]

The price sounds about right for fins, snorkel and mask. I just signed up for certification and being on a budget had to shop alot to get the best that I could afford. I didn't get the cheapest I could find but still went with the lower end with the exeption of my mask. It still ran me about $210.00 for the set with a 15% discount for making my own combo.

 

[knotical]

Did you ask if it's OK to bring your own mask/fins/snorkel? Some shops might try to make up the "loss" from groupon with inflated prices on must-purchase-from-us items. You might want to also search for reviews on the particular shop you are considering. The quality of instruction should out-weigh most cost considerations.

 

[Paladin]

There are good fins for less than $100. Personally, I like the Tusa Liberator X-10 fins and my son likes his Tusa Imprex fins. Used Scubapro Jet Fins can be had for about $50 and they last forever. My favorite mask is the Vue mask from the Snorkel Mart for less than $40. Any snorkel will do, the simpler the better, and shouldn't set you back more than ten bucks. There really isn't any reason you can't outfit yourself with basic fins, mask and snorkel for less than $100.

 

[soltari675]

The price is definitely reasonable for the equipment. If you are not sure you will like scuba, I recommend doing a discover scuba class first. You typically don't have to purchase gear and get to try it and see if you enjoy it. The groupon deal can be a very good way for shops to bring in business, however be aware that because of the "killer deal" you will likely get a very compressed class, which means learning everything very fast, and a large class size; meaning you may not get the personal attention you may need or want for the class. Some are ok with this, but for others it can make the experience stressful and turn them off on the idea of scuba where in a normal class, they may have really enjoyed it. This of course is not always true, but seems to be a frequent complaint. I'd suggest asking the shop what class size they will have with this deal, or what their max size is. Ask if additional time is available if you need more pool time, etc. But the prices you mentioned are not out of line at all.

 

[CT-Rich]

From what you said, it sounds like they are happy to sell you the start up gear, but you are free to buy from where ever you want. Quality mask and fins are comfort gear. What fits is what you should buy. Some people are happy with a simple mask and fins because they have faces and feet that are easy to fit. A mask/fins that fits well will make diving much more pleasant. I still use a totally no frills snorkel from 20 years ago.
Keep in mind that the purpose of Groupon is to generate traffic at the local dive shop. They take a loss on the class to make you a longterm customer. If you are very cost conscious you can buy on line. But you might also look to see what availability of dive shops are like. Here in the North-East US dive shops are getting scarse, spending money locally will help the shops stay healthy so you can get the services you can't mail-order, like gear servicing, tank fills and inspections. I still buy some stuff online but I also make an effort to do some purchases locally. And if I am trying stuff on in their showroom, I will not buy it online, even if I can save some money. It isn't fair to take advantage of their expertise and then not give them your business.

Not knowing where you are, I can't tell how many dive shops there are to choose from. Just remember, you may be getting to know these people for a long time.

The description of the class sounds a little off, you may want to confirm that. One class session, one pool session and 4 openwater dives doesn't sound right to me.

 

[shark.bait]

I have verified it and it says it has 4 open water dives. Thanks for all the responses. I was going to call and ask about class sizes because after I hung up with them I did in fact see some groupon threads and would like to avoid that fiasco of instruction. I'm not sure what to do because this seems like something I would really enjoy but I am on a budget I am a college student and only work part time. Does anyone know any other places I can get a quality certification in the Miami/ South Florida area?

Also I don't mind purchasing the equipment it's just I am not sure how much time I will have for scuba in my realistic life between school and work. I just want to make sure it will be worth it before I spend an easy 400-600 dollars on this

 

[TSandM]

What school are you involved with? There is a beautiful video from an open water class offered through the University of Miami, that shows that their class turns out divers who are as they ought to be. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=386269698122597

 

[LowDrag]

Having just gone thru OW class myself 6 months ago I would think that one day in class and one day in the pool is definitely not even close to enough. Everyone has given you some good advice that I would pay very close attention to. Being rushed thru this can just add even more stress to you and you will have enough to think about as it is. Just as a side note, I bought the expensive snorkel only to have most of the divers in my LDS tell me they never used them again after OW class. Except for maybe AOW. Hope this helps.