Groupon Deal Questions

[ambam]

depends on how many people are signed up --

Advanced Course - Gold Coast Scuba Divers (954) 616-5909 (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Meetup

are they padi?

 

[boulderjohn]

1 classroom and 1 pool session sounds like a violation of standards to me ... An 8 hour day may enable you to pass the exam. An 8 hour pool session is a real tough cookie. I don't have the instructor manual handy but I'm pretty sure a one day pool session is a no go.

There is no rule regarding the amount of time it takes to do either a classroom or a pool session. The amount of time required varies dramatically depending upon the number of students in the class and the speed with which a student learns. I recently did a private class with a woman who was a graduate students in physics and a triathlete. Believe me, the sessions went along pretty quickly. Even then, though, we did two pool sessions.

There's been several threads on the SB about bad experiences with Groupon deals. Do a search. I'd stay away from it based on what I've read.

There have been several such threads, and the results are decidedly mixed. Experiences have been very good to very bad. It all appears to be up to the shop. In one thread, a person asked in much the same way this person did, and the response was an immediate and shrill "Don't do it!" with one person beating the "All Groupons are bad" drum quite insistently. Then there were people who said they had had good Groupon experiences. Others pointed out that the shop in question had a very good reputation. Then the OP came on and said he had done the class anyway, despite the warnings, and had had excellent instruction. Finally, the person who had insistently warning him not to do it came back on and apologized.

As I said, it is up to the shop.

 

[flots am]

But how would i know what the person before did with it? What your saying is that as long as i get it serviced no problem should arise?

Sorry, I feel like I'm stabbing the Easter Bunny and shooting Santa Claus, but here goes anyway . . . .

As an Open Water Diver, nothing you dive with is "Life Support Equipment" except your brain.

Assuming your tank doesn't explode underwater and kill you (don't worry, AFAIK, it's never happened in the water) all other failures can be safely handled if you've been following your training, and continue to follow it during your equipment failure.

In Open Water diving, the surface is always available. No matter what happens to your regulator, or your BC or your mask or your fins or whatever. You should be able to safely surface with your buddy at any time, and if you've managed to lose your buddy, you can still to an Emergency Swimming Ascent, ditching your weights if needed.

If you're not really comfy with this idea, you should probably go back and talk to your instructor and schedule a few more pool sessions.

Equipment fails. I have a whole shelf full of regulators and a half a garage full of tanks, and have known the service tech for decades, but I also know that at any time, on any dive any of them can fail. Happily, with good training this doesn't need to be much more than an annoyance.

flots.

 

[ambam]

Sorry, I feel like I'm stabbing the Easter Bunny and shooting Santa Claus, but here goes anyway . . . .

As an Open Water Diver, nothing you dive with is "Life Support Equipment" except your brain.

Assuming your tank doesn't explode underwater and kill you (don't worry, AFAIK, it's never happened in the water) all other failures can be safely handled if you've been following your training, and continue to follow it during your equipment failure.

In Open Water diving, the surface is always available. No matter what happens to your regulator, or your BC or your mask or your fins or whatever. You should be able to safely surface with your buddy at any time, and if you've managed to lose your buddy, you can still to an Emergency Swimming Ascent, ditching your weights if needed.

If you're not really comfy with this idea, you should probably go back and talk to your instructor and schedule a few more pool sessions.

Equipment fails. I have a whole shelf full of regulators and a half a garage full of tanks, and have known the service tech for decades, but I also know that at any time, on any dive any of them can fail. Happily, with good training this doesn't need to be much more than an annoyance.

flots.

Well said. Still a noob so not 100% confident yet. During my shore dive i had a bit of an emergency, so that helped me a bit being that i wouldnt panic the way i did the first time if it happened again. But i get what your saying, its fine but i would feel alot more comfortable with a very competent dive buddy especially on the deep dives... Im 90% sure i could save myself in a OW dive but of course advanced will teach me a lot more. Im glad i found this forum, im learning alot from everyone

 

[flots am]

Well said. Still a noob so not 100% confident yet. During my shore dive i had a bit of an emergency, so that helped me a bit being that i wouldnt panic the way i did the first time if it happened again. But i get what your saying, its fine but i would feel alot more comfortable with a very competent dive buddy especially on the deep dives... Im 90% sure i could save myself in a OW dive but of course advanced will teach me a lot more. Im glad i found this forum, im learning alot from everyone

No problem.

Any time you're not absolutely certain that you could rescue yourself, you're diving based on trust or luck. I'd suggest avoiding any dives where you're not confident of being able to handle a failure of any one thing you brought with you.

You'll be much (happier and safer) knowing that you can handle any common failure.

Have fun!

flots.

 

[The Chairman]

There are different reasons for taking a Scuba class. Some just want to get a card and others really want to learn how to dive. For the former, price is everything. For the latter, the education is everything. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle. I am not the cheapest instructor in my area and frankly: I don't want to be. I want my time in the pool and in open water with my students to be non-hurried and personalized. My class runs $620 and runs on your schedule. It takes more time than the one you quoted and I rarely take more than two students at a time unless it's a family. It's my opinion that you get what you pay for. While many shops try to avoid cutting corners on a Group On deal, it's almost inevitable. I know I couldn't afford to do a Group On deal. Then again, I don't feel a need to, either.

So, my suggestion is to decide what you really want out of the class and make an informed choice.

 

[fjpatrum]

Honestly i heard alot of bad things about miami before i even started diving. Like the instructors suck and don't care and the dive sites suck compared to ft lauderdale and more up north in pompano/jupiter but idk that could just be **** talking from other instructors. Anyways i wrote that huge paragraph for you as a recommendation. I can also give you the contact info of my instructor whos probably in his 40's or 50's and has done over 1,000 dives, he does private lessons as well and i believe he has other students you might be able to pair so its a more intimate class. But i think youll have more fun and see more things if you make the 20 min drive north

---------- Post added January 9th, 2013 at 04:20 PM ----------



Thanks for the info. I actually havent bought a regulator yet and was going to go used until i was scorned and had to promise that ill never buy used gear because my life is precious. lol so my question is, why would people who are not making any money off of me tell me this? Anyways where do you get your used gear? craigslist?

Yes, most of my gear comes from craigslist. My current "wing" and one reg I bought for parts off of ebay but ended up servicing and using anyway. Well, actually my brother uses it, but it's in active use now. I like buying from craigslist in my area because I can often find good deals. There are a lot of people trying to sell 20-30 year old regs for like-new prices, especially in dive-centric areas for some reason, but you can find deals if you're diligent and lucky.

As an example, here's a thread I started about an old horse-collar I converted to a wing for a backplate. It cost me I think $12 plus shipping and has been my primary wing for 20+ dives over the last 2 years.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/making-your-own-gear/355258-homegrown-wing.html
Search my thread history and you'll find a bunch of other similar "look what I got super cheap" threads that are good examples of what can be found and done with used gear. I just got another horse collar I'm debating turning into a second wing or keeping as a collar. I think I paid about $8 for it, considering the rest of the gear I got with it for $40.

People not trying to make money off you but still saying don't buy used have simply been told the same thing and they're regurgitating it without thought. They believe the hype. A lot of people (me included) believe the only "life support" equipment you need for recreational diving is your brain and the ability to use it logically in an emergency. I'm also an engineer and a tinkerer/builder of just about anything so I have no qualms about taking stuff apart and rebuilding it. Sometimes with modifications to better fit my needs, sometimes not. Regs really are very simple machines so they're quite easy to repair and maintain, when it comes down to it. Shops and the scuba industry as a whole have a vested interest in keeping the lay-person in a position of not quite confident enough to trust repairing things for themselves. At least most reputable shops are using qualified/certified techs, but the course is really only a few hours of time to get the certification. I think some manufacturers require a refresher every couple of years, but I'm not sure about that.

In any case, there should never be a fear of "you're going to die" from buying used gear. Those who say that don't have the knowledge or confidence to do things themselves, nothing more nothing less. If you're worried have inspected by a professional. If not, inspect it yourself (if you have the knowledge and skills to do so) and go diving.