Has anyone had to pay extra to rent weights in addition to a dive tank fee?

[chickuita]

Hello,
I was in the process of making a reservation for a trip to the Bonne Terre Mine and was advised I had to pay a $40/per weekend additional fee on top of my $80/dive tank fee.
Has anyone had to pay a extra fee to rent weights when already paying for a tank? I find this very unusual. In all my travels I have never encountered this before.

 

[Doctorfish]

I have not had this experience. Weasel money.

 

[caruso]

I've never dived the mine and probably never will because I've read more complaints about the place than just about any other dive destination on the planet, including but not limited to exorbitant fees for diving related things that are typically included. I'm not at all surprised by your post and no I've never heard of any other place charging extra for weights when tanks are being rented.

 

[tmassey]

I've never seen that: every trip I've ever taken has always included lead with the tanks. Having said that, it's clearly outlined plain as day on their website: Bonne Terre Mine

Given where it's located (like a thousand steps below ground and no elevator), the idea of schlepping tanks and weights down and up is far from appealing. And the entire operation is clearly a tourist trap, from the "you must do the dives in order" to the "you must go with a diveguide until you do so many", etc.. So I can't say I'm a bit surprised.

Full disclosure: I have never been. The one time I was in St. Louis, the mine was closed for maintenance. So yes, tourist trap or not, I wanted to go... (Why not? Disney World is a bigger tourist trap and *millions* go each year!)

Edited to add: And: their place, their rules. If that's what it takes to make an underwater mine a million miles from any logical SCUBA destination work, then so be it. It's better than *not* having it...

 

[JackD342]

Hello,
I was in the process of making a reservation for a trip to the Bonne Terre Mine and was advised I had to pay a $40/per weekend additional fee on top of my $80/dive tank fee.
Has anyone had to pay a extra fee to rent weights when already paying for a tank? I find this very unusual. In all my travels I have never encountered this before.

I would expect that to be a common (but not universal) practice for diving at locations with a strong local "drive up" clientele such as quarries, Florida, etc.
Can kind of surprise someone used to vacation diving at destinations where everyone flew in, and no one ever has their own weights.

 

[chickuita]

I would be flying into Bonne Terre Missouri from California so it seems unreasonable for me to bring the ones I own. I was already quoted $80/tank to dive the mine. Is the extra fee unreasonable? Ive never been to this kind of location before. I have dove many fresh water cenotes in Mexico, weights are included in the price. What do you think?

 

[tmassey]

Is the extra fee unreasonable?

Are you asking from a financial basis or a moral basis?

Morally, the idea of $20/day for LEAD seems pretty messed up. But: $80/dive for such a high-maintenance curated type of experience is not so bad. Would $100/dive be much worse? Not really. So don't think of it as $80 + $20. Think of it as $100 for the experience. It's not nearly as bad that way...

Financially: I mean, if you're prepared to pay $160 for two dives, paying $180 for the same two dives really isn't that different. Just don't think too deeply on how that breaks down and enjoy yourself.

 

[chickuita]

Its $80 for a single TANK not $80 a day. 3 tanks=$240 a day plus $20 for weights which is why I wanted some opinions from others. Seems extremely excessive to me but I have never been to the Bonne Terre Mine and there is not another similar operation to compare it to.

 

[saxman242]

The guys in Catalina at the dive park charge separately for renting weights and a tank, but they're much much cheaper (~$60-80 for a weekend of diving with 5 - 6 tank fills and weights)

 

[caruso]

It's rather expensive and during one opportunity I had to dive there I didn't go, and that's the main reason. Besides all the negative reviews.

But is expensive a "rip off?". Like you said, there's nothing to compare it to, there's nothing even close to it within hundreds of miles, we don't know the operating costs, and whether the owner is some sort of billionaire living on a mountain somewhere laughing about all the scuba divers he or she is ripping off.

It's simply a matter of what is your dealbreaker when it comes to costs and customer service? Obviously there are enough divers who aren't bothered by it and keep the place afloat. Pun intended.